The nucleation and grain growth that occur during solidification have been extensively examined, but insight into the influence of an external field on the formation of heterogeneous crystal nuclei above the liquidus remains unclear in the peritectic refinement mechanism. In this work, we studied the effect of cooling rate above the liquidus on the formation of primary Al3Zr and grain refinement in Al-0.2%Zr alloys with inter-cooling annular electromagnetic stirring (IC-AEMS). The results show that the size and distribution of primary Al3Zr are greatly improved, and the morphology transformed from large plate/blocky shapes without IC-AEMS to small blocks with IC-AEMS. Meanwhile, above the liquidus, the addition of an Al-Zr master alloy to pure Al alone did little to enhance the refinement, but after IC-AEMS, the grains were refined dramatically. The refinement result seems to be explained by two hypotheses of pre-nucleation and explosive nucleation.

High-strength aluminum alloy (mainly refers to the 7xxx series) is the optimum material for lightweight military equipment. However, this type of aluminum alloy is a wrought aluminum alloy. If it is directly formed by traditional casting methods, there will inevitably be problems such as coarseness, unevenness, looseness, and hot cracking in the structure, which will greatly affect the final performance of the part. Based on the internal cooling with annular electromagnetic stirring (IC-AEMS) method, a new technology of rheological die forging is developed in this paper, and the scale-reduced parts of a brake hub of Al-6.54Zn-2.40Cu-2.35Mg-0.10Zr aluminum alloy were prepared. The influence of IC-AEMS and the addition of rare element Sc on the structure and mechanical properties of the parts was studied. An optical microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to observe the microstructure evolution, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was used to analyze the phase distribution and composition, and the mechanical properties of the parts were tested by uniaxial tensile tests. The results show that the addition of Sc element can effectively refine the grains and improve the strength and elongation of the material; the application of IC-AEMS improves the cooling rate of the melt, increases the effective nucleation rate, and the grains are further refined. Through process optimization, scale-reduced parts of a brake hub with good formability and mechanical properties can be obtained, the ultimate tensile strength is 597.2 ± 3.1 MPa, the yield strength is 517.8 ± 4.3 MPa, and the elongation is 13.7 ± 1.3%.

A layered composite structural model with an outer wear-resistant layer of high-silicon aluminum alloy and an inner layer of ultra-high strength aluminum alloy is designed. A scaling brake drum part with layered composite was prepared by semi-solid precision forming process. The effects of process parameters such as casting temperature, specific pressure, solid layer temperature and heattreatment system on the composite interface were investigated. The results show that the casting temperature and solid layer temperature had a great influence on the interface recombination. The high forming specific pressure could effectively restrain the growth of secondary dendritesof the composite, and the proper heat treatment process could improve the morphology of the composite interface. A scaling brake drum component with A390/7050 layered composite structure was well prepared under optimal conditions.

Fly ash (FA), a solid waste product from thermal power stations, can be served as a nonreinforcing filler for polymers. Due to the lack of hydroxyl groups of FA, it is infeasible to prepare polymer composites with excellent properties by coupling agents. In this work, high performance nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR)/FA composites were prepared by designing a surficial immobility layer. First, the carboxyl group of sorbic acid (SA) undergoes interfacial acid-base neutralization reaction with metals oxide of FA to form ionic bonds. Second, the double bonds of SA can graft to NBR molecular chains with the assistance of a peroxide initiator. Consequently, 500% modulus and tensile strength of NBR/30FA/8SA composites are higher than those of NBR/30FA composite by 213.8% and 125.9%, respectively, which makes FA changing from the nonreinforcing filler to reinforcing filler and provides a new way for the large-scale utilization of FA in the polymer industry.