Journal of Alloys and Compounds 474 (2009) 257263

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Journal of Alloys and Compounds

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jallcom

Effects of rheocasting parameters on the microstructure

of rheo-centrifuged cast Al7.1 wt%Si alloy
H. Mirzadeh, B. Niroumand
Department of Materials Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 26 March 2008
Received in revised form 8 June 2008
Accepted 15 June 2008
Available online 25 July 2008
Keywords:
Metals and alloys
Microstructure
Metallography

a b s t r a c t
Increased interest in semisolid metal processing during the recent years has created the need for accurate
evaluation of the effects of processing parameters on the microstructure of primary features formed in
semisolid metal slurries. This paper reports the effects of initial solid fraction and stirring speed on the
microstructure of a rheo-centrifuged cast Al7.1 wt%Si alloy. Results showed that size of the primary
features increased by increasing the solid fraction or decreasing the stirring speed. Moreover roundness
of primary granules increased with increasing the solid fraction or stirring speed. However, roundness of
primary granules groupings increased with decreasing the solid fraction or increasing the stirring speed.
The results were discussed using two distinct mechanisms, namely fragmentationagglomeration and
nucleation and separation from the wall mechanisms, proposed for formation and evolution of semisolid
microstructure. Both mechanisms were able to reasonably explain the experimental results.
2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Semisolid metal casting is a term used for a number of near net
shape manufacturing processes of metallic alloys where the alloy is
processed at a temperature between its solidus and liquidus temperatures. The processes are often associated with application of
some sort of shear on a solidifying alloy. Mechanical stirring has
been used extensively for this purpose [1]. Under vigorous stirring,
a semisolid metal slurry undergoes a structural evolution where
the dendritic primary phases are transformed into nearly spherical particles uniformly dispersed in a liquid matrix. Viscosity of the
resultant slurry has been shown to be shear rate and time dependent [2] and for this reason such a structure was called thixotropic,
as well as semisolid or rheocast, structure by the inventor of the
process [1,2].
Semisolid structure is controlled through combination of
convection [13], cooling [4] and grain renement [5]. The performance of thixotropic slurries during processing is highly dependent
on primary phase morphology and size which is inuenced by the
slurry production parameters (rheocasting parameters). Therefore,
it is important to study the effects of processing parameters on
the semisolid microstructure and also to identify the mechanisms
involved in the evolution of the microstructure in semisolid state
under forced convection.

Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 311 3915731; fax: +98 311 3912752.
E-mail addresses: h-m@gmx.com (H. Mirzadeh), behzn@cc.iut.ac.ir
(B. Niroumand).
0925-8388/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jallcom.2008.06.056

A number of mechanisms have been proposed for evolution

of primary phases in semisolid casting so far. However, two of
these mechanisms, namely, fragmentationagglomeration mechanism [14] and nucleation and separation from the wall mechanism
[68] are distinct in the way they look at the fundamental nature
of primary phases formed during production of semisolid metal
slurry. The basic concepts of the two mechanisms are schematically
shown in Fig. 1 for a nucleus growing on the crucible wall.
The rst mechanism postulates that stirring of a solidifying alloy
in its semisolid temperature range, fragments the dendrites formed
during solidication to small pieces (Fig. 1(a)(c)) which grow to
form nearly spherical primary solid particles (Fig. 1(d)). Agglomeration and sintering of some of these particles under suitable
conditions may produce large clusters of smaller particles (Fig. 1(e)).
Fragmentation of dendrites may be achieved by such processes
as mechanical fragmentation, melt penetration into the sub-grain
boundaries formed due to deformation and recrystallization of dendrite arms, melting off of the dendrite arms at their roots, etc. [1,2].
According to the second mechanism, the primary features,
which nucleate on the crucible walls (Fig. 1(f)), undergo a period
of accelerated coarsening (Fig. 1(g)) followed by deformation
(Fig. 1(h)) and compaction (Fig. 1(i)), under the effect of turbulent
ow, while attached to the crucible walls. After this period, penetration of the high velocity ow between the arms of the primary
features becomes difcult. From this time on, the high velocity ow
will mainly affect the outer parts of the features, which are in direct
contact with the melt. Depending on the processing conditions, the
features will grow until they reach a critical size after which they
will be separated from the walls by the stirring action of the melt

