Qing Dong

In situ study on columnar-equiaxed transition and anaxial columnar dendrite growth of Al-15%Cu alloy by synchrotron radiography

Directional solidification of Al-15% (mass fraction) Cu alloy was investigated by in situ and real time radiography which was performed by Shanghai synchrotron radiation facility (SSRF). The imaging results reveal that columnar to equiaxed transition (CET) is provoked by external thermal disturbance. The detaching and floating of fragments of dendrite arms are the prelude of the transition when the solute boundary layer in front of the solid-liquid interface is thin. And the dendrite triangular tip is the fracture sensitive zone. When the conditions are suitable, new dendrites can sprout and grow up. This kind of dendrite has no obvious stem and is named anaxial columnar dendrites.

Microstructure Evolution in High Purity Aluminum Single Crystal Processed by Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP)

Aluminum single crystal with 99.999% purity was deformed at room temperature by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) up to 16 passes. Grain size and misorientation of processed samples were quantitatively characterized by TEM and EBSD. The results show that the refinement efficiency of high purity aluminum single crystal was poor in the initial stage. Extrusion by fewer ECAP passes (n ≤ 8) resulted in only elongated grains containing a large number of subgrains and small misorientations between grains. Stable microstructures of nearly equiaxed grains with high misorientations were obtained by 15 passages, indicating that the initial extremely coarse grains and highly uniform grain orientation are not conducive to the accumulation of strain energy. The initial state of high purity aluminum has a significant effect on the refining efficiency of the ECAP process.

Biodegradable Behaviors in Simulated Body Fluid of Mg-Gd-Y-Zr Alloy with Micro-Arc Oxide Coating

The effects of micro-arc oxidation (MAO) on corrosion resistance of Mg-Gd-Y-Zr magnesium alloy have been studied. The Mg-Gd-Y-Zr with thicker oxide coating presented higher corrosion resistance in simulated body fluid (SBF). The corrosion rates were measured by several methods including hydrogen evolution volume measurement, weight-loss method and determination of pH as an auxiliary reference. The surfaces of specimens were observed by SEM and white light confocal microscopy before and after the corrosion. Besides the effects of MAO, the pitting resulted from breakage of oxide coating played a notable role as well. This provided a new direction towards the enhancement of corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy.

Study of columnar-equiaxed transition and anaxial columnar dendrites growth of hypoeutectic alloy with synchrotron radiation

Among solidification processes, the columnar to equiaxed transition (CET) is critical component for formation either of microstructure or macrostructure. Directional solidification of Al-Cu alloy was performed at the BL13W beamline of Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF). The imaging results reveal that CET was provoked by external thermal disturbance. The fragment of dendrite tips were come from solute-rich-zone. And they floated to the mushy zone to form the equiaxed dendrites. As the conditions are suitable, a new dendrite morphology sprout and grow up, in which dendrites grow along directions in a binary Al-Cu alloy. These dendrites have no obvious primary arms and were named anaxial columnar dendrites.

Study of Fragment Behavior during Columnar-Equiaxed Transition of Hypoeutectic Alloy with Synchrotron Radiation

In the present work, solidification of hypoeutectic, eutectic and hypereutectic Al-Cu alloys was illustrated by synchrotron X ray imaging, and the CET of hypoeutectic alloy was picked out to thorough investigated. The mechanism of hypoeutectic dendrites fragment behaviors among the nucleation area was studied by in-situ imaging and first-principles computation. The results show that the density difference between the fragments and the enriched melt leads to the movement of the fragments. The ejected fragments contributed to the columnar-eutectic transition and expanded the breadth of mush zone in front of the solid/liquid interface.