Experimental and Numerical Modeling of Segregation in Metallic Alloys
Résumé
Electromagnetic levitation (EML) has been used as an experimental technique for investigating the effect of the nucleation and cooling rate on segregation and structure formation in metallic alloys. The technique has been applied to aluminum-copper alloys. For all samples, the primary phase nucleation has been triggered by the contact of the levitated droplet with an alumina plate at a given undercooling. Based on the recorded temperature curves, the heat extraction rate and the nucleation undercooling for the primary dendritic and the secondary eutectic structures have been determined. Metallurgical characterizations have consisted of composition measurements using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry and the analysis of SEM images. The distribution maps drawn for the composition, the volume fraction of the eutectic structure, and the dendrite arm spacing (DAS) reveal strong correlations. Analysis of the measurements with the help of a cellular-automaton (CA)-finite-element (FE) model is also proposed. The model involves a new coupling scheme between the CA and FE methods and a segregation model accounting for diffusion in the solid and liquid phases. Extensive validation of the model has been carried out on a typical equiaxed grain configuration, i.e., considering the free growth of a mushy zone in an undercooled melt. It demonstrates its capability of dealing with mass exchange inside and outside the envelope of a growing primary dendritic structure. The model has been applied to predict the temperature curve, the segregation, and the eutectic volume fraction obtained upon single-grain nucleation and growth from the south pole of a spherical domain with and without triggering of the nucleation of the primary solid phase, thus simulating the solidification of a levitated droplet. Predictions permit a direct interpretation of the measurements.
Mots clés
SEM image
Solid-phase
South pole
Spherical domain
Strong correlation
Structure formations
Temperature curves
Undercooled melt
Alumina plates
Composition measurements
Cooling rates
Coupling scheme
Dendrite arm spacing
Dendritic structures
Distribution maps
Electromagnetic levitation
Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry
Equiaxed grains
Eutectic structures
Experimental techniques
FE method
Finite-element models
Grain nucleation
Heat extraction rate
Levitated droplet
Liquid phasis
Mass exchange
Metallic alloys
Metallurgical characterization
Mushy zone
Numerical modeling
Phase nucleation
Scanning electron microscopes
Segregation model
Domaines
MatériauxOrigine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
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