Modeling of the viscosity in the AL–Cu–Mg–Si system: Database construction

Abstract

The viscosity database for the Al–Cu–Mg–Si system was constructed using the CALPHAD (CALculation of PHAse Diagram)-type formalism. Viscosities of pure elements were described with the Arrhenius formula based on the experimental data. Subsequently, viscosities of the Al–Cu, Al–Si, Al–Mg and Cu–Si binary systems were assessed via CALPHAD technique and compared with the corresponding experimental data. Due to the lack of experimental data, viscosities in the Mg–Si and Cu–Mg systems were estimated by means of the Hirai's equation. The viscosities of the ternary Al–Cu–Si system were then predicted based on the binary parameters and compared with the experimental results. Using the established viscosity database for the quaternary Al–Cu–Mg–Si system, the viscosities of some commercial aluminum alloys were predicted. The reasonable agreement between calculations and experiments in Al-rich corner indicates that the CALPHAD-type database for the viscosity is valid and the database is suitable for predicting the viscosity of the commercial Al–Cu–Mg–Si based alloys.