Numerical Simulation of Grain Refinement of Pure Copper Solidified under Pulsed Magnetic Field

Abstract

Grain refinement of pure copper solidified with the low voltage pulsed magnetic field (LVPMF) has been achieved in our previous experiments. To further study the influence of solidification condition on the as-cast structure and the relevant mechanism, the numerical investigation of grain growth of pure copper under LVPMF was conducted in the present work. The calculation result indicates that the temperature field and the cooling rate in the melt of pure copper become more uniform for the condition with LVPMF, meanwhile the cooling rate of melt in central region is much higher than the case without LVPMF. It is found the grain refinement by LVPMF is strongly related to the cooling condition. For the case without LVPMF, the larger the cooling rate is, the smaller the arm spacing of columnar grain structure. Under the LVPMF, the solidification pattern changes to equiaxed grain structure and the better grain refinement can be achieved with lower cooling rate.