Effect of Cooling Rate During Solidification of Aluminum–Chromium Alloy

Abstract

Controlling the distribution of alloying elements in aluminum casting and designing new processing practices are supported by an enhanced understanding of the thermodynamics and kinetics of solidification at industrial scales. While the behavior of eutectic forming elements such as copper has received a lot of attention, the interactions of peritectic-forming elements such as chromium is understudied. We herein use a time-dependent nucleation model and evaluate its prediction for industrially-observed cooling rates. The predictions are obtained from the calculation of the incubation time of nuclei in the liquid. This characteristic time is computed at various temperatures, and the results are presented in the form of a time-temperature diagram. The diagrams enable to compare theoretical cooling rates for phase selection for industrially relevant practices such as DC casting and Twin roll casting.