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Effect of ultrasonic field on the microstructure and mechanical properties of sand-casting AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy

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REVIEWS ON ADVANCED MATERIALS SCIENCE
From the journal REVIEWS ON ADVANCED MATERIALS SCIENCE Volume 60 Issue 1

Abstract

The injection of ultrasonic wave into a melt during casting can refine grain size, improve grain distribution, and thereby enhance casting performance. The available studies on ultrasonic-assisted casting are mostly about inserting a transducer directly into the melt. Such a method is not suitable for sand casting. Therefore, the study of ultrasonic sand casting by indirectly injecting ultrasonic waves into an aluminum alloy melt through a sand mold was proposed and carried out in this study. The effects of ultrasonic waves of different powers at different solidification stages on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the melt were studied. Compared to conventional sand casting, the samples prepared by ultrasonic sand casting have finer grains and better grain distribution, as well as higher mechanical properties. Moreover, the sample’s performance improves to different levels when the same ultrasonic wave is injected at different periods, when compared to the injection of ultrasonic waves with different powers in the same period.

Graphical abstract

Keywords: ultrasonic wave; sand casting; aluminum alloy; microstructure; mechanical properties

1 Introduction

AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy has good mechanical properties, casting performance, and thermal and electrical conductivity, which make it widely used in weaponry, aerospace, and other fields. In industrial production, AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy is usually made into mechanical components by sand casting. However, the plant environment and sand mold can easily cause uneven distribution of the temperature field and flow field during the melt solidification, resulting in a large grain size, uneven grain distribution, low macroscopic mechanical performance, high residual stress, and other casting defects. These defects directly affect the subsequent product remanufacturing.

Therefore, the preparation of alloy products with good performance and high quality has become an important research topic around the world. With the continuous development of modern aluminum alloy casting technology it has been found that ultrasonic waves can change the grain distribution and refine the grains [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. However, no study was found on ultrasonic sand casting. There are some similar but not identical contents in the open literature.

Most Chinese and foreign scholars directly inserted ultrasonic transducer or ultrasonic amplitude transformer into the aluminum alloy melt to study the norms for improving the mechanical properties and microstructure of castings by using ultrasonic waves. Shi et al. [8], Yao et al. [9], Zhao [10], Zhai and Qi [11], and Zhang and Zhai [12] directly inserted the titanium alloy amplitude transformer of an ultrasonic vibrator into the aluminum alloy melt for ultrasonic treatment. It was found that the ingots cast by ultrasonic waves had finer grains and better mechanical performance. Cao et al. [13] and Wang et al. [14] directly inserted an ultrasonic vibrator into the melt to prepare nanoparticle-reinforced aluminum alloy. Under the ultrasonic cavitation effect, the nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed in the alloy melt, and the mechanical properties of the castings significantly improved. Li et al. [15,16,17] inserted an ultrasonic vibrator into the aluminum alloy melt, and applied ultrasonic wave after the melt began to crystallize. They analyzed the heat transfer in the solidification process and the mechanism of microstructural improvement. They believed that the grain refinement was mainly due to the ultrasonic cavitation effect and the ultrasonic streaming effect.

In addition, most reported studies explain how the ultrasonic wave acts on the metal melt. Lebon et al. [18] systematically studied the effect of the ultrasonic wave on aluminum melt, and proposed the ultrasonic capillary effect. They believed that the ultrasonic cavitation intensity was mainly governed by the ultrasonic source distance, melt temperature, and input power.

The influence of the number of ultrasonic transducers on the solidification process of the metal melt, excluding the symmetrical incidence of the transducers into the melt, has also been studied. Liu et al. [19] and Yang et al. [20] inserted multiple ultrasonic vibrators into the 2,219 aluminum alloy melt. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the obtained large-size aluminum ingots improved. Due to the large size of the aluminum ingots, the mechanical properties of the different areas under ultrasonic treatment improved to different levels, demonstrating that the number of ultrasonic transducers had a direct effect on the improvement of aluminum alloy performance.

The influence of ultrasonic power on casting properties has also been frequently studied, but the melt temperature measured during ultrasonic wave application was not analyzed in detail in those studies. Yan et al. [21] studied the effect of pulsed ultrasound with different powers on the microstructure of the ZL205A alloy after 120 s. They found that with the increase of the pulsed ultrasound power and vibration application time, the alloy microstructure became finer and rounder. Liu et al. [22] attached an ultrasonic amplitude transformer on the side of a crucible and injected ultrasonic waves into the aluminum alloy melt. They discussed the microstructure of the Al–Si alloy under different ultrasonic powers. It was found that the mechanical properties of the Al–Si alloy improved with the increase of power.

