The cooling slope (CS) casting is the simplest and cheapest technique for producing feedstock
materials with non-dendritic microstructure. Such materials are required for semi-solid metal (SSM)
processing methods such as thixoforming. In the present investigation, the effect of the pouring
temperature and the water cooling on the thixotropic microstructure of commercial A319 Al-Si cast
alloy was studied. The results showed that increasing the pouring temperature slightly reduces the
bulk porosity of the CS ingots. The ingots poured with water-cooling exhibited slightly lower porosity
content than those poured with without water-cooling. Generally, the primary α-Al grains exhibited
higher shape factor near the edge of ingot than the middle and center. Ingots poured with water-cooling
exhibited lower grain size and shape factor than those poured without water-cooling. Increasing the
pouring temperature increases the size α-Al grains. |
