Effect of Pouring Temperature on Microstructure and Properties of A356 Alloy Strip by a Novel Semisolid Micro Fused-Casting for Metal

Abstract

A novel semisolid micro fused-casting (MFC) for preparing A356 alloy strips is proposed, and the effects of process parameters of pouring temperature on the microstructure and properties of A356 alloy strips are investigated. MFC means that the semisolid metal slurry was pressed out from the outlet of bottom of crucible to the movable plate, and directly solidified and formed layer by layer. The microstructure and properties of A356 semisolid alloy slurry were influenced by the cooling conditions. Results show that the aluminu alloy A356 strip samples fabricated by micro fused-casting had good performances and uniform structures with the pouring temperature at 595 °C and the substrate movement speed at 18 mm/s. The fine grains of the primary α-Al phase with average grain size of 53 μm and shape factor up to 0.72 was obtained, the ultimate tensile strength of the aluminum alloy A356 strip reaches 243.79±3.91 MPa, while the average vickers hardness is 82.65±1.86 HV.

Keywords

A356 alloy / semisolid / micro fused-casting / pouring temperature

References

[1] Sercombe T B, Schaffer G B. Rapid Manufacturing of Aluminum Components[J]. Science, 2003, 301(5637): 1225-1227.

[2] Liu Z, Mao W, Zhao Z. Effect of Pouring Temperature on Semi-solid Slurry of A356 Al Alloy Prepared by Weak Electromagnetic Stirring[J]. Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China, 2006, 16(1): 71-76.

[3] Mazzolani F M. 3D Aluminium Structures[J]. Thin-Walled Structures, 2012, 61: 258-266.

[4] Liu Z, Mao W, Zhao Z. Research on Semi-solid Slurry of a Hypoeutectic Al-Si Alloy Prepared by Low Superheat Pouring and Weak Electromagnetic Stirring[J]. Rare Metals, 2006, 25(2): 177-183.

[5] Mao W, Bai Y, Lin H. Effect of Pouring Height on the Solidifed Microstructure of AlSi7Mg Alloy[J]. Journal of University of Science and Technology Beijing, Mineral, Metallurgy, Material, 2006, 13(4): 324-328.

[6] Luo X, Han Y, Li Q, et al. Microstructure and Properties of ZL101 Alloy Affected by Substrate Movement Speed of a Novel Semisolid Continuous Micro Fused-Casting for Metal Process[J]. Journal of Wuhan University of Technology, 2018, 03: 715-719.

[7] Mao W, Li Y, Zhao A, et al. The Formation Mechanism of Non-dendritic Primary α-Al Phase in Semi-solid AlSi7Mg Alloy[J]. Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, 2001, 2(1): 97-99.

[8] Zhang H, Wang G, Luo Y, et al. Rapid Hard Tooling by Plasma Spraying for Injection Molding and Sheet Metal Forming[J]. Thin Solid Films, 2001, 390(1): 7-12.

[9] Guan R, Zhao Z, Lian C, et al. Microstructure Formation Mechanism and Properties of a Mg-3Sn-1Mn (wt%) Magnesium Alloy Processed by a Novel Semisolid Continuous Shearing and Rolling Process[J]. Metals and Materials International, 2013, 19(1): 33-38.

[10] M Orme. A Novel Technique of Rapid Solidifcation Net-Form Materials Synthesis[J]. Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 1993, 2(3): 399-407.

[11] Qi M, Kang Y, Zhou B, et al. A Forced Convection Stirring Process for Rheo-HPDC Aluminum and Magnesium Alloys[J]. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 2016, 234: 353-367.

[12] Guan R, Zhao Z, Lian C, et al. Mathematic Model of Rolling Pressure During a Semisolid Shearing-rolling Process[J]. International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials, 2012, 19(12): 1121-1127.

[13] Zhang H, Kong F, Wang G, et al. Numerical Simulation of Multiphase Transient Field During Plasma Deposition Manufacturing[J]. Journal of Applied Physics, 2006, 100(12): 123-522.

[14] Wang X, Yan Y, Pan Y, et al. Generation of Three-dimensional Hepatocyte/gelatin Structures with Rapid Prototyping System[J]. Tissue Engineering, 2006, 12(1): 83-90.

[15] Flemings M. Behavior of Metal Alloys in the Semisolid State[J]. Metallurgical Transactions B, 1991, 22(3): 269-293.

[16] Luo X, Li Z, Si X, et al. Effect of Stirring Velocity in Micro Fused-Casting for Metal on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of A356 Aluminum Alloy Slurry[J]. Journal of Wuhan University of Technology, 2016, 05: 1131-1136.

[17] Luo X, Yan Q, Li Z. Effect of the Pouring Temperature by Novel Synchronous Rolling-casting for Metal on Microstructure and Properties of ZLl04 Alloy[J]. Journal of Materials Research, 2016, 31(16): 2524-2530.