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Gas-Enhanced Ultrahigh-Shear Mixing: An Application to Molten Aluminum Alloys

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Abstract

A new mixing technology that explores an integration of ultrahigh shearing with gas injection, directly into the mixer shear zone, has been applied to molten aluminum alloys. The refining and homogenizing effects were assessed through microscopic observations of solidified structures. For the set of process parameters applied, the ultrahigh shear alone caused structural refinement, which doubled the sole effect of gas flotation. Combining ultrahigh shear with gas injection magnified the structural refinement, which substantially exceeded the individual effects, caused by gas flotation and ultrahigh shearing. In addition to matrix grain-size reduction by almost two orders of magnitude, the complex intermetallic compounds, being inherently coarse in conventional castings, were also refined. The results confirmed our earlier observations made through transparent media that an interaction of large volume of fine gas bubbles with the liquid, superimposed on ultrahigh shear, leading to intensive cavitation, generated in the cylindrical rotor–stator apparatus, drastically enhanced the treatment outcome.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the ecoENERGY Innovation Initiative (ecoEII EETR 027) and Program of Energy Research and Development (PERD) of Natural Resources Canada. The authors would like to thank P. Newcombe, D. McFarlan, D. Saleh and H. Webster from CanmetMATERIALS for synthesis of the proprietary Al alloy and R. Zavadil for metallography work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CanmetMATERIALS, Natural Resources Canada, 183 Longwood Road South, Hamilton, ON, L8P 0A1, Canada

    Frank Czerwinski, Frank Benkel & Gabriel Birsan

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  1. Frank Czerwinski
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  2. Frank Benkel
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  3. Gabriel Birsan
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Correspondence to Frank Czerwinski.

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Manuscript submitted July 9, 2019.

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Czerwinski, F., Benkel, F. & Birsan, G. Gas-Enhanced Ultrahigh-Shear Mixing: An Application to Molten Aluminum Alloys. Metall Mater Trans B 51, 1079–1087 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-020-01803-1

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