Microstructure Characteristics and Apparent Viscosity of Hypereutectic Al-24%Si Alloy Melt During Semi-solid State Stirring

The microstructural evolution and apparent viscosity of hypereutectic Al-24%Si alloy during semi-solid state shearing were studied with a Searte type viscometer. When the alloy melt was continuously stirred from 720 ℃ to eutectic temperature, the primary Si crystals were gradually changed from elongated platelets to near-spherical shapes. It was found that some nondendritic α-phase formed when the melt was stirred below 585 ℃. The experiment showed that the semi-solid stirring had strong effect on inhibiting the anisotropic growth of Si crystals during solidification. The apparent viscosity of the alloy melt increased slowly with the decreasing of temperature before the formation of nondendritic α-phase, which caused the dramatic increase of apparent viscosity.