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Microstructure evolution of Al-Si hypoeutectic alloys prepared by controlled diffusion solidification

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Abstract

The possibility of changing the dendritic microstructure associated with the conventional casting processes of hypoeutectic Al-Si alloys to non-dendritic microstructure by using the controlled diffusion solidification process (CDS) has been investigated. The successful CDS process depends on mixing two precursor alloys heated at a superheat condition near their respective liquidus temperature. Experimental work and simulation work using Ansys software were carried out in the present study by employing Al-Si and Al-Cu systems. This study investigates the effect of the content of the two precursor alloys, the mass ratio changing from 2.6 to 8.3, and the superheat of the first precursor alloy on changing the microstructure. The experimental results show that the pure aluminum used as the first precursor alloy needs more undercooling and agitation during the mixing to form the non-dendritic microstructure compared with hypoeutectic Al-Si alloys. Furthermore, mixing pure aluminum with hypereutectic alloy can change the microstructure of hypoeutectic alloys leading to extending the possibility to choose the second precursor alloy. The results also show that a higher mass ratio is preferred when mixing pure aluminum with hypoeutectic alloy. Furthermore, the microstructure of the alloy Al- 6.45Si- 4Cu- 0.5 Mg- 0.66Fe- 0.66 wt%Zn was successfully changed via the CDS process by mixing Al- 7.75Si- 0.79Fe- 0.78Zn- 0.6 wt%Mg at 2 °C superheat into Al-24 wt%Cu at around 5 °C superheat. The simulation results show that lower air bubbles and better distribution of the two precursor alloys happen during the mixing step when using the Al-Cu system.

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Fig. 1
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taken from the middle of the sample for the experiment named Ex8 in Table 2, b optical microstructure image taken from the middle of the sample for the experiment named Ex9 in Table 2, and c optical microstructure image taken from the edge of the sample for the experiment named Ex9

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Availability of data and materials

The experimental and simulation data is transparent.

Notes

  1. Ansys 15, Ansys Inc.

  2. Thermo-Calc academic 2020.

Abbreviations

Alloy1 :

First precursor alloy

Alloy2 :

Second precursor alloy

Alloy3 :

Resultant alloy

AL and BL :

Variables of density

C 1 :

Composition of Alloy1 (wt%)

C 2 :

Composition of Alloy2 (wt%)

C Al :

Aluminum concentration (wt%)

C Cu :

Copper concentration (wt%)

C o :

Composition of Alloy3 (wt%)

C P :

Specific heat (Jkg−1 K−1)

C Si :

Silicon concentration (wt%)

C Solute :

Solute concentration (wt%)

Hsol :

Heat of solution (J)

m1 :

Mass of Alloy1 (kg)

m2 :

Mass of Alloy2 (kg)

mr :

Mass ratio (m1/m2)

N :

Number of species

T :

Temperature (K)

T 1 :

Alloy1 temperature (K)

T 2 :

Alloy2 temperature (K)

T L :

Liquidus temperature (K)

T S :

Solidus temperature (K)

T L1 :

Liquidus temperature of Alloy1 (K)

T L2 :

Liquidus temperature of Alloy2 (K)

T∞ :

Bulk temperature (K)

U :

Velocity (ms−1)

β T :

Temperature dependence variable

β C :

Concentration dependence variable

µ :

Viscosity (mPa)

Ω:

Regular solution

K :

Thermal conductivity (WK−1m−2)

𝛔 :

Surface tension (Nm−1)

ρ :

Density (kgm−3)

η Alloy :

Multy component viscosity (mPa)

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Mr. Doug Culley, Mr. Xiaogang Li, and Xiaochun Zheng for assisting in this research project.

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street W, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L7, Canada

    Abbas A. Khalaf

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AAK designed the study, performed the research, analyzed the data, wrote the paper, and conducted experiments and data processing.

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Correspondence to Abbas A. Khalaf.

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Khalaf, A.A. Microstructure evolution of Al-Si hypoeutectic alloys prepared by controlled diffusion solidification. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 120, 5003–5014 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-09075-6

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