The mechanism of grain refinement during solidification of Zn-Ti base alloys

Through cooling curve determinations, metallography, and electron microprobe analysis the mechanism of grain refinement in Zn-Ti and Zn-Ti-Cu alloys was determined. It is shown that zinc-titanium-oxide particles in the melt act as nucleants. Through probe analysis and considerations of matching of crystallographic planes it appears that the nuclei are the spinel Zn₂TiO₄. Additions of lead to Zn-Ti melts drastically reduces the effectiveness of the nucleant.     

The alstruc microstructure solidification model for industrial aluminum alloys

The model predicts the solidification path in the aluminum corner of the AlCuFeMgMnSi phase diagram, with compensation for solid-state diffusion and particle growth undercoolings. Input is the composition and the rate of cooling. Output is the temperature vs fraction solid; the solid-state concentration profiles; the type, volume fraction, and size of the intermetallic particles; and also the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity, density, specific heat, and heat of fusion for use in thermal models.     

An analytical model for nodular eutectic grain predictions during solidification

In this work, analytical expressions are derived for the globular eutectic transformation, which occurs during the solidification of nodular iron. The model incorporates heat and mass balance equations in considering nucleation and growth of nodular eutectic grains. In particular, an expression is found that relates the volumetric density of nodular eutectic grains to the maximum degree of undercooling. The proposed expression includes various experimental constants, which are well defined in nodular iron. Accordingly, good agreement is found to exist between the experimental and predicted data on the density of nodular eutectic grains and the maximum degree of undercooling.     

Eutectic solidification of aluminum-silicon alloys

A mechanism that describes nucleation and growth as well as morphology modification by chemical additives of the eutectic phases in aluminum-silicon hypoeutectic alloys is presented. The mechanism is supported with results of nonequilibrium thermal analyses, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction, and elemental X-ray mapping, as well as results of high-temperature rheological measurements that are performed on alloy samples of precisely controlled chemistry.     

Nonequilibrium solidification of Fe-P alloys

The specific features of solidification of Fe-P alloys in the concentration range 5?C25 at % P have been studied by differential thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction. The equilibrium ??-Fe + Fe₃P eutectic is shown to form immediately from melt only for compositions with 17?C19 at % P when a melt is superheated below temperatures of 1130?C1160°C, at which the type of composition short-range ordering changes (Fe₃P ?? Fe₂P) under insignificant (??50°C) supercooling conditions. A nonequilibrium ??-Fe + Fe₂P eutectic forms during cooling of the alloy at a large (??200°C) supercooling.     

Simulation of eutectic solidification structures of binary alloys: a multiparticle diffusion limited aggregation model

The (isothermal) eutectic solidification structures of binary alloys have been simulated using a two-dimensional monte carlo model. The model takes into account simultaneous diffusion of all liquid atoms, incorporates the energy contributions of like and unlike nearest and next-nearest neighbor bonds in the solid on solidification, and allows surface rearrangement at the solid-liquid interface. It has been demonstrated that results obtained from this model exhibit phenomena observed during eutectic solidification in practice, for example, the passage of the growth rate through a maximum upon decreasing temperature. Particular attention has been devoted to the effect of growth parameters, such as the next nearest neighbor interaction in the solid and the surface relaxtion length, on the morphology of the growing solid phase.     

The nucleation and solidification of Al-Ti alloys

A series of hyperperitectic Al-Ti alloys at 0.35, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.8 wt pct Ti has been frozen at rates varying from less than 1°C/s to in excess of 100°C/s. Cooling-curve analyses, metallographic and microprobe examinations, taken altogether, allow identification both of the nucleants and the solidification modes acting in this important alloy system. Two sets of conclusions are drawn, one in general about low concentration peritectic systems like Al-Ti, and the other about particular interactions in Al-Ti. For example, it is revealed that Al_xTi compounds exist; Al₃Ti, Al_xTi and Al are nucleated by TiC; and Al_xTi and TiC are both nucleants for aluminum. Formerly of the Ford Scientific Staff, is now Senior Engineer, Société National d’Etude et de Construction de Moteurs d’Aviation, Gennevilliers, France.     