In the above studies, the ways in which the ultrasonic transducers came into contact with the aluminum alloy melt were not suitable for sand casting. In addition, the improvement of casting performance by ultrasonic power and ultrasonic application time was not systematically studied. Therefore, ultrasonic waves with different powers were applied to the AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy melt at different solidification stages in the sand-casting process, and the microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of the obtained samples were analyzed in this study. According to the experimental results, the optimal ultrasonic application time and power was proposed to guide industrial production.

2 Materials and methods

Figure 1 shows the ultrasonic sand-casting system used in the experiment and the sample cast in the experiment. The ultrasonic generator has a maximum output power of 3,000 W and an output frequency range of 0–30 kHz. The ultrasonic transducer is a PZT4 piezoelectric ceramic transducer with a diameter of 70 mm and a resonant frequency of 14.85 kHz. The system also includes a resin sand mold and a fixture made of Q345 steel. The transmitting end of the ultrasonic transducer is coated with high-temperature couplant and is closely attached to the fixture through studs. The contact surface between the fixture and the sand mold is also coated with the high-temperature couplant. The two parts of the fixture are closely attached to the sand mold through bolting, and ultrasonic injection in bilateral symmetry is adopted.

Figure 1 Ultrasonic sand casting system and samples.
Figure 1

Ultrasonic sand casting system and samples.

The experimental material is industrial AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy, whose composition and element contents are clearly defined in GB/T 1173-2013, as shown in Table 1. After being melted to 750℃ and degassed, the alloy was poured into the resin sand mold.

Table 1

Main chemical composition (% by mass)

Si Fe Mn Mg Cu Ti Zn Al
6.5–7.5 0–0.2 ≤0.1 0.25–0.45 ≤0.1 0.08–0.2 ≤0.1 Bal.

In order to study the effects of ultrasonic waves with different powers at different solidification stages on the microstructure and properties of AlSi7Mg0.3, five groups of experiments were designed. The first group was a control experiment, without ultrasonic injection, from the second group to the fifth group, and the solution temperatures were 650–620°C, 620–590°C, 590–560°C, and 560–530°C. According to the power of the injected ultrasonic wave, the experiment was divided into three states: U0 – injecting no ultrasonic wave; U1 – injecting an ultrasonic wave with frequency of 14.85 kHz and power of 150 W; and U2 – injecting an ultrasonic wave with frequency of 14.85 kHz and power of 300 W.

After complete solidification, the sample was cooled to room temperature. According to DIN 50125, the tensile specimens with mechanical properties in sheet form were cut out. Their size is shown in Figure 2. A tensile test was carried out by a MTS(SANS) SHT4305 electro-hydraulic servo test machine under microcomputer control in accordance with ISO 6892-1. The specimen spacing was set as 50 mm, and the operational speed of the test machine was 5 mm·min−1. A TIME GROUP TH600 Brinell tester was used to measure the hardness on both ends and at three middle points of the specimens according to ISO 6506-1. The diameter of the ball indenter was 10 mm, the test force was 4,903 kN, and the test force duration was 15 s. Metallographic specimens were cut from the center of the specimen ribs. The actual chemical composition of all the alloy specimens was detected by the EDS function of a Quanta FEG 450 scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the fracture with mechanical properties was observed by SEM scanning. The specimens were then ground, polished, and etched with reagents, and were metallographically analyzed with an Olympus GX51 metallographic microscope.

Figure 2 Tensile specimens with mechanical properties.
Figure 2

Tensile specimens with mechanical properties.

3 Results and analysis

By analyzing the spectral peaks shown in Figure 3 and the content of each element in Table 2, it can be seen that the composition and element contents of AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy in conventional casting are basically the same as those in ultrasonic casting and meet the requirements of GB/T 1173-2013. However, as the test area of the EDS energy spectrum is too small to be accurately positioned and detected, the results of the energy spectrum analysis can only serve as a reference indicating the approximate agreement among the element contents of various samples. However, it can be confirmed that the ultrasonic field will not change the composition of the casting alloy and the content of each element.

Figure 3 EDS analysis for samples.
Figure 3

EDS analysis for samples.

