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Permeability of hypoeutectic aluminum alloys

University of British Columbia

The interdendritic permeability is a critical parameter that defines the feedability of the mushy zone during solidification. In this study, a theoretical expression to describe the evolution of permeability throughout the complete solidification range (from dendritic to dendritic/eutectic) of hypoeutectic aluminum alloys has been derived, verified and validated through physical and numerical modeling. The permeability of the primary, equiaxed, dendritic phase has been characterized using geometries obtained by X-ray microtomographic analysis of Al-4.5wt%Cu alloy samples quenched at different temperatures after the start of solidification. The permeability during equiaxed eutectic solidification was characterized on simulated dendritic/eutectic microstructures predicted using a Cellular Automaton technique. For both the dendritic and dendritic/eutectic structures, the permeability was characterized i) physically using large-scale analogues of the characterized microstructures and ii) numerically by predicting the flow through the simulated microstructures. The microstructural parameters were then linked to more practical parameters available in solidification models through i) developing an inverse analysis technique to characterize eutectic solidification and ii) development of a geometric model for dendritic solidification. The permeability values determined through physical and numerical modeling are in good agreement with each other and are consistent with the mathematical expression. The proposed permeability expression is valid over the complete solidification range and for a wide range of compositions. The expression reduces to the conventional Carman-Kozeny expression during dendritic solidification and/or dendritic/eutectic solidification with low density of eutectic grains. However, it deviates from the conventional Carman-Kozeny expression as the density of eutectic grains increases.

Text

2011-08-08

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/36586

Materials Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/