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H. Mirzadeh, B. Niroumand / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 474 (2009) 257263

Table 1
Chemical composition of the alloy used in the experiments (wt%)
Al
Si
Fe
Cu
Mn
Mg
Cr
Ni
Zn

92.24
7.13
0.32
0.05
0.02
0.05
0.017
0.02
0.01

2. Experimental materials and procedures

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the concept of (a) fragmentationagglomeration

mechanism and (b) nucleation and separation from the wall mechanism for a
nucleus growing on the crucible wall.

(Fig. 1(j)). The effects of ow will be even more diminished after

separation of the primary features because of small relative velocity
between the solid features and the turbulent melt, and the growth
will proceed in a more normal fashion in the bulk of the melt [68].
According to this mechanism, a seemingly large cluster of
smaller particles can be in fact part of a three-dimensional
single entity (deformed and ripened dendrite) with very complicated shape which looks as multiple agglomerated pieces when
studied in a two-dimensional metallographic section. This has
been schematically shown in Fig. 1(j). For this reason the proposers of the second mechanism have used terms pseudo-particle
and pseudo-cluster to characterize the semisolid microstructures
[6,7]. Agglomeration, according to this mechanism, can take place
between the pseudo-clusters rather than between the particles.
This paper reports the effects of two processing parameters,
namely initial solid fraction and stirring speed, on the microstructure of rheo-centrifuged cast (RCC) Al7.1 wt%Si alloy [9,10] and
attempts to discuss the results based on both mentioned mechanisms. Since the rst mechanism is a widely accepted one, the
paper intends to show that the second proposed mechanism is also
capable of explaining the experimental results.
For ease of citation and in order to avoid any confusion between
the observations and interpretations of microstructural features,
two new terms are used in the paper. The term primary granule is used to refer to particles or pseudo-particles observed in
the microstructures according to the rst or second mechanism,
respectively. The term primary granules grouping is also used to
refer to clusters or pseudo-clusters based on the mentioned mechanisms.

Chemical composition of the alloy is shown in Table 1. In each experiment 550 g

of the alloy was heated to 668 C and held isothermally for a few minutes. The melt
was then continuously cooled and stirred with an average cooling rate of 2.5 C/min
using a mechanical stirrer type rheocaster. Upon reaching the desired solid fraction, the resultant slurry was bottom poured into a sand mold placed on a vertical
axis centrifuged casting system (Rheo-Centrifuged CastingRCC). Fig. 2 schematically illustrates the RCC set-up used in the experiments. A very good agreement
between the solid fractions estimated using Scheil equation and those measured
from the microstructures of the rheocast samples was observed. More details of RCC
experiments have been mentioned elsewhere [9,10].
To identify the effects of initial solid fraction and stirring speed on the rheocentrifuged cast microstructure, primary solid percentages in range of 1165% and
stirring speeds in range of 1001500 rpm were employed.
Fig. 3 illustrates the concepts of primary granule and primary granules grouping
used in the paper. As it is shown in gure, according to the second mechanism, a
seemingly isolated single particle can be treated both as a granule and a granules
grouping, because it might have a more complicated morphology underneath the
surface. This was schematically shown in Fig. 1 and has been discussed in detail
elsewhere [7].
Metallographic sample preparation and measurements were performed using
standard metallographic and image analysis techniques. The size of the primary
granules was measured using the standard intercept length method. The diameter
of primary granules groupings was calculated based on the equivalent diameter
(Deq ) concept dened as the diameter of a circle having the same area as that of

Fig. 2. Schematic illustration of the RCC set-up.

