The 1974 Howe Memorial Lecture-Iron and Steel Division

The Metallurgical Society of AIME

Solidification Processing

M. C. FLEMINGS

I n t e r a c t i o n b e t w e e n t h e o r y a n d p r a c t i c e in t h e f i e l d of s o l i d i f i c a t i o n h a s b e e n s t r o n g in r e -
c e n t y e a r s , t o t h e g r e a t b e n e f i t of b o t h . S o l u t i o n of i m p o r t a n t p r o b l e m s h a s r e q u i r e d c o n -
c e p t u a l i z i n g on g r e a t l y d i f f e r e n t s i z e s c a l e s s i m u l t a n e o u s l y , and h a s a l s o r e q u i r e d e x t e n -
s i v e e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n to s u g g e s t a n d j u s t i f y s u i t a b l e a p p r o x i m a t i o n s f o r t h e o r e t i c a l a n a l y -
s e s . S o m e a r e a s of s o l i d i f i c a t i o n w h e r e t h e o r y a n d p r a c t i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n h a v e a d v a n c e d ,
or are advancing nicely together are dendrite arm spacing, grain size control, columnar
structures, eutectic-ltke in-situ composites, inclusion formation, macrosegregation, and
non-dendritic structures.

IT i s m y a i m in t h i s f i f t y - f i r s t H o w e M e m o r i a l L e c t u r e
t o c o n v e y t h r e e g e n e r a l i d e a s a b o u t t h e f i e l d of s o l i d i -
f i c a t i o n p r o c e s s i n g . T h e f i r s t i s in t h e s p i r i t of t h e
dedicated educator and researcher after whom this
l e c t u r e i s n a m e d . It i s t h a t in t h i s f i e l d , a s in t h e w o r k
of H e n r y M a r i o n H o w e , t h e o r y a n d p r a c t i c e h a v e e f f e c -
t i v e l y i n t e r a c t e d in r e c e n t y e a r s to t h e g r e a t b e n e f i t of
both. Theory, backed by or emanating from experimen-
tal work, has led to new industrial processes and to so-
lution of industrial problems. At the same time, critical
industrial problems have provided stimuli for fundamen-
tal research that has changed our understanding of the
f i e l d in m a j o r w a y s .
T h e s e c o n d i d e a I w i s h t o c o n v e y i s t h a t s o l u t i o n of
I m p o r t a n t p r a c t i c a l p r o b l e m s tn t h i s f i e l d h a s r e q u i r e d
c o n c e p t u a l i z i n g on g r e a t l y d i f f e r e n t s i z e s c a l e s s i m u l -
t a n e o u s l y - - a p r o c e s s t h a t i s n o t a s e a s y a s it m i g h t f i r s '
seem. Processes at the liquid-solid interface must be
v i s u a l i z e d a t t h e A n g s t r o m l e v e l ; i n c l u s i o n s a r e of m i -
cron scale; dendrite arm spacings are usually fractions
of m i l l i m e t e r s , g r a i n s i z e s - - m i l l i m e t e r s t o c e n t i m e t -
e r s ; a n d c a s t i n g s o r i n g o t s a r e o n t h e s c a l e of m e t e r s .
Structural features such as ingot surface finish, shrink-
age, and segregation which can occur on dimensions of
meters cannot be understood without at the same time
understanding the processes occurring at the micro-
scopic level.
T h e t h i r d i d e a w h i c h I h o p e w i l l b e i m p l i c i t in w h a t
f o l l o w s is that m a n y p r a c t i c a l and e v e n f u n d a m e n t a l
p r o b l e m s in t h e f i e l d a r e m u c h t o o c o m p l e x to h o p e t o

The ttowe Memorial Lecture was established in 1923 by the Iron and Steel Divi-
sion o f AIME. The Lecturer is selected for his outstanding contributions to the
science and practice o f iron and steel metallurgy or metallography.
MERTON C. FLEMINGSis Abex Professorat the MassachusettsInstitute of
Technology. ProfessorFlemingsreceivedhis B.S. degreefrom the Massachusetts
Institute of Technologyin the Department of Metallurgyin 1951, and his M.S.
and D.Sc. degreesin metallurgyin 1952 and 1954, respectively.
From 1954 to 1956 he was employedas a Metallurgist at AbexCorporation
in Mahwah,New Jersey. In 1956 he returned to the MassachusettsInstitute of
Technologyas AssistantProfessor.He was appointed AssociateProfessorin 1961
and Professorin 1969. ProfessorFlemingsis co-authorof over 100 papers and
two booksin the fieldsof solidificationscienceand engineering,foundry tech-
nology, and materials processing.
Professor Flemingsdeliveredthe AmericanExchangeLect~'e at the Interna-
tional Foundry Congressin Brusselsin 1958, in Prague in 1963, and in Moscow
in 1973. In 1964 he deliveredthe Hoyt MemorialLecture to the American
Foundrymen'sSociety. In 1970-71 he was OverseasFellowat Churchill Collegein
Cambridge,and VisitingProfessorat the Departmentof Metallurgy at Cambridge
University.
He is a memberof numeriousprofessionalsocieties.ProfessorFelmingshas
served as Chairman of the SolidificationCommitteeand the MathewsonGold
MedalCommittee.

