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Effect of Li Content on Hot-Tearing Susceptibility of Ternary Al-Cu-Li Alloys: Experimental Investigation, Criterion Prediction, and Simulation Assessment

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Abstract

Al-Cu-Li alloys are promising structural materials due to their combined properties of low density and high specific strength. However, the severe hot-tearing susceptibility (HTS) during solidification inevitably deteriorates their casting quality. In this work, the influence of Li addition on the HTS of Al-2Cu-xLi (x = 0, 1, 2, 2.5, 3, and 4 wt pct) alloys was investigated by using a constrained rod-casting (CRC) apparatus equipped with a temperature-force acquisition system. Results revealed that the HTS does not follow the Λ-shaped curve with the addition of Li but exhibits an abnormal increase when Li exceeds 2.5 wt pct. Among the tested alloys, the Al-2Cu-2.5Li alloy shows the best hot-tearing resistance, while the Al-2Cu-4Li alloy presents the highest HTS. The experimental results were then compared with the predictions of Kou′s criterion and numerical simulation by using ProCAST software. These predictions are in good agreement with the experimental HTS for Li below 2.5 wt pct. However, they demonstrate a continuous decreasing trend with further increase of Li, which significantly deviates from the experimental curve. Further analysis indicated that the vulnerable temperature range is the most influential variable dominating HTS at low Li content. On the other hand, the abnormally severe HTS observed in high Li-containing alloys is attributed to the formation of Li-rich oxide inclusions, which induce strain localization between adjacent dendrites and obstruct liquid feeding in the mushy zone. In addition, the ratio curve of drop-in (DI) force to ultimate force exhibits a similar trend to the HTS curve, indicating that the severity of hot tearing can be predicted by evaluating the DI force/ultimate force ratio. These findings contribute to a profound understanding of the HTS in Al-Cu-Li alloys and are expected to provide reliable theoretical references for widespread applications.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the use of instruments and scientific and technical assistance at the Instrumental Analysis Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Dr. Yihao Wang is warmly thanked for helping with the Pandat calculation and Dr. Yingxi Li is thanked for her help in obtaining XRD data. The authors would like to thank Ms. Xiao for the language assistance. This work was financially sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51821001 and 51871148).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Research Center of Light Alloy Net Forming and the State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, P.R. China

    Youjie Guo, Liang Zhang, Guohua Wu, Yixiao Wang, Fangzhou Qi, Xuanxi Xu & Xin Tong

  2. Shanxi Jianghuai Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., Jincheng, 048000, P.R. China

    Peisen Li, Guangxiao Ren & Yingjing Geng

  3. Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co., Ltd., Xinyu, 338004, P.R. China

    Liangbin Li & Xunman Xiong

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  1. Youjie Guo
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Guo, Y., Zhang, L., Wu, G. et al. Effect of Li Content on Hot-Tearing Susceptibility of Ternary Al-Cu-Li Alloys: Experimental Investigation, Criterion Prediction, and Simulation Assessment. Metall Mater Trans A 54, 4850–4867 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-023-07207-5

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