Mark Easton

The Contribution of Constitutional Supercooling to Nucleation and Grain Formation

The concept of constitutional supercooling (CS) including the term itself was first described and discussed qualitatively by Rutter and Chalmers in order to understand the formation of cellular structures during the solidification of tin, and then quantified by Tiller et al. On that basis, Winegard and Chalmers further considered ‘supercooling and dendritic freezing of alloys’ where they described how CS promotes the heterogeneous nucleation of new crystals and the formation of an equiaxed zone. Since then the importance of CS in promoting the formation of equiaxed microstructures in both grain refined and unrefined alloys has been clearly revealed and quantified. This paper describes our current understanding of the role of CS in promoting nucleation and grain formation. It also highlights that CS, on the one hand, develops a nucleation-free zone surrounding each nucleated and growing grain and, on the other hand, protects this grain from readily remelting when temperature fluctuations occur due to convection. Further, due to the importance of the diffusion field that generates CS, recent analytical models are evaluated and compared with a numerical model. A comprehensive description of the mechanisms affecting nucleation and grain formation and the prediction of grain size is presented with reference to the influence of the casting conditions applied during the practical casting of an alloy.

Evaluation of magnesium die-casting alloys for elevated temperature applications: microstructure, tensile properties, and creep resistance

Several families of magnesium die-casting alloys have been developed to operate at the elevated temperatures experienced in automotive powertrain applications. Most alloys are based on the Mg-Al system with alloying additions such as silicon, strontium, calcium, and rare earth elements (RE), although alloys with RE as the primary alloying constituent are also considered. This work presents an evaluation of the tensile properties and creep resistance of the most common magnesium die-casting alloys, in conjunction with the analysis of microstructure. The alloys investigated include AS31 (Mg-3Al-1Si), AJ52 (Mg-5Al-2Sr), MRI153A (Mg-9Al-1Ca-0.1Sr), MRI153M (Mg-8Al-1Ca-0.3Sr), MRI230D (Mg-6.5Al-2Ca-1Sn-0.3Sr), AXJ530 (Mg-5Al-3Ca-0.2Sr), AE42 (Mg-4Al-2RE), AE44 (Mg-4Al-4RE), and AM-HP2+ (Mg-3.5RE-0.4Zn). It is shown that, among the various alloys evaluated, MRI230D, AXJ530, and AM-HP2+ have higher yield strength than the Al alloy A380, but the ductility is relatively low at room temperature for these alloys. In contrast, AS31 and the AE series alloys have very good room temperature ductility, but their yield strength is lower than that of A380. In terms of creep resistance, MRI230D, AXJ530, AE44, and AM-HP2+ are all comparable to the Al alloy counterpart at 423xa0K and 448xa0K (150xa0°C and 175xa0°C). Microstructural factors that are most important to the strength and creep resistance of the Mg die-casting alloys are discussed.

Effects of Cooling Rate and Solute Content on the Grain Refinement of Mg-Gd-Y Alloys by Aluminum

The effect of Al additions on grain refinement of Mg-Gd-Y alloys with different solute contents at different cooling rates has been investigated. For all alloys, significant grain refinement was due to the formation of Al2(GdxY1−x) nucleant particles. The number density and size distribution of Al2(GdxY1−x) were affected by both solute content and the cooling rate. Grain sizes (dgs) of Mg-Gd-Y base alloys and of Mg-Gd-Y-Al alloys were related to solute content (defined by the growth restriction factor, Q), cooling rate (

Role of ultrasonic treatment, inoculation and solute in the grain refinement of commercial purity aluminium

dot{T}

The grain refinement of Al-Si alloys and the cause of Si poisoning: Insights revealed by the interdependence model

T˙), and area number density (ρns) and size (dp) of nucleant particles that can be activated. It is found that grain sizes of Mg-Gd-Y base alloys follow the relationship

Performance Evaluation of High-Pressure Die-Cast Magnesium Alloys

d_{text{gs}} = a + frac{b}{{Qsqrt {dot{T}} }}