Effects of an intermittent permanent magnet stirring on the melt flow and grain refinement of Al–4.5Cu alloy

• Main Authors: Jing Zou, Haitao Zhang, Zibin Wu, Jiahui Wang, Baomian Li, Jianzhong Cui, Hiromi Nagaumi, Yinglong Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021-09-01
• Series: Journal of Materials Research and Technology
• Subjects: I-PMS; Melt flow; Solidification structure; Al–4.5Cu alloy; Grain refinement mechanism
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S223878542100702X
• ISSN: 2238-7854

A novel technology, termed intermittent permanent magnet stirring (I-PMS), is proposed to improve the quality of aluminum alloy ingots. In this paper, the melt flow and solidification structure of Al–4.5Cu alloy were investigated through I-PMS. The grain refinement mechanism of I-PMS is also discussed. The results indicate that the melt flow patterns and distributions can be greatly affected by I-PMS. When I-PMS is applied during solidification, the melt undergoes a series of complicated periodic three-dimensional flows. Compared without I-PMS, the solidification structure of Al–4.5Cu alloy with I-PMS was remarkably refined, and the optimum solidification structure could be realized utilizing appropriate processing parameters.