H. Mirzadeh, B. Niroumand / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 474 (2009) 257263

roundness (%) =

4 area
100
perimeter2

259

(2)

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Effect of solid fraction

Fig. 3. Illustration of primary granule and primary granules grouping concepts.

the primary granules grouping (Eq. (1)). The shape factor (Roundness) of primary
granules and primary granules groupings were calculated using Eq. (2). Roundness
increases with an increase in the circularity of the features and becomes 100 for a
perfect circle.

Deq =

4 area


(1)

Fig. 4 displays the semisolid microstructure of samples processed at stirring speed of 1000 rpm and poured at various solid
fractions. The effects of solid fraction on the average intercept
length of primary granules, the average equivalent diameter of primary granules groupings and the average shape factors of primary
granules and primary granules groupings of RCC Al7.1 wt%Si specimens are displayed in Fig. 5.
Fig. 5(a) shows that the average intercept length and roundness
of primary granules increase with solid fraction. This behavior is
readily explained by both mechanisms.
According to the rst mechanism (the fragmentationagglomeration mechanism), an increase in fraction solid
tends to produce larger and rounder particles. Larger quantity of
solidied metal, in one hand, and longer stirring time associated
with higher fraction solid in continuous cooling experiments, on
the other hand, results in greater growth as well as prolonged
ripening processes, which account for larger size and rounder
shapes of primary granules.
According to the second mechanism (the nucleation and separation from the wall mechanism), at a given stirring speed and cooling

Fig. 4. RCC microstructures at stirring speed of 1000 rpm and solid fractions of (a) 11%, (b) 25%, (c) 50% and (d) 65%.

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the walls, it is carried along by the high velocity turbulent ow

in the bulk of the slurry. However, the relative velocity between
the pseudo-particle and the melt is small due to small size of
pseudo-clusters at the initial stages of solidication and negligible difference between the densities of the pseudo-clusters and
the melt [6]. Thus forced convection does not affect the growth
of the pseudo-clusters signicantly after their separation. With
increase in fraction solid, pseudo-clusters will spend longer time
in the bulk of the melt before pouring, which renders larger
pseudo-clusters size due to the progress of solidication and longer
ripening time. On the other hand, higher solid content and larger
pseudo-clusters result in increased possibility of successful collisions between the pseudo-clusters of low relative velocity leading
to increased agglomeration and decreased roundness of primary
granules groupings.
3.2. Effect of stirring speed

Fig. 5. Effect of solid fraction on size and roundness of (a) primary granules and (b)
primary granules groupings (stirring speed = 1000 rpm).

rate, the time required for separation of pseudo-clusters from the

wall can be assumed to be statistically constant. In other words,
the time required for separation of individual pseudo-clusters may
be different but on average a characteristic separation time can
be associated with any given rheocasting conditions. On the other
hand, pseudo-clusters have been deformed and compacted by the
time of separation and therefore the pseudo-particles within the
pseudo-clusters will be affected only by normal ripening rather
than by the forced convection assisted ripening. However, at a
higher fraction solid, pseudo-particles will spend a longer time
in the bulk of the melt which increases their size and roundness due to higher quantity of solidied metal and longer ripening
time.
Fig. 5(b) depicts that the average equivalent diameter of primary
granules groupings increases but their roundness decreases with an
increase in solid fraction.
According to the rst mechanism, an increase in fraction solid
tends to produce larger particles. Moreover, chance of collision of
these larger primary particles followed by sintering increases at
higher solid contents which results in growth by a highly dominated
agglomeration process. Therefore the size of clusters increases and
the roundness of clusters decreases with a raise in solid fraction.
According to the second mechanism, at a given stirring speed
and cooling rate, rate of separation of pseudo-clusters from the wall
is statistically constant. When a pseudo-cluster is detached form

