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Effects of Zr addition on solidification characteristics of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy using thermal analysis

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Abstract

The effect of Zr as a grain refiner on the solidification behavior, micro- and macrostructure of a new Al–Zn–Mg–Cu aluminum super-high strength alloy containing high Zn content was studied. The addition of 2 mass% Zr reduced the grain size from 1500 to 190 μm. Moreover, the dendritic structure of the alloy altered from a coarse, elongated and non-uniform morphology to a rosette-like shape and more uniform one. The parameters of liquidus region of cooling curve obtained from thermal analysis were in a good correlation with grain size results. The maximum of first derivative in the liquidus region was introduced beside recalescence undercooling which could predict the grain refinement level even after disappearing of recalescence in the cooling curve. Furthermore, the addition of 1 mass% Zr enhanced fraction of solid in dendrite coherency point from 21 to 31% and lessened the amounts of porosity from 2.3 to 1.4%.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank University of Tehran for financial support of this research.

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  1. School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, P.O. Box 14395-515, Iran

    Saman Mostafapoor, Mehdi Malekan & Masoud Emamy

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  1. Saman Mostafapoor
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Correspondence to Mehdi Malekan.

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Mostafapoor, S., Malekan, M. & Emamy, M. Effects of Zr addition on solidification characteristics of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy using thermal analysis. J Therm Anal Calorim 134, 1457–1469 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-018-7426-1

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