Influences of electric pulse on solidification structure of LM-29 Al-Si alloy

The metallographic structure of LM-29 aluminum-silicon alloy modified by electric pulse treatment has been investigated and compared with those untreated. The solidification structure of LM-29 alloy has been analyzed by means of M1AP3 Quantimet image processing and analysis system, and then the solidification process has been analyzed by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results indicate that the primary silicon phase was refined remarkably by electric pulse while the tensile strength and elongation properties increased accordingly. Electric pulse treatment can also increase the binding power between silicon clusters and alloy melt matrix, as a result, the precipitation of primary silicon phase is suppressed to meet the demand of supercooling degree for nucleating, correspondingly. The electric pulse modification has great influence on the size of silicon atomic cluster as well as its distribution in the melt, subsequently, leads to the refinement of solidification structure.