Solidification Process of an Al-Cu Alloy in a Vertical Annular Mold and Effects of Cooling Rate on Macrosegregation

수직환상주형내 Al-Cu합금의 응고과정 및 냉각속도의 조대편석에 대한 영향

Transport process during solidification of an AI-CU alloy in a vertical annular mold of which inner wall is cooled is numerically simulated. A model which can take account of local density dependence on the solute concentration is established and incorperated in the analysis. Results show that thermally and solutally induced convections are developed in sequence, so that there is little interaction between them. Thermal convection effectively removes the initial superheat from the melt and vanishes as solidification proceeds from the cooling wall. On the other hand, solutal convection which is developed later over the meshy and the pure liquid regions leads to large-scale redistribution of the consituents. The degree of the initial superheating hardly affects overall solidification behavior except the early stage of the process, when the cooling rate is kept constant. Macrosegregation is reduced remarkably with increasing cooling rate, because not only the liquidus interface advances so quickly that time available for the solute transport is not enough, but also the interdendritic flow is strongly damped by rapid crystal growth within the mushy region.