Abstract
Uniaxial compression and indentation of a semi-solid Al-15wt.%Cu alloy was investigated by high speed synchrotron X-ray microtomography, quantifying the microstructural response of a solidifying alloy to applied strain. Tomograms were continuously acquired whilst performing deformation using a precision thermal-mechanical rig on a synchrotron beamline. The results illustrate how defects and shear bands can form in response to different loading conditions. Using digital volume correlation, the global and localised strains were measured, providing quantitative datasets for granular flow models of semi-solid deformation.
Highlights
Semi-solid processing (SSP) is being considered over conventional casting processes for some aerospace and automotive components, as it is thought to give improved mechanical properties
It can be seen that the liquid channel opened slightly at the middle region of the sample with liquid flowing into the opening
Semi-solid indentation In the second example we investigate the behaviour of semi-solid Al-15wt.%Cu during indentation
Summary
Semi-solid processing (SSP) is being considered over conventional casting processes for some aerospace and automotive components, as it is thought to give improved mechanical properties. Many of the early studies, such as that by Spencer et al [2], looked at the shear-thinning behaviour in semi-solid Sn-Pb. Since that time, numerous studies have been conducted to determine the constitutive properties of partially solidifying alloys using deformation methods such as rotation viscometer, compression, and indentation. Numerous studies have been conducted to determine the constitutive properties of partially solidifying alloys using deformation methods such as rotation viscometer, compression, and indentation The authors of these studies have proposed a range of behaviours, ranging from shear-thinning (thixotropic) [2], shearthickening [3], and treatment as a continuum ‘spongy-like’ solid network saturated with liquid [4]. These prior studies did not link material behaviour to the detailed kinetics occurring at the microstructural scale during deformation, in which there is a complex interaction of evolving solid and liquid in a solidifying alloy
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