Papers by Author: G. Cao

Abstract: Liquation cracking in the partially melted zone (PMZ) of aluminum welds was studied. The PMZ is the region immediately outside the fusion zone where the material is heated above the eutectic temperature. Highly crack-susceptible alloys 2024 and 7075 were welded using gas-metal arc welding (GMAW) with filler metals 1100 and 4043, respectively. Circular-patch welds were made on 3.2 mm thick workpiece with full penetration, and single-pass welds were made on 9.5 mm thick workpiece with partial penetration. Liquation cracking was observed in all welds. Dualpass welds were also made on 9.5 mm thick workpiece, with overlapping between the penetration tips of the two partial-penetration passes made on the opposite sides of the workpiece. Liquation cracking was found in the first pass but not in the second pass. The results were explained using TfS (temperature vs. fraction solid) curves of the weld metal (WM) and the PMZ based on the following criterion proposed recently: liquation cracking can occur if WM fS > PMZ fS during PMZ solidification.

Abstract: Hot cracking of ternary Mg-Al-Ca alloys in permanent mold casting was studied. The alloys are the base of some potential creep-resistant Mg alloys. The Mg-xAl-yCa alloys included Mg-4Al-1Ca, Mg-4Al-2Ca, Mg-4Al-3Ca, Mg-4Al-4Ca, Mg-5Al-3Ca, and Mg-6Al-3Ca. Constrained-rod casting was conducted with a steel mold. Rods were cast with their ends enlarged to act as anchors, which kept the rods from free contraction and thus induced tension in the rods to cause cracking during solidification. The susceptibility to hot cracking was evaluated based on both the widths and locations of cracks in the resultant castings. Both binary Mg-4Al and commercial alloy AZ91E, which is known to have a low susceptibility to hot cracking, were also included for comparison. It was found that within the composition range studied, the crack susceptibility decreased significantly with increasing Ca content (y) but did not change much with the Al content (x).