Table 2

EDS analyzing results of samples (wt%)

Sample nos Si Fe Mn Mg Cu Ti Zn Al
1 U0 7.235 0.120 0.005 0.392 0.003 0.154 0.005 92.09
2 U1 7.172 0.108 0.005 0.363 0.003 0.153 0.005 92.19
U2 7.397 0.118 0.005 0.393 0.004 0.146 0.005 91.93
3 U1 7.159 0.132 0.005 0.371 0.005 0.133 0.005 92.19
U2 7.249 0.138 0.005 0.366 0.026 0.135 0.021 92.06
4 U1 7.165 0.113 0.005 0.332 0.021 0.136 0.006 92.22
U2 7.270 0.135 0.005 0.353 0.025 0.133 0.002 92.06
5 U1 7.330 0.113 0.005 0.351 0.041 0.140 0.002 92.00
U2 7.017 0.121 0.005 0.346 0.039 0.147 0.005 92.32

The metallographic structures of all the samples in the same area are shown in Figure 4(a)–(i). It can be seen from Figure 4(a) that the original dendritic crystal of the conventional casting sample is not fully fragmented, has a large grain size, and a strong directivity of grain distribution. In contrast, the ultrasonic casting sample has a smaller grain size and better grain distribution. Figure 4(b)–(e) shows that at liquid temperature, the α solid solution of the ultrasonic casting sample has the best distribution state where the dendritic crystal is alternately woven and the grains are finer with short knobbles and are uniformly distributed. However, in Figure 4(f)–(i), the grains obtained by injecting the ultrasound into a solid–liquid mixture or a solid are not as fine as those in a liquid. In addition, the α solid solution is not completely fragmented, is showing a bough shape, a fishbone-like grain growth in some areas, and a strong distribution directivity. This is mainly caused by the “cavitation effect” [23,24,25] and “acoustic streaming effect” [26,27] of the ultrasonic wave in the AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy melt.

Figure 4 Alloy microstructures under different conditions: (a) Group 1, U0; (b) Group 2, U1; (c) Group 2, U2; (d) Group 3, U1; (e) Group 3, U2; (f) Group 4, U1; (g) Group 4, U2; (h) Group 5, U1; and (i) Group 5, U2.
Figure 4

Alloy microstructures under different conditions: (a) Group 1, U0; (b) Group 2, U1; (c) Group 2, U2; (d) Group 3, U1; (e) Group 3, U2; (f) Group 4, U1; (g) Group 4, U2; (h) Group 5, U1; and (i) Group 5, U2.

In terms of cavitation effect, the formation of a cavitation bubble will absorb a lot of heat from the nearby melt, directly leading to faster crystal formation. However, the cavitation bubble will burst very soon to produce energy shockwaves, which will quickly crush the grains that are just formed. After being agitated and dispersed by ultrasonic streaming, these fine broken grains are distributed evenly into the melt. The “cavitation effect” and “acoustic streaming effect” are proportional to the ultrasonic power. The acoustic streaming effect will increase with ultrasonic power [28,29,30].

In a liquid alloy, as the ultrasonic transducers are symmetrically side-mounted, high-power ultrasound streaming can quickly gather the grains from different areas into larger grains, which, in turn, are crushed by ultrasonic cavitation bubbles. As the high-energy acoustic flow is dispersed in the liquid alloy melt, grains with a large size and good distribution will be formed. At the beginning and end of the solidification process, the melt is a solid–liquid mixture [21,31]. As the temperature in the plant environment drops rapidly, the melt viscosity will increase quickly and the cavitation effect and acoustic streaming effect of the ultrasound will gradually decline. At this time, the high-power ultrasound can also produce a certain number of cavitation bubbles, and the energy of the high-power acoustic streaming can offset the resistance to move the grains by some distance. When the grains are close to each other, the acoustic stream will gather the grains together, so that the grains will grow. When the melt viscosity is so large that the low ultrasonic energy cannot offset the resistance, the stirring action of the acoustic flow will disappear, and the cavitation bubbles will no longer occur. When the melt is solidified, the ultrasonic cavitation effect will no longer exist. In this case, acoustic streaming can rely only on its effect on alloy heat transfer to keep the solidification temperature in a good condition, thus influencing the mechanical properties of the casting [32,33].

