Solid State Phenomena Vols. 141-143

Abstract: The rheological behavior of semisolid aluminium alloy (A356) slurry is investigated by using a concentric cylinder viscometer under high cooling rate (30 to 50°C/min) and high shear rate (650 to 1500s-1) conditions. Two different series of experiments are carried out. In all of these experiments, the pellets of A356 alloy are poured into the outer cylinder where they melt completely by resistance heating. When the inner cylinder is placed concentrically, the molten metal resides in the annular space between the cylinders. As the inner cylinder rotates, the alloy is sheared continuously during cooling from a temperature of 630°C, and a slurry forms. In the first series of experiments, for different cooling rates, shearing continues under a constant shear rate until rotation of the inner cylinder stops. During experiments, the temperature of the slurry is measured continuously using a K-type thermocouple, from which the solid fraction is calculated. In the second series of experiments, the molten alloy is cooled and sheared continuously at different shear rates for a given cooling rate. The apparent viscosity of the slurry is calculated by measuring the torque applied to the inner cylinder and its rotational speed. The results show that the slurry viscosity increases with increasing fraction of solid and increasing cooling rate, and it decreases with increasing shear rate. At high values of shear and cooling rates, the viscosity varies gradually up to a solid fraction of about 0.5.

Abstract: Up to now, no technology exists for producing as-cast thixotropic steel at the industrial or pilot level. The existing processes need to reheat a billet that has been previously cast and wrought on separate equipment. The new processing route, we are developing, will allow producing as-cast steel (or high melting point alloy) with thixotropic properties. CRM has developed and patented a continuous casting technology, which by using a specially designed nozzle (HJN nozzle-hollow jet nozzle), allows to combine powder injection and a low superheat. It has been proven by pilot and industrial trials that the combination of iron powder injection and a low superheat leads to achieve a globular solidification structure in the core of a continuously cast steel billet. Several industrial trials on continuous caster have been carried out both with carbon and stainless steel but also on copper in order to modify the solidification structure of these materials. The application of this HJN technology is being studied in order to achieve a globular structure on as-cast steel with the objective to obtain a thixotropic behaviour of the material after an adequate reheating. Casting trials have been performed on CRM continuous casting pilot-line. Specifically designed equipment has been built for use in a steel foundry. The influence of the solidification rate, the superheat, the amount and the composition of the powder has been studied.

Abstract: A new slurry making method for rheocasting termed “Melt Spreading and Mixing Technique” (MSMT), based on forced uniform solidification theory, has been proposed, by which the bulk metal is dispersed into thin liquid film that is cooled rapidly and uniformly to allow copious nucleation. With a model alloy Al-wt%6.5Si to conduct a series of experiments, feasibility of this method and influence of process parameters upon slurry microstructure were studied. The results show that semisolid slurry for mass production with uniformly fine nondendritic microstructures can be obtained consistently and continuously by optimizing process parameters.

Abstract: Globulization of the grain refined AZ91 magnesium alloy with Ca on a cooling slope was investigated. Dendritic morphology of the grains was transferred into round and well distributed small particles as a result of grain-refinement effect of Ca in the alloy. Semi-solid holding of the alloy was carried out at different temperatures to improve the spherecity of the globules. Results show that, remelting at 540 °C for 30 min provides the best shape factor for the alloy. The study of coarsening kinetic in this alloy showed lower growth rate alternative other research which used same condition for produce semi-solid billet just in using Ca.

Abstract: In order for SSM forming to produce homogeneous properties in a casting, it is important that there is a uniform distribution of the primary grains. Besides producing a sound casting free of porosity, the amount of liquid segregation must be minimized. The surface liquid segregation phenomenon was investigated on high pressure die cast (HPDC) A356 alloy. SSM slurries were prepared using the CSIR Rheocasting System and plates of 4mm × 80mm × 100mm were HPDC. The chemical composition depth profile from the surface was determined using optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES). It was found that a 0.5-1.0 mm eutectic rich layer existed on the surface of the alloy. The thickness of the segregation layer depended on the location on the casting. It was found that this layer was insignificant close to the gate of the casting but was relatively consistent over most of the plate. Although this segregation layer did not impact on the bulk mechanical properties, hardness tests did reveal that this region had significantly higher hardness values which may have a considerable impact on the fatigue properties.

