Effect of Hot Extrusion on Microstructure and Properties of (ABOw+SiCp)/6061Al Composites Fabricated by Semi-solid Stirring Technique

6061Al matrix composites reinforced by 5vol.%ABOw and 15vol.%SiCp were fabricated by semi-solid stirring technique successfully at 640 ℃ for 40min with the stirring rate of 300 rpm,and the composites were extruded at a temperature of 500 ℃ using an extrusion ratio of 25:1 subsequently.Tensile tests were performed on as-casted and as-extruded(ABOw+SiCp)/6061Al composites at room temperature,and microstructures were observed by scanning electron microscope(SEM).SEM investigation showed that the as-extruded composite exhibited reduced porosity as well as a more uniform distribution of the reinforcements compared with the as-casted composite.The tensile tests results showed that the ultimate tensile strength and tensile elongation of as-extruded composite are higher than that of as-casted composite.

Preparation for Semi-Solid Aluminum Alloy Slurry under Weak Electromagnetic Stirring Conditions

The effects of pouring temperature, short electromagnetic stirring with low strength and then soaking treatment on the microstructure of AISi7Mg alloy were investigated. The results show that if AlSi7Mg alloy is poured at 630 or 650℃ and meanwhile stirred by an electromagnetic field at a low power for a short time, the pouring process can be easily controlled and most solidified primary α-Al grains become spherical and only a few of them are rosette-like. Weak electromagnetic stirring makes the temperature field more homogeneous and makes the primary α-Al grains disperse in a larger region, which leads to the spherical microstructures of primary α-Al grains. When the AISi7Mg alloy is soaked or reheated at the semisolid state, the primary α-Al grains ripen further and they become more spherical, which is favorable to the semi-solid forming of AlSi7Mg alloy.

Research on semi-solid slurry of a hypoeutectic Al-Si alloy prepared by low superheat pouring and weak electromagnetic stirring

The semi-solid slurry of a hypoeutectic Al-Si alloy was manufactured by low superheat pouring and weak electromagnetic stirring. The effects of pouting temperature and stirring power on the semi-solid slurry were investigated. The results indicated that the semi-solid slurry to satisfy rheocasting can be manufactured by low superheat pouring and weak electromagnetic stirring. The pouring temperature （or superheat） and the stirring power remarkably affected the morphology of primary α-Al and the size of primary α-Al, and there is no obvious effect of stirring time on primary α-Al. Compared with the samples made by low superheat pouring with no stirring, the nucleation rate, particle morphology and grain size of primary α-Al in A356 were markedly improved by low superheat pouring and weak electromagnetic stirring. On the condition of weak electromagnetic stirring, the pouring temperature with low superheat can be suitably raised to reach the effectiveness obtained from the lower pouring temperature without stirring.

Manufacture technique of semi-solid slurry of hypoeutectic Al-Si alloy by low superheat pouring and weak electromagnetic stirring

The semi-solid slurry of hypoeutectic Al-Si alloy was manufactured by low superheat pouring and weak electromagnetic stirring. The effects of pouring temperature and stirring power on the semi-solid slurry making process were investigated. The results indicate that the semi-solid slurry to satisfy rheocasting requirement can be made by a combination of low superheat pouring and weak electromagnetic stirring. The pouring temperature (or superheat) and the stirring power significantly affect the morphology and the size of primary α-Al, while there is no obvious effect of the stirring time on primary α-Al. Compared with the samples made by low superheat pouring without stirring, the nucleation rate, particle morphology and grain size of primary α-Al in A356 Al alloy are markedly improved by a process of applying both low superheat pouring and weak electromagnetic stirring. Under the condition of weak electromagnetic stirring applied, the pouring temperature with low superheat can be equivalently to reach the effectiveness obtained from the even lower pouring temperature without stirring.

EFFECT OF GRAIN REFINING ON PRIMARYαPHASE IN SEMI-SOLID A356 ALLOY PREPARED BY LOW SUPERHEAT POURING AND SLIGHT ELECTROMAGNETIC STIRRING

The semi-solid slurry of A356 alloy, which is grain-refined by Al-Ti-B master alloy, is prepared by low superheat pouring and slight electromagnetic stirring. The effects of grain refining on the morphology and the grain size of the primary α phase in the slurry manufactured are researched. The results indicate that the slurry with particle-like and rosette-like primary α phases can be prepared by low superheat pouring and slight electromagnetic stirring from liquid A356 alloy grain-refined, in which the pouring temperature can be suitably raised. Compared with the A356 samples without grain refining, the grain size and particle morphology of primary α phase as well as the distribution of the grain with particle-like or rosette-like along radial in the ingot in A356 are markedly improved by grain refining.

