Research progress on semi-continuous casting of magnesium alloys under external field

High-performance magnesium alloys are moving towards a trend of being produced on a large scale and in an integrated manner.The foundational key to their successful production is the high-quality cast ingots.Magnesium alloys produced through the conventional semi-continuous casting process inevitably contain casting defects,which makes it challenging to manufacture high-quality ingots.The integration of external field assisted controlled solidification technology,which combines physical fields such as electromagnetic and ultrasonic fields with traditional semi-continuous casting processes,enables the production of high-quality magnesium alloy ingots characterized by a homogeneous microstructure and absence of cracks.This article mainly summarizes the technical principles of those external field assisted casting process.The focus is on elaborating the refinement mechanism of different types of electromagnetic fields,ultrasonic fields,and combined physical fields during the solidification of magnesium alloys.Finally,the development prospects of producing highquality magnesium alloy ingots through semi-continuous casting under the external field were discussed.

Direct-chill semi-continuous casting process of three-layer composite ingot of 4045/3004/4045 aluminum alloys

Three-layer composite ingot of 4045/3004/4045 aluminum alloys was prepared by direct-chill semi-continuous casting process,the temperature field distribution near the composite interface,macro-morphology,microstructure and composition distribution of the composite interface were investigated.The results show that semi-solid layer with a certain thickness forms near the interface due to the effect of cooling plate,which ensures successful implementation of casting the composite ingot.Two different aluminum alloys are well bonded metallurgically.The mechanical properties of composite interface were measured,the tensile and shearing strengths of composite interface are 105 and 88 MPa,respectively,which proves that the composite interface is a kind of metallurgical bonding.

Filling mode and regularity of vertical centrifugal casting process of titanium alloy in thin-walled cylinder cavity

The mold filling process of titanium alloy in a thin-walled cylinder cavity under vertical centrifugal casting process was studied by means of the hydraulic simulation experiments. Results show that the filling mode of the melt in the cylinder cavity varies with casting wall-thickness. When the casting wall-thickness is less than or equal to the thickness of the first layer during the filling process, the melts fill the cavity from the bottom to the top.When the casting wall-thickness is greater than the thickness of the first layer during the filling process, the melts first fill the largest radius parts of the cavity with a certain thickness of the first layer from the bottom to the top of the cavity, and then they fill the cavity from the larger radius part to the smaller radius part. The melt filling ability increases with the increment of the mold rotational speed and the pouring temperature. In another aspect, the melt filling ability rises with the decrement of the melt viscosity, and the melt with the better filling ability is prone to fill the cylinder cavity layer by layer.

Solidified structure of thin-walled titanium parts by vertical centrifugal casting

The solidified structure of the thin-walled and complicated Ti-6AI-4V castings produced by the vertical centrifugal casting process was studied in the present work. The results show that the wall thickness of the section is featured with homogeneously distributed fine equiaxial grains, compared with the microstructure of the thick-walled section. The grain size of the castings has a tendency to decrease gradually with the increasing of the centrifugal radius. The inter-lamellar space in thick-walled casting parts is bigger than that of the thin-walled parts, and the profile of inter-lamellar space is not susceptible to the centrifugal radius.

Effects of casting process on microstructures and flow stress behavior of Mg-9Gd-3Y-1.5Zn-0.8Zr semi-continuous casting billets

Mg-9Gd-3Y-1.5Zn-0.8Zr alloys own high strength,good heat and corrosion resistance.However,it is difficult for the fabrication of large-scale billets,due to the poor deformation ability and strong hot-crack tendency.This work investigated the casting process on the microstructures and flow stress behaviors of the semi-continuous casting billets for the fabrication of large-scale Mg-9Gd-3Y-1.5Zn-0.8Zr billets.The casting process(electromagnetic intensity and casting speed)shows outstanding effects on the microstructures and flow stress behavior of the billets.The billets with the specific casting process(I=68 A,V=65 mm/min)exhibit uniform microstructures and good deformation uniformity.

