Effect of substrate movement speed by synchronous rolling-casting freeform manufacturing for metal on microstructure and mechanical property of ZL104 aluminum alloy slurry

Abstract

Synchronous rolling-casting freeform manufacturing for Metal (SRCFMM) means that the refined liquid metal is continuously pressed out from the bottom of crucible. There is a horizontal movable plate beneath the outlet. The clearance between the outlet and the plate is about several hundred micrometers. SRCFMM, similar to additive manufacturing, implies layer by layer shaping and consolidation of feedstock to arbitrary configurations, normally using a computer controlled movable plate. The primary dendritic crystal is easily crushed by movement of substrate in the rolling-casting area. ZL104 was used as the test materials, determining the control temperature by differential scanning thermal analysis ( DSC), preparing a kind of samples by SRCFMM, then analyzing microstructures and mechanical property of the samples. Characteristics and distribution of the primary particles were assessed by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrum (EDS) and image analysis software. Mechanical property of the samples was assessed by vickers hardness. The results show that the samples fabricated by SRCFMM have uniform structures and good performances with the velocity of the substrate controlled about 10 cm/s and temperature at about 580 degrees C.