Effects of annular electromagnetic stirring processing parameters on semi-solid slurry production

A computational model coupling an electromagnetic model with a macroscopic heat and fluid flow model in semi-solid aluminum alloy slurry preparation by annular electromagnetic stirring(A-EMS) was developed.Effects of A-EMS processing parameters,such as stirring current,stirring frequency and stirring gap width,on macroscopic transport phenomena during the solidification were analyzed by commercial software ANSYS 10.0 with corresponding experimental verification.The results show that the magnetic flux density and the melt velocity increase and the temperature difference decreases as stirring gap width and stirring frequency decrease or the stirring current increases.The slurry with the fine and uniform globular grain structure can be gained by adjusting gap width,electromagnetic frequency and current,such as under the conditions of 10 mm of gap width,10 Hz of electromagnetic frequency and 50 A of current.The calculated results are in reasonably good agreement with the measured ones.

Annular electromagnetic stirring——a new method for the production of semi-solid A357 aluminum alloy slurry

A new method for producing semisolid slurry, annular electromagnetic stirring （AEMS）, to refine and spheroidize grains was exploited. Experimental work was undertaken to investigate the effects of cooling rate, stirring power and stirring time on the solidification behavior of A357 alloy using A-EMS. It was found that increasing the cooling rate and stirring power gave rise to substantial grain refinement, which could be attributed to the increase of effective nucleation rate caused by the extremely uniform temperature and composition fields in the bulk liquid during the initial stage of solidification. Results showed that a fully grain refined spherical structure could be obtained using proper processing conditions within 10 s.

Semi-solid slurry of AZ91 magnesium alloy prepared by electromagnetic stirring near liquidus temperature

An electromagnetic stirring process near liquidus temperature was designed and demonstrated experimentally to produce semi-solid slurry of AZ91 magnesium alloy,in order to avoid not only contamination from mechanical stirring but also the inflammation of Mg alloy melt at elevated temperature. AZ91 alloy feedstock was isothermally heat treated at 600-610 for 20 min,and then stirred by electromagnetic field. Globular primary particle characteristic was observed optically in the castings. Mechanical properties were also studied.

Effect of pouring temperature on semi-solid slurry of ZL101 alloy prepared by slightly electromagnetic stirring

The semi-solid slurry of ZL101 alloy is prepared by a combination technology of low superheat pouring and slightly electromagnetic stirring. The effects of pouring temperature on the slurry prepared by the technology are investigated. The results indicate that it is feasible to prepare the slurry with globular primary phases by low superheat pouring and slightly electromagnetic stirring, and that the pouring temperature has an important effect on the morphology and the size of primary α-AI in ZL101 alloy. By applying suitable slightly electromagnetic stirring combining with relatively increased pouring temperature, i.e., in a practical way to apply low superheat pouring technology, is capable of obtaining appropriate semi-solid slurry of ZL101 alloy with globular shape of primary phase. Compared with the samples made by low superheat pouring only without stirring, the samples prepared by applying both slightly electromagnetic stirring and low superheat pouring can enable to achieve the same grain size and morphology of the primary phase with that of pouring at 15-35℃ higher.

Effects of rotating gas bubble stirring treatment on the microstructures of semi-solid AZ91-2Ca alloy

In this study,the effect of rotating gas bubble stirring treatment on the microstructures of semi-solid AZ91-2Ca alloy was investigated.The semi-solid slurry was produced by injecting fine gas bubbles into the melt through a rotating steel diffuser during solidification,and the samples of semi-solid slurry were taken by the rapid quenching method.The results show that fine and sphericalα-Mg particles can be obtained under rotating gas bubble stirring treatment.The process parameters such as gas flow rate,cooling rate and rotation speed have significant influence on the morphology of primary solid particles.After rotating gas bubble stirring treatment,the higher the particle density,the finer and rounder the primaryα-Mg particles.The formation of numerous solid particles is due to the combination mechanisms of copious nucleation and dendrite fragmentation.

Microstructure evolution of Al-Si semi-solid slurry by gas bubble stirring method

A novel technique of introducing gas bubble stirring during solidification was studied to prepare Al-Si semi-solid slurry. The microstructure evolution of the slurry during slow cooling process after stirring was investigated. The effects of the solidification rate on the microstructure of the semi-solid slurry were investigated under three different solidification conditions. The results show that fine non-dendritic slurry can be obtained using the gas bubble stirring method. Ripening and coarsening of primary Al grains are observed during the slow cooling process, and at last coarsened eutectic Si appears. Primary Al grains with different sizes and eutectic Si are obtained, corresponding to three different solidification rates.

