ANALYSIS OF GRAIN SIZE OBTAINED DURING DIRECTIONAL SOLIDIFICATION OF ALUMINUM BASED ALLOYS

A. E. ARES; R. CARAM; C. E. SCHVEZOV

San Diego-California-USA,

Simposio; LIGHT METALS 2003; 2003

The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society

In the present work measurements of columnar and equiaxed grain size were carried out. The measurements were made from the macrography of aluminum alloys samples such as Al - Cu, Al - Mg, Al - Zn, Al - Si, Al - Si - Cu unidirectionally solidified and which presented a columnar to equiaxed transition. The results of the analysis are compared with those obtained in a previous work in alloys with low melting point, Pb - Sn. The length of the columnar grains and the size of the equiaxed grains are correlated with dynamic parameters derived from temperature measurements, such as, cooling rate, temperature gradients and velocity and position of the liquidus and solidus fronts. The results obtained are presented and discussed.