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Cooling slope casting to obtain thixotropic feedstock I: observations with a transparent analogue

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Abstract

New Rheocasting (the NRC process) is a recently developed semisolid processing route. There are two versions of this route. In one, molten alloy is poured directly into a tilted mould and through careful temperature control during cooling a spheroidal semisolid microstructure is achieved, before the material in the mould is upended into a shot sleeve and hence forced into a die. Alternatively, the molten alloy is poured onto a cooling slope and thence into a mould before processing. The aim of the work described in this article, and its companion, was to develop understanding of the microstructural development during the initial stages of this process i.e. in the mould before processing and with the cooling slope/mould combination. In this first article, an analogue system based on aqueous ammonium chloride has been used to visualise what happens when an alloy is poured into a tilted mould with a chill wall. In the companion article, the results for pouring A356 aluminium alloy directly into a mould, and also via a cooling slope into a mould are presented.

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Acknowledgements

E. Cardoso Legoretta would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by CONACyt and SEP and also the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo for support. The authors are grateful to the Department of Engineering Materials at the University of Sheffield for the provision of laboratory facilities. H. Atkinson would like to acknowledge the University of Leicester for sabbatical leave.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Centro de Investigaciones en Materiales y Metalurgia, Cuidad Universitaria, Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo Km. 4.5, Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico

    E. Cardoso Legoretta

  2. Department of Engineering Materials, University of Sheffield, Sir Robert Hadfield Building, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK

    E. Cardoso Legoretta & H. Jones

  3. Department of Engineering, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK

    H. V. Atkinson

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  1. E. Cardoso Legoretta
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  2. H. V. Atkinson
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  3. H. Jones
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Correspondence to H. V. Atkinson.

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Cardoso Legoretta, E., Atkinson, H.V. & Jones, H. Cooling slope casting to obtain thixotropic feedstock I: observations with a transparent analogue. J Mater Sci 43, 5448–5455 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-008-2828-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-008-2828-2

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