Effects of electromagnetic field intensity on as-cast microstructures and mechanical properties of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Zr alloy
(1.辽宁省沈阳市东北大学材料电磁加工教育部重点实验室
2.Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Processing of Materials, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110004, China)
2.Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Processing of Materials, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110004, China)
Abstract: Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Zr ingots with diameter of 200 mm were made by low frequency electromagnetic casting (LFEC) and conventional direct chill (DC) casting process. The results show that under the low frequency electromagnetic field (25 Hz, 32 mT) the microstructures of LFEC ingot from the border to the center on the cross section are all equiaxed grains, and the grains are much finer and more uniform than that of DC ingot. The magnetic flux density plays an important role in the microstructure formation of LFEC ingots. With increasing the magnetic flux density from 0 mT to 32 mT, grains become finer (from about 120 μm to 30 μm) and more uniform. While, with increasing the magnetic flux density from 32 mT to 46 mT, the grains change much slowly. In the range of experimental parameters, the optimum magnetic flux density for LFEC process is found to be 32 mT.
Key words: Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy; DC casting; low frequency electromagnetic field; magnetic flux density; microstructure