Alternating grain orientation and weld solidification cracking

A new mechanism for reducing weld solidification cracking was proposed, based on the concept of the crack path and resistance to crack propagation, and its effectiveness was verified in magnetically oscillated GTA welds of a rather crack susceptible material 2014 aluminum alloy. This mechanism,i.e., alternating grain orientation, was most pronounced in welds made with transverse arc oscillation of low frequency and high amplitude, and solidification cracking was dramatically reduced in these welds. The effect of the arc oscillation pattern, amplitude, and frequency on the formation of alternating columnar grains and the reduction of solidification cracking in GTA welds of 2014 aluminum alloy was examined and explained. The present study demonstrated for the first time that columnar grains can, in fact, be very effective in reducing solidification cracking, provided that they are oriented favorably.     

Densities of Pb-Sn alloys during solidification

Data for the densities and expansion coefficients of solid and liquid alloys of the Pb-Sn system are consolidated in this paper. More importantly, the data are analyzed with the purpose of expressing either the density of the solid or of the liquid as a function of its composition and temperature. In particular, the densities of the solid, Eqs. [15] and [16], and of the liquid, Eqs. [24] and [25], during dendritic solidification are derived. Finally, the solutal and thermal coefficients of volume expansion for the liquid are given as functions of temperature and composition (Figure 9).     

A three-dimensional cellular automation-finite element model for the prediction of solidification grain structures

A three-dimensional (3-D) model for the prediction of dendritic grain structures formed during solidification is presented. This model is built on the basis of a 3-D cellular automaton (CA) algorithm. The simulation domain is subdivided into a regular lattice of cubic cells. Using physically based rules for the simulation of nucleation and growth phenomena, a state index associated with each cell is switched from zero (liquid state) to a positive value (mushy and solid state) as solidification proceeds. Because these physical phenomena are related to the temperature field, the cell grid is superimposed to a coarser finite element (FE) mesh used for the solution of the heat flow equation. Two coupling modes between the microscopic CA and macroscopic FE calculations have been designed. In a so-called “weak” coupling mode, the temperature of each cell is simply interpolated from the temperature of the FE nodes using a unique solidification path at the macroscopic scale. In a “full” coupling mode, the enthalpy field is also interpolated from the FE nodes to the CA cells and a fraction of solid increment is computed for each mushy cell using a truncated Scheil microsegregation model. These fractions of solid increments are then fed back to the FE nodes in order to update the new temperature field, thus accounting for a more realistic release of the latent heat (i.e., the solidification path is no longer unique). Special dynamic allocation techniques have been designed in order to minimize the computation costs and memory size associated with a very large number of cells (typically 10⁷ to 10⁸). The potentiality of the CAFE model is demonstrated through the predictions of typical grain structures formed during the investment casting and continuous casting processes.     

On solidification of hypereutectic Al-Si alloys

Precipitation of primary silicon was studied in Al-Si hypereutectic alloys with 15, 18, and 25 wt. % silicon content. The alloys were solidified with different cooling rates from different super heat temperatures. The liquidus and eutectic temperature were evaluated from the cooling curves. The liquidus temperature was found to decrease with cooling rate. The evaluation of microstructure showed that the fraction of primary silicon decreased with increasing the cooling rate and super heat temperature. Furthermore, the morphology of the primary silicon changed as an effect of cooling rate and super heat temperature.     