Effect of high-intensity ultrasonic field on process of semi-continuous casting for AZ80 magnesium alloy billets

Under the high-intensity ultrasonic field,AZ80 magnesium alloy was semi-continuously cast.The effects of ultrasonic intensity on the as-cast microstructures and mechanical properties were investigated.The results show that the microstructures of the alloy cast under high-intensity ultrasonic field are fine and uniform,and the grains are equiaxed,rose-shaped or globular with an average size of 257μm.High-intensity field significantly decreases the grain size,changes the morphologies of theβ-Mg17Al12 phases and reduces their area fraction.It is also shown that a proper increase in ultrasonic intensity is helpful to obtain fine,uniform and equiaxed as-cast microstructures.The optimum ultrasonic parameters are that frequency is 20 kHz and ultrasonic intensity is 1 368 W.The mechanical tests show that the mechanical properties of the as-cast AZ80 magnesium alloy billets cast under ultrasonic field are greatly improved,and with increasing the ultrasonic intensity,the mechanical properties of the entire alloy billets are much higher and more uniform than those of the alloy without ultrasonic field.

Effects of heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-8Gd-3Y-0.5Zr(wt.%)alloy fabricated by semi-continuous casting

The microstucture, mechanical properties and fracture behaviors of semi-continuous cast Mg-8Gd- 3Y-0.5Zr （wt.%, GW83K） alloy after different heat treatments were investigated. Almost all the eutectic compounds were dissolved into the matrix and there was no evident grain growth after optimum solution treatment at 500 ~C for 4 h. Further ageing at low temperatures led to significant precipitation hardening, which strengthened the alloy. Peak-aged at 200℃, the alloy had the highest ultimate tensile strength （UTS） and lowest elongation at 395 MPa and 2.8%, respectively. When aged at 225℃ for 15 h, the alloy exhibited prominent mechanical performance with UTS and elongation of 363 MPa and 5.8 %, respectively. With regard to microstructure and tensile properties, the processes of 500℃, 4 h ＋ 225℃, 15 h are selected as the optimal heat treatment conditions. The alloy under different conditions shows different fracture behaviors： in the as-cast alloy, a quasi-cleavage pattern is observed; after solution treatment, the alloy exhibits a trans-granular quasi-cleavage fracture; after being peak-aged at 200℃ and 225℃, the fracture mode is a mixed mode of trans-granular and inter-granular fracture, in which the inter-granular mode is dominant in the alloy peak-aged at 200℃.

Numerical Simulation of Bubble Migration in Liquid Titanium Alloy Melt During Vertical Centrifugal Casting Process

The bubble migration in liquid titanium alloy melt during vertical centrifugal casting process has been predicted. The effects of different parameters, such as the initial bubble location, the mold rotational speed and the mold rotational direction on the bubble in the migration process are investigated. The results show that the bubble migration can be divided into the radial movement to the mould rotation axis and the circular movement to the mould wall opposite to rotational direction of the casting mould. The casting mould wall has an impeditive effect on the circular movement of the bubble during its migration process. And the bubble finally migrates like a straight line along the mould wall located at the opposite direction of the rotational casting mould whether it rotates clockwise or anti-clockwise. The bubbles at the position near the mould wall located at the opposite direction of the rotational casting mould are much easier to migrate in a straight line. The instantaneous speed of the gas bubble increases with the increment of the mould rotational speed. However the mould rotational speed is high or low, the moving speed of the gas bubble increases slightly at the primary stage, and then decreases gradually like a ladder.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ31 alloy ingot fabricated by semi-continuous casting

The AZ31 alloy ingot with diameter of 110 mm and length of 3500 mm was fabricated successfully. The compositions and microstructure morphologies of the ingot at different locations were performed, which indicated that the chemical composition distributed homogeneously through the whole alloy ingot and the average grain size increased from the surface to the center. The results of the EDS and element face-scanning illustrated that the eutectic compounds mainly consisted of fl-Mg17Al12 and a small amount of fl-Mgl7（AlZn）12. Furthermore, slight improvements of the strength and ductility were observed from the center to the surface along the axial direction of the alloy ingot, while both the strength and elongation to failure of the samples along the radial direction are higher than that along the axial direction. The fine grain strengthening was the main contributors to the strength of the as-casted AZ31 alloy.