Abstract: Rheological behavior of semi-solid metals during isothermal compression is the most basic forming way for semi-solid die forging. In this paper, based on the metal plastic deformation and high pressure solidification theory, the shear deformation mechanisms of semi-solid metals were analyzed during isothermal compression. Experimental observations and theoretical analyses for AZ91D and composite Al/Al2O3 in the semi-solid state were performed with thermal simulation tests. The results for theoretical analyses and experimental observations show that the shear deformation of semi-solid metals has been realized by metal inhomogeneous flowing from macroscopic view and by grain boundary inhomogeneous migrating from microscopic view respectively during compression.

Abstract: A new process for fabrication of semisolid billets is introduced, which involves equal channel angular pressing and isothermal heating in the semisolid state. The process leads to a relatively fine globular microstructure. The microstructure evolution during isothermal treatment is studied and it is shown that dendrites breaking up has happened during equal channel angular pressing in semisolid state. The microstructural evolution during isothermal heating and the mechanism for the formation of the globular structure is tried to be understood and also modeled.

Abstract: The effect of processing parameters on the semi-solid microstructure has been investigated in the course of semi-solid slurry preparation of A356 Al alloy by ultrasonic vibration method. The A356 melt in temperature of 630660°C was poured into a special metal cup, and exposed to ultrasonic vibration at 20 kHz or isothermal holding for a certain time after vibration. The results show that the semi-solid slurry with primary α-Al crystals smaller than 90 μm and an average shape coefficient F S (SF was defined as SF4 A/L2P) above 0.5 could be prepared by ultrasonic vibration for a time less than 144 s. In the isothermal holding period after a short time of ultrasonic vibration, the average particle diameter increased with the increase of holding time, but F S decreased at first, and then increased a little. It was discovered that ultrasonic vibration is a good method to prepare semi-solid slurry with fine and relatively round primary crystals due to cavitation and acoustic streaming effects.

Abstract: Semi-solid metal forming (SSM) has been recognized as a new forming technology, which is different from the present metal forming methods. Basic research on SSM has been put into operation and a number of SSM techniques have been widely applied in industry. In the application of SSM technique, at present, it is mainly used to produce the low melting point alloys such as Al-base, Zn-base and Mg-base alloys, but the high melting point alloys, for example steels as the most widely useful metal are not extensively studied and applied. In the present work, the electromagnetic stirring method was used to prepare semi-solid slurry of spring steel–60Si2Mn and stainless steel–1Cr18Ni9Ti. At the same time, spring steel–60Si2Mn and stainless steel–1Cr18Ni9Ti were directly rolled into thick strips in the semi-solid state (Rheo-rolling). It is aimed at studying the microstructure and properties of the strips to establish the feasibility of rheo-rolling for the production of the steel strips. According to the present research work, it has been shown that rheo-rolling process combines the casting and hot rolling into a single step for near net-shape production, compared with the conventional hot-rolled metallurgical process. Besides being such a cost-effective process, rheo-rolling process possesses irregular crystal grains such as rosette-type primary crystals in the microstructures because of sufficient agitation during solidification. The overall homogenization of the macrostructures in the whole part of steel ingot can be achieved.

Abstract: The needs for high-strength and light weight structural materials have increased in automotive and aerospace structure applications. The semi-solid processed light alloys inherently offer the opportunity to produce high integrity components for these requirements. Various processing methods exist for applying agitation to a molten metal during solidification to obtain metal slurries suitable for semi-solid metal processing. In this paper, a new technique (Cup-Cast method) to achieve semi-solid metal structure using agitation and direct spherical growth during solidification is reported. Cup-Cast method is the most quick and simple semi-solid processing route which semi-solid slurry would be prepared just by pouring molten metal into a metallic cup. In this study Cup-Cast method was introduced and effect of process parameters on micro-structural characterization of slurry prepared by this method was investigated.