The tensile curves of the samples in different states at room temperature are shown in Figure 5(a)–(f). It can be seen from Figure 5(a)–(b) that the mechanical properties of the ultrasonic casting samples in the U1 and U2 states are significantly better than those of a conventional casting sample in the U0 state. Under the same casting and experimental conditions, the difference in the mechanical properties of the samples is entirely due to a series of ultrasonic effects, but also satisfies the Hall–Petch relation. The finer the grains, the better the mechanical properties of the casting. The samples in Groups 4 and 5 also have better mechanical properties because the ultrasonic streaming improves the temperature environment for metal cooling after solidification, so that a large temperature gradient is not generated during the casting cooling and the generated thermal residual stress can be reduced. The tensile curves in the U1 and U2 states are shown in Figure 5(c)–(f). It can be seen that the sample cast by injecting low-power ultrasound into the liquid melt during the early crystallization stage has better mechanical properties. However, the sample cast by injecting high-power ultrasound into the solidified melt during the late crystallization stage has the best mechanical properties.

Figure 5 Tensile curves: (a) U0 and U1; (b) U0 and U2; (c) Group 2, U1 and U2; (d) Group 3, U1 and U2; (e) Group 4, U1 and U2; and (f) Group 5, U1 and U2.
Figure 5

Tensile curves: (a) U0 and U1; (b) U0 and U2; (c) Group 2, U1 and U2; (d) Group 3, U1 and U2; (e) Group 4, U1 and U2; and (f) Group 5, U1 and U2.

The tensile strength of each tensile sample is shown in Figure 6. It can be seen that when U1 ultrasound is applied, the tensile strength of the tensile samples in Groups 2 and 3 is the largest, about 45% higher than in the U0 state. When U2 ultrasound is applied, the tensile strength of the samples in Groups 4 and 5 is increased by about 33%.

Figure 6 Comparison of the tensile strengths of the casting samples in different states.
Figure 6

Comparison of the tensile strengths of the casting samples in different states.

After the tensile samples were tensioned to fracture, the fracture of each sample was observed and analyzed by SEM. The fracture microstructures of all the samples are shown in Figure 7(a)–(i). It can be seen from Figure 7(a) that the fracture of a conventional casting sample is mainly a quasi-cleavage fracture with many steps and a large area, indicating that such a sample has large brittleness and poor toughness [34,35]. Figure 7(c) shows that the fracture of an ultrasonic casting sample is a mixture of quasi-cleavage steps and dimples. The quasi-cleavage steps have a very small area, while the dimples are much more than quasi-cleavage steps. The dimples are mostly small, dense, and deep. But after injecting high-power ultrasound into the liquid melt, many large quasi-cleavage steps will also occur on the casting fracture, possibly because the cavitation effect and acoustic streaming effect of the high-power ultrasound loaded on both sides result in serious grain crushing and large motion amplitude, which lead to the segregation of the eutectic silicon in some areas and thus affect the sample’s toughness.

Figure 7 Appearance of tensile sample fracture: (a) Group 1, U0; (b) Group 2, U1; (c) Group 2, U2; (d) Group 3, U1; (e) Group 3, U2; (f) Group 4, U1; (g) Group 4, U2; (h) Group 5, U1; and (i) Group 5, U2.
Figure 7

Appearance of tensile sample fracture: (a) Group 1, U0; (b) Group 2, U1; (c) Group 2, U2; (d) Group 3, U1; (e) Group 3, U2; (f) Group 4, U1; (g) Group 4, U2; (h) Group 5, U1; and (i) Group 5, U2.

According to the data in Figure 8, the conventional casting sample has the lowest elongation, followed by the sample cast by injecting high-power ultrasound into the liquid melt. The third sample group cast by injecting high-power ultrasound has the best elongation, which is 3.8% higher than that of the conventional casting sample. The elongation of the other groups has also been improved. The fracture appearance in Figure 7 can be well explained by the mechanical property data in Figure 8.

Figure 8 Comparison of the elongations of the casting samples in different states.
Figure 8

Comparison of the elongations of the casting samples in different states.

The Brinell hardness states of samples under different conditions are shown in Figure 9. It can be seen that the Brinell hardness values of the samples cast under different conditions are different, and that the average Brinell hardness of the conventional casting samples made without ultrasound is 56.80 HBW. As the ultrasonic wave is injected into the solidification process, the material hardness will change. The third group of samples in the U1 state have the highest hardness, with the average Brinell hardness of 61.03 HBW. It can also be found that the hardness of the sample cast by injecting ultrasound into the liquid alloy is higher than that of the conventional casting sample. However, the hardness of the sample cast by injecting ultrasound into the alloy that is initially or completely solidified is almost the same as that of the conventional casting sample. The hardness of the U1 sample is even lower than that of conventional casting. This phenomenon can be explained by the degree of grain homogenization, that is, smaller grains have a better distribution state and a stronger ability to resist deformation. So the material shows higher hardness macroscopically [36].