Numerical simulation and experimental investigation of two filling methods in vertical centrifugal casting

A mathematical model of the centrifugal filling process was established. The calculated results show that the centrifugal field has an important influence on the filling process. Moreover, the process of liquid flow and the location of free surface in sprue were simulated based on the Solution Algorithm-Volume of Fraction (SOLA-VOF) technique. In order to verify the mathematical model and computational results, hydraulic simulation experiment was carried out. The results of experiments and numerical simulation indicate the accuracy of mathematical model. Two kinds of filling methods were investigated and the results show that the bottom filling is better than the top filling that can achieve stable filling and reduce defects.

Freeze-assisted Tape Casting of Vertically Aligned MXene Films for High Rate Performance Supercapacitors

Conventional electrode preparation techniques of supercapacitors such as tape casting or vacuum filtration often lead to the restacking or agglomeration of twodimensional(2 D)materials.As a result,tortuous paths are created for the electrolyte ions and their adsorption onto the surfaces of the active materials can be prevented.Consequently,maintaining high rate performance while increasing the thickness of electrodes has been a challenge.Herein,a facile freeze-assisted tape-casting(Fa TC)method is reported for the scalable fabrication of flexible MXene(Ti3C2Tx)supercapacitor electrode films of up to 700μm thickness,exhibiting homogeneous ice-template microstructure composed of vertically aligned MXene walls within lamellar pores.The efficient ion transport created by the internal morphology allows for fast electrochemical charge–discharge cycles and near thickness-independent performance at up to 3000 m V s-1 for films of up to 300μm in thickness.By increasing the scan rate from 20 to 10,000 m V s-1,Ti3C2Tx films of 150μm in thickness sustain 50%of its specific capacitance(222.9 F g-1).When the film thickness is doubled to 300μm,its capacitance is still retained by 60%(at 213.3 F g-1)when the scan rate is increased from 20 to3000 m V s-1,with a capacitance retention above 97.7%for over 14,000 cycles at10 A g-1.They also showed a remarkably high gravimetric and areal power density of 150 k W kg-1 at 1000 A g-1 and 667 m W cm-2 at 4444 m A cm-2,respectively.Fa TC has the potential to provide industry with a viable way to fabricate electrodes formed from 2 D materials on a large scale,while providing promising performance for use in a wide range of applications,such as flexible electronics and wearable energy storage devices.

Effect of Middle-frequency Electromagnetic Field on the Semi-continuous Casting for ZK60 Billets

The semi-continuous casting of ZK60 magnesium alloy under different middle frequency electromagnetic field conditions was examined.Effects of middle frequency electromagnetic field on microstructure,precipitations and tensile properties are investigated.The results show that the microstructures of ZK60 magnesium alloy are refined and distribution uniformity of precipitations is observed after applying the middle frequency electromagnetic field.And the tensile properties of the billets produced by middle frequency electromagnetic field are increased.

