The influences of the microstructure morphology of A356 alloy on its rheological behavior in the semi-solid state

Abstract

In this paper, the rheological behavior of semi-solid A356 alloy with different solid morphology was studied with an improved static shear test method. The results indicated that the rheological behavior of the alloy was significantly influenced by the structural morphology of the alloy. The alloy had quite different rheological properties even though the same fraction of solid existed in the semi-solid state. The rheological behavior of the alloy fitted a five-element model (H1–[N1|H2]–[N2|S]) for the as-cast microstructure with developed primary (α–Al dendrites, whereas it fitted a six-element model ([H1|S1]–[N1|H2]–[N2|S]) for degenerated dendritic or spheroidal primary α–Al, which had been obtained by electromagnetic stirring and spray deposition, respectively. Computation results showed that the deforming capability and shear rate of the semi-solid alloy increased remarkably with the change of primary α–Al from developed dendrites to degenerated dendrites, and then to spheroidal structures. On the other hand, the temperature dependence of the rheological properties of the semi-solid alloy with spheroidal or degenerated dendritic primary α–Al was much less than that with developed primary α–Al dendrites.