The directional solidification of Pb-Sn-Cd alloys

The growing interest in composite structures for new material applications makes it necessary to determine just how generally we can apply existing solidification theory to controlled three-phase ternary solidification. The Pb-Sn-Cd ternary eutectic system was used as a suitable model system to completely map the phase morphology as a function of G/R and compositions. By carefully controlling the freezing rate and the thermal gradient in the liquid ahead of the solid-liquid interface (in the range 400 to 500 C/cm) the following areas of interest were investigated: 1) the effect of growth velocity and composition on coupled structures, 2) ternary impurities and their effect on the minimum G/R for coupled growth in a binary system, 3) the effect of growth velocity and composition on the nonplanar interface structures, and 4) the adaptability of present theories (the constitutional supercooling criterion and Cline’s binary analysis) in predicting the region of coupled growth in a three-component eutectic system growing at steady-state. It was found that much of the one and two-phase directional solidification theory and terminology can be directly extended to a ternary eutectic system. This suggests a further extension to n-phase, m-component systems (m ≥ n) with at least a qualitative understanding of the solidification process. The Authors wish to acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation which made this study possible.     

Density and solidification shrinkage of hypoeutectic aluminum-silicon alloys

The density of liquid and solid hypoeutectic aluminum-silicon alloys has been measured with high accuracy in the temperature range 400 °C to 800 °C by using the indirect Archimedian method. A eutectic mixture of KCl and LiCl salts was used as reference liquid. This method allowed measurements of density for both liquid and solid in the same experiment and thus reduced the systematic error in estimating the solidification shrinkage. The results show that the density of liquid aluminum-silicon alloy increases with increasing silicon content, while silicon reduces the density in the solid state. Silicon content reduces the solidification shrinkage from 6.6 pct for pure aluminum to 4.4 pct for Al-11.6 pct Si.     

Contraction of aluminum alloys during and after solidification

A technique for measuring the linear contraction during and after solidification of aluminum alloys was improved and used for examination of binary and commercial alloys. The effect of experimental parameters, e.g., the length of the mold and the melt level, on the contraction was studied. The correlation between the compositional dependences of the linear contraction in the solidification range and the hot tearing susceptibility was shown for binary Al-Cu and Al-Mg alloys and used for the estimation of hot tearing susceptibility of 6XXX series alloys with copper. The linear thermal contraction coefficients for binary and commercial alloys showed complex behavior at subsolidus temperatures. The technique allows estimation of the contraction coefficient of commercial alloys in a wide range of temperatures and could be helpful for computer simulations of geometrical distortions during directchill (DC) casting.     

Macrosegregation during directional solidification of Pb-Sb alloys

Macrosegregation of Sb was investigated during directional solidification of binary Pb-Sb alloys containing 2.2 and 5.8 wt% Sb over growth rates varying from 0.8 to 30 μm s^?1. The cellular to dendritic transition was observed at a growth rate of 3.0 μm s^?1 in Pb-2.2 Sb alloy in contrast to a growth rate of 1.5 μm s^?1 in Pb-5.8 Sb alloy. The chemical analysis data revealed considerable macrosegregation of Sb along the longitudinal section of alloys. The degree of macrosegregation increased with a decrease in the growth rate. This behavior is discussed in light of thermo-solutal convection in the mushy zone as well as that in the melt ahead of the solid-liquid interface.     

Dendritic solidification of alloys in low gravity

Gravity-driven convective flow influences dendrite morphology, interdendritic fluid flow, dendrite interface morphology, casting macrosegregation, formation of channel type casting defects, and casting grain structure. Dendritic solidification experiments during multiple parabolic aircraft maneuvers for iron-carbon type alloys and superalloys show increased dendritic spacing in low-gravity periods. Larger dendrite spacings for low-gravity solidification have also been reported for sounding rocket and space laboratory experiments for metal-model and binary alloys. Convection decreases local solidification time and increases the rate of interdendritic solute removal. The elimination of convection in low gravity is thus expected to increase dendritic spacing. Convection's effect on dendritic arm coarsening is expected to be dependent on the coarsening mechanism. Decreased coarsening in low gravity found for Al-Cu is indicative of coarsening predominately by arm coalescence. This paper is based on a presentation made in the symposium “Experimental Methods for Microgravity Materials Science Research” presented at the 1988 TMS-AIME Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, January 25–29, 1988, under the auspices of the ASM/MSD Thermodynamic Data Committee and the Material Processing Committee.