Effect of Cooling Intensity and Position on Solidification in Semi-Continuous Casting of Copper

Cooling heat flux effect in both primary and secondary cooling zone has been studied in semi-continuous casting of copper billet. Sufficient cooling is essential to reduce casting defects and to get high productivity, however low rate of solidification is aimed in order to get coarser grain size and softer metal for less losses in extrusion. A three-dimensional numerical model has been developed including solidification behavior of copper through mushy zone. At steady state and constant casting speed, solid shell thickness is monitored during the reduction of cooling rate at mould region to avoid breaking out. Heat flux intensity at mould plays important role not only in the formation of solid shell thickness. But, pool length and mushy zone thickness can be significantly increased by decreasing primary cooling intensity. Increase intensity of secondary cooling zone for two particular cases of primary cooling is tested. First case is tested at mould inlet water temperature of 38°C, and second case at water temperature of 63°C. Results showed that the combination of increasing secondary cooling intensity and reduction of primary cooling intensity can increase pool length and mushy zone thickness. Also, it is shown that, secondary cooling intensity can be magnified by up to 1.5 times for cooling water temperature of 63°C to get pool length close to that of water temperature of 38°C.

Effects of Ce on microstructure of semi-continuously cast Mg-1.5Zn-0.2Zr magnesium alloy ingots

Mg-1.5Zn-0.2Zr-xCe (x=0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, mass fraction, %) alloys were prepared by conventional semi-continuous casting. The effect of rare earth Ce on the microstructure of Mg-1.5Zn-0.2Zr-xCe alloys was studied and the distribution of Ce was analyzed by optical microscopy (OM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicate that Ce element exists in the form of Mg12Ce phase and has an obvious refining effect on the microstructure of test alloys. As the Ce content increases, the grain size reduces, the grain boundaries turn thinner, and the distribution of Mg12Ce precipitates becomes more and more dispersed. The Mg-1.5Zn-0.2Zr alloy with 0.3%Ce has the best refinement effect. From center to periphery of the ingot, the amount of granular precipitates in the grain reduces. In longitudinal section of the ingot, some relative long columnar grains appear.

Inhomogeneity of microstructure and mechanical properties of a 500 mm diameter heavy section semi-continuous cast AZ61 magnesium alloy ingot

For the large magnesium alloy ingot, there is a considerable difference in cooling rate of different parts in the ingot, which leads to non-uniform distribution of the secondary phases, solute segregation and tensile properties. In the present research, an heavy AZ61 alloy ingot with a diameter of 500 mm was made by semi-continuous casting. The microstructure and mechanical properties at different positions along the radial direction of the large ingot were investigated by using an optical microscope(OM), a scanning electron microscope(SEM), an energy dispersive spectroscope(EDS), and a micro-hardness tester. The results indicate that the microstructure of the AZ61 ingot is non-uniform in different locations. It changes from equiaxed to columnar grains from the center to the edge; the average grain size gradually reduces from 1,005 μm to 763 μm, the secondary dendrite arm spacing reduces from 78 μm to 50 μm, and the Mg17(Al,Zn)12 phase is also refined. The micro-hardness value increases from 55.4 HV at the center to 72.5 HV at the edge of the ingot due to the microstructure differences, and the distribution of micro-hardness at the edge of the ingot is more uniform than that in the center. The tensile properties at room temperature show little difference from the center to the edge of the ingot except that the elongation at the edge is only 3.5%, much lower than that at other areas. The fracture mechanism is ductile fracture at the center and cleavage fracture at the edge of the ingot, and at the 1/2 radius of the ingot, a mixture of ductile and cleavage fracture is present.

Preparation of AZ31 magnesium alloy strips using vertical twin-roll caster

A newly developed technology for manufacturing magnesium alloy strip,vertical twin-roll strip casting,has been described.This manufacturing process is easy to be facilitated in an economical way to manufacture wrought magnesium alloy strips. As an example,AZ31 magnesium alloy was used to investigate the appropriate manufacturing conditions for vertical twin-roll strip casting by varying the temperatures of the molten materials and rolling speeds.The effects of manufacturing conditions on forming quality were clarified in terms of roll speeds and casting temperature.In addition,microscopic observation and X-ray diffraction of the as-cast strips were performed.It has been determined that AZ31 alloy strip of 1-3 mm in thickness can be produced at a speed of 30 m/min by a vertical twin-roll caster.The microstructure of as-cast strip only containsα-phase(Mg)and no other phase,and the twin-roll casting process can effectively refine the grain size.The fine equiaxed grain of as-cast strips is beneficial to the plastic deformation of the strips,and it is also suitable for direct cold-rolling with a maximum cold-rolling reduction of 40%.

