Effect of cooling rate on the solidification behavior of AC AlSi7Cu2 alloy

Abstract

In this work effect of cooling rate on the size of the grains, SDAS, size of the β precipitation and thermal characteristic results of AC AlSi7Cu2 cast alloy have been described. The solidification process was studied using the cooling curve and crystallization curve at solidification rate ranging from 0.16 °C s−1 up to 0.71 °C s−1. It was determined that the higher solidification rate increases the aluminum dendrite nucleation temperature and solid fraction at the dendrite coherency point, which implies that mass feeding is extended. In addition, it was observed that the non-equilibrium solidus temperature and the size of the grains, SDAS and size of the β precipitation constituent decreases when the solidification rate increases. This work demonstrates that the thermal and chemical modification of the eutectic silicon can be quantitatively assessed by analysis of the cooling curve thermal characteristics.