Monitoring the amount of formed solid phase in aluminum alloy under free cooling conditions

Abstract

One of the most effective ways for the future design, production, analysis and optimization of new processes, involving phase change of materials, is the development of highly sensitive quantitative methods based on the detection of temperature changes during the solidification process and the correlation of these changes with changes in the treated material. In this work, the secondary Al-8wt%Si3wt%Cu alloy was formed from the liquid state under free cooling conditions. Characteristic transformation temperatures were identified and a method for monitoring the amount of solid phase during the solidification process was formalized. From the recorded cooling curve, the values of the first derivative were determined and the corresponding reference curve was formed. The area between the first derivative of the cooling curve and the reference curve was used to assess the amount of solidified part of the material during the solidification process. The obtained results showed that the proposed method is effective in obtaining data of the fraction solid at every moment of the solidifcation process, as well as that it can be further used to detect the number of phases and microconstituents in the formed structure, as well as an experimental examination of the latent heat of solidification of new materials. The method of monitoring the amount of solid phase, formed under free cooling conditions, does not require specific preparation of samples or complex laboratory equipment, and accordingly, in practical application it effectively replaces standard methods for detecting thermophysical properties of materials, such as differential thermal analysis or differential scanning calorimetry.