Preparation of semi-solid slurry at power frequency by annulus electromagnetic stirring method

The effect of stirring frequency on the semi-solid A357 aluminum alloy microstructure was investigated by annulus electromagnetic stirring(AEMS) method. The microstructures obtained by AEMS method and ordinary electromagnetic stirring(EMS)method were compared and analyzed. The results show that the primary α(Al) particles become more spherical and fine, and disperse uniformly in a liquid matrix with increasing stirring frequency, and higher stirring frequency is advantageous to obtain the fine spherical semi-solid microstructure by AEMS. Compared with the microstructures obtained at stirring frequency of 50 Hz in EMS, the fine spherical and uniformly distributed semi-solid microstructures can be still obtained at stirring frequency of 50 Hz in AEMS, so stirring frequency of 50 Hz is recommended in AEMS to save investment cost on frequency-conversion facilities.

COMPUTER SIMULATION OF CONTINUOUS ELECTROMAGNETIC STIRRING FOR MAKING RHEOLOGIC SEMI-SOLID SLURRY OF ZL112Y ALUMINUM ALLOY

To realize the technology of fabricating the rheologic semi-solid slurry of ZL112Y aluminum alloy via continues electromagnetic stirring process, ANSYS software was used to simulate electromagnetic force field and fluid velocity field in the alloy melt in a crucible tube in three coils. In the first section of the paper, eletromagnetic force field and fluid velocity field caused by single coil were simulated. The result of this simulation gives an average velocity of 3.2 cm/s and it is called critical velocity because a fluid velocity over it will cause a fine and spherical structure of solid primary a in a semi-solid melt. And, from this result, a reasonable temperature of semi-solid of the alloy and an electrical current intensity were established. The electrical current intensity of the result of this simulation corresponded to the current intensity used in a practice experiment, in which the primary α was obviously refined and sphericized. Based on this simulation of single coil electromagnetic stirring, in the second section of the paper, eletromagnetic force field and fluid velocity field caused by three coils were simulated. The result of the simulation shows that, 1） there is a semi-solid zone of 32 mm from bottom of the crucible tube to the upper; 2） the electrical current intensities of three coils of 400 A, 600 A, and 400 A, which were set to top range, middle range and bottom range of the tube, respectively, were the optimum parameters of electromagnetic current intensity under the condition of this investigation; and 3） under effect of these electromagnetic current intensity, the fluid velocities of the melt in the tube were 6.3 cm/s in top range, 3.75 cm/s in middle range, and 3.9 cm/s in bottom range of it, respectively.

Study on Semi-solid Rheocasting Forming for Magnesium Alloy by Mechanical Stirring

In this paper the effect of pouring temperature of magnesium melt, preheating temperature of the barrel of screw mixer and shear rate on the solidified microstructures of semi-solid slurry was investigated by mechanical stirring method. The appropriate processing parameters of slurry preparation were obtained. The mold filling for thin walled casting was examined. Results indicated that the solid volume fraction of non-dendritic structure increased with decrease in pouring temperature of magnesium melt and the barrel preheating temperature of screw mixer. Also the grain size of primary α phase was reduced. Furthermore, the solid volume fraction of semi-solid non-dendritic structure decreased with the increase in shear rate. In the same time, grain size of primary α phase slightly changed. The fine-round granular solidified structure with 30～50 μm of prepared AZ91D magnesium semi-solid slurry was presented. Finally, it is successful to fabricate 1.0 mm extremely thin walled casting with clear contour and good soundness.

Performance of Semi-solid Slurry Produced by Twin-screw Stirring Mixer and Rheo-diecasting Process of AZ91D Alloy

The microstructure of semi-solid slurry of AZ91D alloy, which was produced by twin-screw stirring mixer under the different parameters, was investigated.Rheoforming by cold chamber die casting process was performed thereafter. The results indicate that with decreasing of the barrel temperature of the mixer and the pouring temperature of molten Mg alloy, the solid fraction of semi-solid slurry increases and the size of non-dendritic grains becomes smaller. While the shear rate increases, the solid fraction of semi-solid slurry decreases. The tensile strength and elongation of metal rheoformed by die casting are higher by about 37% and 44% respectively than those produced by conventional liquid die casting.

Mechanical properties and microstructural evolution of rheocast A356 semi-solid slurry prepared by annular electromagnetic stirring

Nowadays,having an effective technique in preparing semi-solid slurries for rheocasting process seems to be an essential requirement.In this study,semi-solid slurry of A356 aluminum alloy was prepared by three-phase annular electromagnetic stirring(A-EMS)technique under different conditions.The effects of stirring current,pouring temperature and stirring time on microstructural evolution,mean particle size,shape factor and solid fraction were investigated.The rheocasting process was carried out by using a drop weight setup and to inject the prepared semi-solid slurry in optimal conditions into the step-die cavity.The filling behavior and mechanical properties of parts were studied.Microstructural evolution showed that the best semi-solid slurry which had fine spherical particles with the average size of~27μm and a shape factor of~0.8 was achieved at the stirring current of 70 A,melt pouring temperature of 670℃,and stirring time of 30 s.Under these conditions,the step-die cavity was completely filled at die preheating temperature of 470℃.The hardness increases by decreasing step thickness as well as die preheating temperature.Moreover,the tensile properties are improved at lower die preheating temperatures.The fracture surface,which consists of a complex topography,indicates a typical ductile fracture.