Fig. 6 exhibits the semisolid microstructures of samples processed at 50% primary solid and various stirring speeds. The
effects of stirring speed on the average intercept length of primary granules, the average equivalent diameter of primary granules
groupings and the average shape factors of primary granules and
primary granules groupings of RCC Al7.1 wt%Si specimens are displayed in Fig. 7.
Fig. 7(a) shows that the average intercept length of primary granules decreases relatively rapidly with an increase in the stirring
speed until reaching a critical stirring speed after which it remains
practically constant.
According to the rst mechanism, in the initial stages of stirring, where the fragmentation mechanism is dominant, increased
stirring time tends to decrease the average primary particle size.
However, in the later stages of stirring, where the particles have
become mostly spherical, increased stirring time increases the
average primary particle size because of enhanced ripening due
to prolonged forced mass transport [3].
This behavior is schematically shown in Fig. 8(a) for three different stirring speeds. It can be seen form gure that with increase in
the stirring speed, the minimum attainable particle size becomes
smaller and occurs at a shorter stirring time. Fig. 8(b) has been
derived from Fig. 8(a) to schematically show the particle size dependence on the stirring speed at three different stirring times of I,
II and III marked in Fig. 8(a). Fig. 8(b) shows that at short stirring
times, particle size decreases with increasing the stirring speed due
to improved particles fragmentation. At long stirring times, where
the particles have become spherical, the particle size increases
with increasing the stirring speed because of accelerated ripening processes. However, the smallest particle size is achieved at a
medium critical stirring speed and stirring time corresponding to
the change of dominant growth mechanism from fragmentation to
ripening processes. This coincides with change of primary particles morphology from rosette-like to spherical as clearly shown
in Fig. 6(b)(d). Figures show that spherical morphology of primary particles can only be achieved at stirring speeds of more than
1000 rpm. Samples produced at lower stirring speeds have mostly
rosette-like primary particles which will transform into spherical primary particles by increasing the stirring speed. Therefore
it appears that for the experimental conditions employed in this
study (stirring time of about 720 s at 50% primary solid) the critical stirring speed at which change of growth mechanisms occurs is
around 1000 rpm.
According to the second mechanism, stirring of the melt will
accelerate the coarsening of the pseudo-particles as long as they
have an open structure and are attached to the crucible walls. So it
may seem that increasing the stirring speed should increase the size

H. Mirzadeh, B. Niroumand / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 474 (2009) 257263

261

Fig. 6. RCC microstructures at 50% primary solid and stirring speeds of (a) 100 rpm, (b) 500 rpm, (c) 1000 rpm and (d) 1500 rpm.

of the pseudo-particles. However, increasing the stirring speed also

increases the ow velocity past the arms (pseudo-particles) of the
primary features (pseudo-clusters) growing on the crucible walls
and therefore compacts the structure of the pseudo-clusters faster
and removes them from the walls quicker. As soon as the structure of a pseudo-cluster becomes compacted, stirring of the melt
cannot affect the inner parts of the pseudo-cluster any longer. The
effect of ow is even more diminished when a pseudo-cluster is
removed from the wall where its growth will proceed mostly by
normal ripening in the bulk of the slurry. It is postulated that the
collective effects of higher stirring speed on shortening the accelerated growth period before compaction of pseudo-clusters and
their separation from the walls and prolongation of normal ripening
after separation from the walls can lead to the behavior observed
in Fig. 7(a) for primary granules growth.
Fig. 7(a) also shows that the roundness of primary granules
increases with stirring speed.
According to the rst mechanism, increased stirring speed
tends to accelerate fragmentation of dendrite arms into smaller
pieces and therefore suppresses the growth of high aspect ratio
arms. The smaller fragmented particles will have higher tendency
for ripening in one hand. On the other hand, a higher stirring
speed provides greater collision frequency between the growing particles, and therefore more erosion of the edges of the
particles, resulting in primary particles with higher roundness
values.

