Analysis of thermal and structural parameters and microhardess variations in different Al-Cu alloys directionally solidified

RODRIGUEZ, CARLOS MARÍA; CANDIA, ADRIANA; SCHVEZOV, C. E.; MARIO ROBERTO ROSENBERGER; ARES, A.E.

Light Metals

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Lugar: New Jersey.; Año: 2012 vol. 2012 p. 369 - 374

1096-9586

The columnar - to - equiaxed transition (CET) was investigated inAl-Cu alloys (Al-1wt%Cu, Al-4.5wt%Cu, Al-15wt%Cu and Al-33.2wt%Cu) solidified directionally from a chill face in a verticalsetup. The CET occurs when the temperature gradient in the meltahead of the columnar front reach critical values. Also, weinvestigate correlations between structural parameters (grain size)with Vickers microhardness measurements in the directionallysolidified samples. We observed that the Vickers microhardness isgreater in the equiaxed zone than in the columnar or columnar toequiaxed transition (CET) zone, additionally, is greater on theedges of the samples than in the centre. Also, we determined thatthe grain size increases from the columnar to equiaxed structure.