Figure 9 Comparison of the Brinell hardness values of the casting samples in different states.
Figure 9

Comparison of the Brinell hardness values of the casting samples in different states.

4 Conclusion

The injection of ultrasound into the solidification process of AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy during sand-casting will not change the elemental composition and contents of the alloy, but will change the size and distribution of the grains in the casting sample and the mechanical properties of the sample. The higher the power applied to the ultrasonic transducer, the greater the energy of the generated ultrasonic waves, but the ultrasonic power injected in the sand casting process is not as higher as better. The application of different ultrasonic powers at different stages will have different effects on the grain state and mechanical properties of the samples.

  1. When the melt is in liquid state and at the initial crystallization stage, the injection of a low-power ultrasonic wave can optimize grain refinement and distribution. The grain state of high-power ultrasonic casting at this stage is not as good as that of low-power ultrasonic casting, but is better than any of the ultrasonic castings at other stages. At the late solidification stage, the injection of ultrasonic wave can support grain growth, but can still play a role in the improvement of grain distribution. After the melt is completely solidified, the injection of ultrasonic wave has little effect on the grain state.

  2. Compared to conventional casting, the tensile strength and elongation of ultrasonic casting have greatly improved. When the melt is in liquid state or at the initial solidification stage, the tensile strength of the low-power ultrasonic casting and the elongation of high-power ultrasonic casting have the biggest increase. When the melt is in the late or final solidification stage, the mechanical properties of the ultrasonic casting are just the other way around, that is, the high-power ultrasonic casting has higher tensile strength but lower elongation.

  3. Ultrasonic sand casting has only a minor (but larger than conventional casting) effect on casting hardness. Casting hardness can be improved by the injection of ultrasonic wave into the melt in the liquid state or at the initial solidification stage, but can hardly be improved by the injection of ultrasonic wave into the melt at the late or final solidification stage.

Based on the above conclusions, it is found that the ultrasonic transducer can inject ultrasonic waves into the alloy melt through a sand mold. Ultrasonic waves (whose power should not be too high) can be applied to the melt in the liquid state and at the early crystallization stage in order to obtain sand castings with good mechanical properties and microstructure.

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to Inner Mongolia First Machinery Group Co., Ltd. for providing the experimental materials.

  1. Funding information: This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. U1737203).

  2. Author contributions: Peng Yin: Writing – original draft, Methodology, Formal Analysis; Chunguang Xu: Writing – review & editing, Project administration, Methodology; Qinxue Pan: Visualization, Project administration, Methodology; Canzhi Guo: Grammar review, Methodology; Xiaowei Jiang: Grammar review.

  3. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Received: 2021-06-27
Revised: 2021-08-03
Accepted: 2021-08-20
Published Online: 2021-12-20

© 2021 Peng Yin et al., published by De Gruyter

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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https://doi.org/10.1515/rams-2021-0061
Keywords for this article
ultrasonic wave; sand casting; aluminum alloy; microstructure; mechanical properties
Creative Commons
BY 4.0

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Review Articles
  2. A review on filler materials for brazing of carbon-carbon composites
  3. Nanotechnology-based materials as emerging trends for dental applications
  4. A review on allotropes of carbon and natural filler-reinforced thermomechanical properties of upgraded epoxy hybrid composite
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  17. Magnetic behavior of Fe-doped of multicomponent bismuth niobate pyrochlore
  18. Study of surfaces, produced with the use of granite and titanium, for applications with solar thermal collectors
  19. Magnetic moment centers in titanium dioxide photocatalysts loaded on reduced graphene oxide flakes
  20. Mechanical model and contact properties of double row slewing ball bearing for wind turbine
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  22. Effects of load types and critical molar ratios on strength properties and geopolymerization mechanism
  23. Nanoparticles in enhancing microwave imaging and microwave Hyperthermia effect for liver cancer treatment
  24. FEM micromechanical modeling of nanocomposites with carbon nanotubes
  25. Effect of fiber breakage position on the mechanical performance of unidirectional carbon fiber/epoxy composites
  26. Removal of cadmium and lead from aqueous solutions using iron phosphate-modified pollen microspheres as adsorbents
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  29. Experimental and modeling investigations of the behaviors of syntactic foam sandwich panels with lattice webs under crushing loads
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