Macrosegregation behavior of solute Cu in the solidifying Al-Cu alloys in super-gravity field

Abstract

In this research, super gravity field was introduced to investigate the macrosegregation behavior of solute Cu in Al-Cu alloys in super gravity field systematically. And the macrosegregation mechanism was also explored by well-designed experiments. When Al-Cu alloys were solidified in super gravity field, the macrosegregation of solute Cu was generated and the solute Cu increases along the direction of super gravity field. The macrosegregation becomes severer with the increasing gravity coefficient and the solute content. When the Al-4.5wt%Cu alloy was solidified in super gravity field of G = 800, the copper content at the bottom position increases up to 8.48 wt% and that at the up position decreases to only 2.58 wt%, resulting in the positive segregation at the bottom and the negative segregation at the top of the sample. The segregation mechanisms are that solute-rich regions, which have a larger density than the main liquid, sediment toward the bottom of the sample under the effect of super gravity, and at the final solidification stage, super gravity can drive the residual solute-rich liquid to flow toward the bottom of the sample along the dendrite space (channel), which formed the super gravity channel segregation.