Multi-physical fields distribution in billet during helical electromagnetic stirring:A numerical simulation research

Electromagnetic stirring is one of the widely applied techniques to modify the quality of casting billets.Different from conventional rotate stirring,the helical stirring is more professional in assisting multi-dimensional flow of molten metal and eliminating solidification defects.In this study,the single-winding helical stirring(SWHS)was introduced,offering advantages such as smaller volume and lower electromagnetic shielding compared to traditional helical stirring methods.Following a comprehensive numerical simulation,the stirring parameters of SWHS were adjusted to yoke inclination angle of 43°and frequency of 12 Hz.The higher electromagnetic force and flow velocity in drawing direction,as well as the lower temperature gradient induced by the SWHS,are positive factors for homogeneous solidification of billet.The experimental results on Al-8%Si alloy and 0.4%C-1.1%Mn steel demonstrate that compared to rotate stirring,the SWHS process can induce better billet quality and is more effective in accelerating the equiaxed expansion and reducing element segregation.The SWHS process can enhance the equiaxed ratio of the billet by 58.3%and reduce segregation degree of carbon element by 10.97%.Consequently,SWHS holds great promise as a potential approach for improving the quality of continuous casting billets.

Effect of pouring temperature on semi-solid slurry of A356 Al alloy prepared by weak electromagnetic stirring

The semi-solid slurry of A356 Al alloy was manufactured by low superheat pouring and weak electromagnetic stirring. The effects of pouring temperature on the slurry manufactured by weak electromagnetic stirring were researched. The results indicate that it is feasible to manufacture the slurry with particle-like primary phases by low superheat pouring and weak electromagnetic stirring, and there is an important effect of the pouring temperature (superheat temperature) on the morphology and the size of primaryα-Al in A356 Al alloy. By the action of suitable weak electromagnetic stirring, increasing pouring temperature to put low superheat pouring in practice is capable of obtaining semi-solid slurry of A356 Al alloy with particle-like primary phase. Compared with the samples made only by low superheat pouring without stirring, raising pouring temperature by 15-35 ℃ above the liquidus temperature under condition of weak electromagnetic stirring can ensure the same grain size and morphology of the primary phase.

Microstructure characteristics and thermodynamic properties of A357-SiCp/A357 layered composites prepared by semi-solid vacuum stirring suction casting

A357-SiCp/A357 layered composites were prepared using a semi-solid vacuum stirring suction casting method.The microstructures,mechanical properties,and thermal conductivities of the composites fabricated under different suction casting processes were compared.Additionally,the microstructural evolution characteristics and performance enhancement mechanism of the A357-SiCp/A357 layered composites were discussed.The results demonstrate that suction casting at 610°C with a low solid phase ratio can significantly enhance the material density and reduce the agglomeration of SiCp.The A357-SiC_(p)/A357 interface is clear and straight with good bonding.With an increase in the suction casting temperature,the bending resistance and thermal conductivity of the A357-SiC_(p)/A357 layered composites exhibit a trend of significantly increase at first and then slowly decrease owing to casting defects,interface bonding,and SiCp distribution.Compared with SiCp/A357 composites,the bending strength,deflection,and thermal conductivity of the A357-SiCp/A357 layered composites increase from 257 MPa,1.07 mm,and 155.72 W·(m·K)^(-1) to 298 MPa,2.1 mm,and 169.86 W·(m·K)^(-1),respectively.This study provides a reference for improving the rheological casting of aluminum matrix layered composites.

Mechanical stirring for highly efficient gas injection refining

In gas injection refining processes,wide dispersion of small bubbles in the bath is indispensable for high refining efficiency.Eccentric mechanical stirring with unidirectional impeller rotation was tested using a water model for pursuing better bubble disintegration and dispersion.Effects of various factors on bubble disintegration and dispersion were investigated.These factors were stirring mode,eccentricity and rotation speed,nozzle structure,nozzle immersion depth,and gas flow rate.Gas injection from a nozzle at the end of the impeller shaft and from an immersed lance was studied.Under eccentric stirring,a vortex was formed away from the shaft.Small bubbles were produced in the strong turbulence or high shear stress field near the rotating impeller and moved in the direction to the vortex keeping up with the macroscopic flow induced by the mechanical stirring.Thus small bubbles could disperse widely in the bath under eccentric stirring with unidirectional rotation.