The initiation of a hot tear in the coherent mushy zone of metallic alloys is associated commonly with the opening up of the solid skeleton caused by thermally induced deformation. A previously established constitutive model for the continuum modeling of coherent mushy zones has been further developed in the current study to address the opening up, or decohesion, of the solid skeleton associated with volumetric tensile deformation. Whereas the original model accounts for the cohesion of the solid skeleton caused by the deformation by means of an internal variable, an additional internal variable accommodating the decohesion has been introduced in the new model. The modeled decohesion is interpreted as the initiation of a hot tear.
A set-up for tensile testing in the mushy zone allowing for studies of semi-solid mechanical behavior is available at SINTEF. A hot-tearing experimental set-up has recently been developed allowing for investigation of the hot-tearing susceptibility of industrial aluminium alloys and effects of e.g. alloying composition and grain-refiner. Load and temperature are registered during constrained solidification giving information on the mechanical behavior of the alloy during solidification. Two crack-prone alloys in the 3xxx-series (A and B) have been investigated using both techniques and the results analyzed using information about solidification path from a thermo-physical model. Alloy B is found to be mechanically weaker in the interval most susceptible to hot-tearing in agreement with cast-house experience. This study shows that the experimental techniques combined with thermo-physical modeling and characterization allow for a better understanding of the hot-tearing sensitivity of the alloys.
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