Solidification

AlloySolidification
When a liquid metal at temperature
o
is poured in to the
mold, at time t=0, the temperature everywhere inside the
mold is
o
. mold is
o
.
Solidification starts with the formation of randomly-
oriented small crystals near the mold walls.
Subsequently a temperature gradient exists within the Subsequently a temperature gradient exists within the
casting. As solidification progresses inwards, long
columnar crystals , with their axis perpendicular to the
mold surface grows.
Pure metals have as sharply defined freezing temperature. Pure metals have as sharply defined freezing temperature.
Alloys does not have a well defined freezing point. Rather
they solidify over a range of temperature.
The solids seperating at different temperature have different The solids seperating at different temperature have different
compositions.
Solidification of an alloy takes place over a range of temperatures.
During this process solids separating at different temperatures
posses varying composition.
The direction of crystal growth depends on: The direction of crystal growth depends on:
1. Composition gradient within the casting
2 Variation of solidus temperature with composition 2. Variation of solidus temperature with composition
3. Thermal gradient within the mould.
Freezing diagram for metal in Freezing diagram for metal in
ordinary mold
Freezing diagram for metal inside chilled
mold
Difficulty of feeding is expressed by Centre line feeding Resistance (CFR)
Temperature distribution in different regions
during solidification of a casting during solidification of a casting
Consider the mold face AB
Solidification of a large casting in an insulating mold
Consider the mold face AB.
Large mold initially at temperature
o
and
extending up to infinity along x .
At t = 0, metal at temperature
p
is At t 0, metal at temperature
p
is
poured in to the mold.
Assume that mold face temperature is raised
to
f
(freezing temperature of metal) at t = 0
f
and maintained at that temperature till
complete solidification.
The temperature distribution within the mold at some time t is: p

x
(t) = temperature at distance x from mold wall at instant t
th l diff i it (k/ ) k d ti it d it ifi h t f = thermal diffusivity = (k/ c), k = conductivity, = density c= specific heat of
mold
Rate of heat flow through the mold face at any instant t ;
A = cross sectional area of mold-metal interface.
By using eqn (1) and (2) eqn (3) can be written By using eqn. (1) and (2), eqn. (3) can be written
as;
The total quantity of heat flow across the mold face
up to a certain time t is up to a certain time t
o
is
Heat rejected (Q
R
) by liquid metal during solidification:
where, L= Latent heat of solidification, Cm = specific heat of molten
metal and = density of molten metal V = volume of the metal, and
m
= density of molten metal, V = volume of the
casting.
Combining eqn (5) and (6), g q ( ) ( )
i.e.,
where
,
The above relation is valid for a plane metal-mold interface.
In real cases, the contour of the casting is having complex contours. ea cases, t e co tou o t e cast g s a g co p e co tou s
Considering three types of metal mold interfaces:
Solidification time determined above will be overestimation for case (a ) Solidification time determined above will be overestimation for case (a,)
where as it will be underestimate for case(c).
Defining two non-dimensional parameters, viz.,
and
Eqn (8) can be rewritten in terms of these parameters as:
Solidification distance in the insulating mold
During solidification of plate shaped casting, g p p g,
heat is rejected mainly through side faces,
each of cross sectional area A. Solidification
front moves inwards.
If the solidification front moves through a
distance (t) at any instant t from the metal-
mold interface, then heat rejected by each , j y
solidification half is
Let the time taken to reject is heat through the mold face of area A in time t. Eqn(7)
equating eqn. (13) and (7)
or
Solidification with predominant interface resistance
The heat flow is controlled significantly by thermal resistance of the
mould-metal interface (region 3). E.g. permanent mold casting and die
casting
Considering one-dimensional heat flow,
The Rate of heat flow through the interface is
Let the solidification front at any instant be at distance from the mold face. Then,
From eqn.(15) and (16),
Integrating eqn(17) with boundary conditions, at t = 0, = 0,
Comparing eqn (14) and (18),
Depth of solidification increases linearly with time in eqn.(18) where
as it is proportional to the square root of time in eqn.(14).
The heat flow through the interface during solidification can be
obtained by substituting
p
=
f
in eqn. (6) (since super heat is
neglected for the analysis for heat flow during solidification.
From eqn (15), heat flow through the interface during the period of
solidification t
s
is
From eqn(19) and (6), after substituting
p
=
f
,
Solidification with constant Casting surface temperature
This is the case of a large slab casting when produced in a thin water cooled metal This is the case of a large slab casting when produced in a thin, water cooled metal
mold having higher conductivity than the solidified casting.
The predominant resistance is offered by region 4.
Temperature distribution with constant casting surface temperature
Assumptions:
Metal mold interface temperature remains constant at its initial value Metal-mold interface temperature
s
remains constant at its initial value
f
.
Pouring temperature of the metal = Freezing temperature.
(t) indicates the depth of solidification at any instant t.
The temperature profile within the range 0 < x < (t) can be obtained by ,

s
= Thermal diffusivity if solidified metal,

is a constant of integration.
At x = (t) = f Substituting in eqn (21) At x = (t), = f. Substituting in eqn (21),
i.e.,
where,
From eqn(23), the depth of solidification varies as the square root of time.
For determining the constant , the following procedure is used.
At the solid-liquid interface, the rate of energy flow balance equation is
k C d L i l h d i i f h lidifi d k
s
,
m,
C
s
and L are respectively the conductivity of the solidified
metal, density of the metal, specific heat of the solidified metal and
latent heat of fusion.
Differentiating equation (21) ,
Using equation (26) and (25), we can obtain,
Substituting for (

- s) and using eqn(22), (23) and (27)

or,
can be found out by trial and error or by graphical method.
The solidification time t
s
can then be obtained from eqn(23) using (t
s
) =
h/2, as
or,