Influence of solidification parameters on the thermal conductivity of cast A319 aluminum alloy

One of the major causes of premature failure in A319 aluminum alloy powertrain components is the accumulation of thermal stresses. Consequently, the engine operating temperature is restricted to prevent large internal temperature gradients in the components, thereby reducing thermal efficiency. The objective of this research was to investigate the influence of solidification parameters on the thermal conductivity of A319 alloy, in an effort to promote uniform temperature distributions in powertrain components. Castings with varying mould preheating temperatures were characterized using thermal analysis, microstructural analysis, mechanical testing, and thermal conductivity measurements via the transient plane source method. The results indicated that increasing solidification rate was associated with two competing phenomena: Whereas finer secondary phases improved conductivity, a finer dendritic structure reduced conductivity. As a result, a critical solidification rate was found to attain maximum thermal conductivity in A319.

Influence of solidification parameters on the thermal conductivity of cast A319 aluminum alloy

One of the major causes of premature failure in A319 aluminum alloy powertrain components is the accumulation of thermal stresses. Consequently, the engine operating temperature is restricted to prevent large internal temperature gradients in the components, thereby reducing thermal efficiency. The objective of this research was to investigate the influence of solidification parameters on the thermal conductivity of A319 alloy, in an effort to promote uniform temperature distributions in powertrain components. Castings with varying mould preheating temperatures were characterized using thermal analysis, microstructural analysis, mechanical testing, and thermal conductivity measurements via the transient plane source method. The results indicated that increasing solidification rate was associated with two competing phenomena: Whereas finer secondary phases improved conductivity, a finer dendritic structure reduced conductivity. As a result, a critical solidification rate was found to attain maximum thermal conductivity in A319.

Characteristics, Mechanism and Criterion of Channel Segregation in NbTi Alloy via Numerical Simulations and Experimental Characterizations

Channel segregation (CS) is the most typical defect during solidification of NbTi alloy. Based on numerical simulation and experimental characterizations, we deeply elucidated its characteristics, formation mechanism, effecting factor and prediction criterion. According to acid etching, industrial X-ray transmission imaging, 3D X-ray microtomography and chemical analysis, it was found that in a casing ingot, by He cooling, finer grain size, weaker segregation and slighter CS can be obtained compared with air-cooled ingot. The simulation results of macrosegregation show that CS is caused by the strong natural convection in the mushy zone triggered by the thermo-solutal gradient. Its formation can be divided into two stages including channel initiation and growth. In addition, due to the stronger cooling effect of the He treatment, the interdendritic flow velocity becomes smaller, consequently lowering the positive segregation and CS and improving the global homogenization of the final ingot. Finally, to predict the formation of CS, the Rayleigh number model was proposed and its critical value was found to be 15 in NbTi alloy for the first time. When it is lower than the threshold, CS disappears. It provides an effective tool to evaluate and optimize the solidification parameters to fabricate the homogenized NbTi ingot in engineering practice.

Evaluating Microstructure, Wear Resistance and Tensile Properties of Al-Bi(-Cu, -Zn) Alloys for Lightweight Sliding Bearings

One of the most important routes for obtaining Al-Bi-x monotectic alloys is directional solidification. The control of the thermal solidification parameters under transient heat flow conditions can provide an optimized distribution of the Bismuth (Bi) soft minority phase embedded into an Al-rich matrix. In the present contribution, Al-Bi, Al-Bi-Zn, and Al-Bi-Cu alloys were manufactured through this route with their microstructures characterized and dimensioned based on the solidification cooling rates. The main purpose is to evaluate the influence of typical hardening elements in Al alloys (zinc and copper) in the microstructure, tensile properties, and wear of the monotectic Al-Bi alloy. These additions are welcome in the development of light and more resistant alloys due to the growing demands in new sliding bearing designs. It is demonstrated that the addition of 3.0 wt.% Cu promotes microstructural refining, doubles the wear resistance, and triples the tensile strength with some minor decrease in ductility in relation to the binary Al-3.2 wt.% Bi alloy. With the addition of 3.0 wt.% Zn, although there is some microstructural refining, little contribution can be seen in the application properties.

The dependency of the microhardnes on microstructure and solidification parameters of directionally solidified Al–4.5wt.%Cu in clay mold

Improvement of material properties is achieved by controlling parameters involved in the solidification process; therefore, understanding them and their implication are essential. This work investigated the dependency of solidification parameters (cooling rate (TR), growth rate (VL), local solidification time (tSL), temperature gradient (G)), microstructure parameters (primary (λ1) and secondary (λ2) dendrite arm spacing), and micro-hardness values (HV) of Al-4.5wt.%Cu in the clay mold. The samples were directionally solidified in Bridgman vertical apparatus and the temperature is recorded during the cooling. The solidification parameters were obtained from the cooling curve. The microstructures and micro-hardness were characterized using an optical microscope and micro-hardness tester. The microstructure parameters were measured and plotted as functions of solidification parameters using linear regression. The relation between HV and microstructure parameters are analyzed. The results show the λ1 and λ2 change inversely with solidification parameters except for tSL. Comparison to other works shows the exponent values of solidification parameters of the clay mold are lower than that of the carbon and stainless-steel mold. The exponent value of λ2 in the clay mold is -0.183, close to the value in the graphite mold. The clay has the potential as mold material since it characteristic close to the graphite.

On Directional Dendritic Growth and Primary Spacing—A Review

The primary spacing is intrinsically linked with the mechanical behavior of directionally solidified materials. Because of this relationship, a significant amount of solidification work is reported in the literature, which relates the primary spacing to the process variables. This review provides a comprehensive chronological narrative on the development of the directional dendritic growth problem over the past 85 years. A key focus within this review is detailing the relationship between key solidification parameters, the operating point of the dendrite tip, and the primary spacing. This review critiques the current state of directional dendritic growth and primary spacing modelling, briefly discusses dendritic growth computational and experimental research, and suggests areas for future investigation.

Numerical and Experimental Investigations of Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) Using STS 316L

This study aimed to understand the effect of heat accumulation on microstructure formation on STS 316L during multilayer deposition by a laser metal deposition (LMD) process and to predict the microstructure morphology. A comprehensive experimental and numerical study was conducted to quantify the solidification parameters (temperature gradient (G) and growth rate (R)) in the LMD multilayer deposition process. During deposition, the temperature profile at a fixed point in the deposit was measured to validate the numerical model, and then the solidification parameters were quantified using the model. Simultaneously, the microstructure of the deposit was investigated to confirm the microstructure morphology. Then, a relationship between the microstructure morphology and the G/R was proposed using a solidification map. The findings of this study can guide the design of scanning paths to produce deposits with a uniform structure.