Effect of angle, length and circulation cooling system on microstructure A360 Aluminum alloy in semi-solid metal forming by cooling slope method

Abstract

Application of cooling slope in casting is a relatively simple process with low equipment and processing costs, which is able to produce semi-solid slurries with different parameters such as pouring temperature, length and angle of slope plate, and plate type. In this study, the effect of angle and length of copper made slope plate on the microstructure of A360-Aluminum alloy is investigated. Microstructure study of metallographic samples in different conditions revealed that for 400mm slope length and 60° slope angle the optimum sphierized and homogenized microstructure is achieved. Also, under these conditions, the most hardness (77HB) was obtained, which might be because of suitable solidification conditions namely time and rate of shear stress. After finding the suitable conditions of slope length and angle, the effect of the circulation cooling system was examined; and the method with cooling system was found to result in more homogenized microstructure compared to ordinary method.

Optimization of processing parameters of cooling slope process for semi-solid casting of ADC 12 Al alloy

“…The success of the rheocasting process depends on the production of the semi-solid slurry having fine globular particles of the solid phase surrounded by a continuous film of liquid. Among all prevalent rheocasting techniques, the most popular is the cooling slope (CS) casting process [6,7] which is simple, has minimal equipment requirements and which can produce a slurry for semi-solid processing. In this technique, there are several key factors (i.e.…”