Effect of ultrasonic power and casting speed on solidification structure of 7050 aluminum alloy ingot in ultrasonic field

With the experiment and finite element simulation, the influences of power ultrasonic on the solidification structure of 7050 aluminum alloy ingot in semi-continuous casting were researched, and the effects of casting speed on solidification structure in ultrasonic field were also analyzed. The experiment and simulation results show that the solidification structure of the ingot is homogeneously distributed, and its grain size is obviously refined at ultrasonic power of 240 W. The average grain sizes, which can be seen from the Leica microscope, are less than 100 μm. When the casting speed is 45-50 mm/min, the best grain refinement is obtained.

As-cast structure of DC casting 7075 aluminum alloy obtained under dual-frequency electromagnetic field

We have experimentally determined the as-cast structures of semi-continuous casting 7075 aluminum alloy obtained in the pres-ence of dual-frequency electromagnetic field. Results suggest that the use of dual-frequency electromagnetic field during the semi-continuous casting process of 7075 aluminum alloy ingots reduces the thickness of the surface segregation layer, increases the height of the melt menis-cus, enhances the surface quality of the ingot, and changes the surface morphology of the melt pool. Moreover, low-frequency electromag-netic field was found to show the most obvious influence on improving the as-cast structure because of its high permeability in conductors.

Melt flow,solidification structures,and defects in 316 L steel strips produced by vertical centrifugal casting

Vertical centrifugal casting can significantly enhance the filling capability of molten metals,enabling the production of complex thin-walled castings at near-rapid cooling rates.In this study,the melt flow,solidification structures,and defects in 316 L steel cast strips with a geometry of 80 mm×60 mm×2.5 mm produced by vertical centrifugal casting were numerically and experimentally analyzed under different rotation speeds.With gradually increasing the rotation speed from 150 r/min to 900 r/min,the simulated results showed the shortest filling time and minimum porosity volume in the cast strip at a rotation speed of 600 r/min.Since a strong turbulent flow was generated by the rotation of the mold cavity during the filling process,experimental results showed that a“non-dendritic”structure was obtained in 316 L cast strip when centrifugal force was involved,whereas the typical dendritic structure was observed in the reference sample without rotation.Most areas of the cast strip exhibited one-dimensional cooling,but three-sided cooling appeared near the side of the cast strip.Moreover,the pores and cracks in the 316 L strips were detected by computed tomography scanning and analyzed with the corresponding numerical simulations.Results indicated the existence of an optimal rotational speed for producing cast strips with minimal casting defects.This study provides a better understanding of the filling and solidification processes of strips produced by vertical centrifugal casting.

C70600白铜空心锭立式连铸工艺参数对凝固过程的影响

为了获得Ф260×Ф80 C70600白铜空心锭立式连铸合理的工艺参数,通过数值模拟定量分析了各种工艺参数对温度场和应力场的影响。结果表明:浇铸温度每提高20℃,液穴深度增加10 mm;拉坯速度每提高10 mm/min,液穴深度增加20 mm;液穴深度随着石墨芯管冷却强度的增大而减小。基于正交试验和方差分析发现,F_(A)>F_(0.01)(3,3),F_(B)>F_(D)>F_(0.1)(3,3),F_(C)<F_(0.1)(3,3),因此,拉坯速度对液穴深度的影响最显著,一冷强度对其影响不显著。根据模拟结果提出了合理工艺参数为:一冷强度24 m^(3)/h、拉坯速度80 mm/min、浇铸温度1280℃、芯管采用空冷。在此基础上成功试制出了合格的C70600白铜空心锭成品。