According to the second mechanism, at the early stages of solidication, dendrites start to grow on the crucible walls beneting
from the accelerated growth resulted from the forced convection between their arms. During these early stages, dendrite arms
(pseudo-particles) grow mostly length wise than in the lateral
direction, because of space considerations, and therefore their
roundness decreases with time. However, the effect of stirring on
the pseudo-particles within a pseudo-cluster vanishes as soon as
the structure of the pseudo-cluster becomes compacted under the
forces exerted by the melt. Further growth of pseudo-particles
takes place only by normal ripening processes. It is postulated that
at higher stirring speeds the structure of pseudo-clusters become
compacted faster providing a shorter time for unimpeded longitudinal growth of pseudo-particles at the early stages of solidication.
In other words, at higher stirring speeds the pseudo-particles will
have higher roundness from the beginning, which persists to the
end. At the same time smaller size of pseudo-particles provides
them with higher interfacial energy and higher potential for coarsening in the slurry. Thus roundness of pseudo-particles increases
with stirring speed.
Fig. 7(b) reveals that the average equivalent diameter of primary granules groupings decreases with an increase in stirring
speed.
According to the rst mechanism, increased stirring speed and
shear rate decreases the size of the particles constituting a cluster.
At the same time increasing the stirring speed increases the rate

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H. Mirzadeh, B. Niroumand / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 474 (2009) 257263

of disagglomeration more than that of agglomeration resulting in

smaller clusters.
According to the second mechanism, at higher stirring speeds
pseudo-clusters are compacted and separated from the walls in an
earlier stage of their growth when they are smaller. After separation
of one pseudo-cluster, the next pseudo-cluster that may nucleate
on its place is again separated quickly from the wall and this process
continues until the nucleation stops after reaching a critical solid
fraction. In conventional solidication processes, this critical solid
fraction is normally less that 5% which coincides with occurrence
of recalescence [11]. Hellawell, however, suggested that the continuous local temperature uctuations in an agitated melt could
allow for more continuous nucleation events than in a quiescent
melt [12]. In any case, the events occurring in this short period have
the most signicant effects on the nal microstructure. Any factor
that can accelerate the nucleation, growth and separation of the
pseudo-clusters from the walls in this period leads to ner primary
features.
The growth of the pseudo-clusters on the walls and their separation from the walls will continue to some extent after this early
stage of the solidication. At the same time coarsening and possible
agglomeration of separated pseudo-clusters in the bulk of the slurry
can affect the nal microstructure. Considering the fact pointed out
previously that growth in the bulk of the slurry does not benet
greatly form the forced convection in the melt, a higher stirring

Fig. 8. Particle size dependence to (a) stirring time at various stirring speeds and
(b) stirring speed at various stirring times.

speed results in smaller pseudo-clusters. An increase in the stirring

speed can also avoid formation of complex pseudo-clusters aggregates. Therefore the size of primary granules groupings decreases
with an increase in stirring speed.
Fig. 7(b) also shows that the average roundness of primary granules groupings increases with stirring speed.
This behavior can be explained by the rst mechanism based
on the lower agglomeration between the more rounded particles,
and by the second mechanism based on the faster compaction
and separation of less longitudinally grown pseudo-clusters of
rounder shape and smaller size, as explained in the previous sections.
4. Conclusions
The following results can be drawn from the study of the effects
of solid fraction and stirring speed on the rheo-centrifuged cast
microstructure of Al7.1 wt%Si:

Fig. 7. Effect of stirring speed on size and roundness of (a) primary granules and (b)
primary granules groupings at 50% primary solid.

(1) Size of primary granules and primary granules groupings

increases with an increase in the solid fraction.
(2) Roundness of primary granules increases while that of primary
granules groupings decreases with an increase in the solid fraction.

H. Mirzadeh, B. Niroumand / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 474 (2009) 257263

(3) Size of primary granules decreases with increasing the stirring speed up to about 1000 rpm. Increasing the stirring speed
from 1000 to 1500 rpm does not affect the size of primary
granules.
(4) Size of primary granules groupings decreases with an increase
in stirring speed.
(5) Roundness of primary granules and primary granules groupings
increases with an increase in the stirring speed.
(6) The results were discussed using two distinct mechanisms,
namely fragmentationagglomeration and nucleation and separation from the wall mechanisms, proposed for formation of
semisolid microstructure. Both mechanisms were able to reasonably explain the experimental results.

263

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