MtiTAII.UR(;ICAL TRANSACTIONS VOLUME 5, OCTOBER 1974-2121

a n s w e r at the p r e s e n t t i m e q u a n t i t a t i v e l y with g r e a t
Note in the s k e t c h e s of d e n d r i t i c s o l i d i f i c a t i o n that
r i g o r . A p p r o x i m a t i o n s and a s s u m p t i o n s m u s t be made
the i n t e r d e n d r i t i c liquid n e a r the r o o t s of the d e n d r i t e s
b e f o r e q u a n t i t a t i v e t r e a t m e n t is p o s s i b l e and it is then
is d r a w n d a r k e r than that at the tips. T h i s is to r e p r e -
v i t a l l y i m p o r t a n t that e x p e r i m e n t a l work be c a r r i e d out
s e n t the solute e n r i c h m e n t that o c c u r s in the i n t e r d e n -
to t e s t the r a n g e of v a l i d i t y of the a p p r o x i m a t i o n s and
d r i t i c liquid as s o l i d i f i c a t i o n p r o c e e d s .
assumptions. The d e n d r i t e s which f o r m in the m u s h y zone in e q u i -
axed d e n d r i t i c s o l i d i f i c a t i o n a r i s e e i t h e r f r o m a h e t e r o -
geneous n u c l e a t i o n m e c h a n i s m , or f r o m a " d e n d r i t e
SOLIDIFICATIONSTRUCTURE
m u l t i p l i c a t i o n " m e c h a n i s m d i s c u s s e d below. If h e t e r o -
To return to solidification structures, Fig. I shows, geneous n u c l e i p r e s e n t a r e not too potent and if d e n d r i t e
at a magnification on the order of the dendrite arm m u l t i p l i c a t i o n is m i n i m i z e d (by m i n i m i z i n g convection
spacing, structures encountered in solidification of a a n d / o r m a i n t a i n i n g a steep t e m p e r a t u r e gradient), an
binary alloy against a flat mold wall. At the upper left a l i g n e d c o l u m n a r d e n d r i t i c growth is obtained as also
is the most frequently encountered structure, equiaxed sketched in Fig. 1. Except for the obvious d i f f e r e n c e
dendritic. Here, within the llquid-solid ("mushy") of d e n d r i t e a l i g n m e n t in this case, s o l i d i f i c a t i o n h e r e
zone, new dendrites form and grow; with random ori- o c c u r s b a s i c a l l y s i m i l a r l y to that of the c a s e p r e v i o u s l y
entation. In addition to the liquid-solid zone, there may discussed.
also exist a fully liquid zone (in the region of the cast- At the o t h e r e x t r e m e , if the a l l o y is v e r y v i g o r o u s l y
ing or ingot at higher temperature) and a fully solid agitated d u r i n g at l e a s t the f i r s t s t a g e s of solidification,
zone (in the region at lower temperature). In some " d e n d r i t e m u l t i p l i c a t i o n " o c c u r s to such a n extent that
cases, the three regions never exist simultaneously. the u s u a l d e n d r i t i c s t r u c t u r e is no l o n g e r obtained. In-
An example is nonferrous alloys which freeze over a stead, s o l i d i f i c a t i o n p r o c e e d s f r o m s p h e r o i d a l growth
relatively wide range cast in a sand mold which is rela- c e n t e r s as sketched at the upper r i g h t of Fig. 1. Rheo-
tively insulating. Here, the fully liquid zone disappears logical p r o p e r t i e s of this l i q u i d - s o l i d zone a r e v e r y
quite early in solidification, and the fully solid zone d i f f e r e n t f r o m that of the d e n d r i t i c s t r u c t u r e and this
does not appear until very near the end of solidification. is f u r t h e r d i s c u s s e d l a t e r .
During most of solidification, both liquid and solid ex- The t h r e e s t r u c t u r e s of Fig. 1 d e s c r i b e d thus far a r e
ist throughout the entire casting. r e a d i l y obtained in u s u a l c a s t i n g s and i n g o t s - - a t the r e l -
a t i v e l y low v a l u e s of G/R ( t h e r m a l g r a d i e n t divided b y
growth r a t e ) that p e r t a i n in t h e s e p r o c e s s e s . As G/R
EQUIAXED EQUIAXED is i n c r e a s e d (by adding heat at one end of a solidifying
DENDRITIC NON-DENDRITIC alloy while e x t r a c t i n g it f r o m the other), the r e m a i n i n g
s t r u c t u r e s of Fig. 1 a r e obtained. At i n t e r m e d i a t e v a l -
u s e s of G/R, a c e l l u l a r s t r u c t u r e is obtained and at s u f -
f i c i e n t l y high v a l u e s of G/R, the plane f r o n t s o l i d i f i c a -
tion of the bottom two s k e t c h e s is obtained. If the a l l o y
is single phase a f t e r e q u i l i b r i u m solidification, the r e -
s u l t i n g solid is a " s i n g l e c r y s t a l . " If it is two phase,
the r e s u l t is a t w o - p h a s e "in-situ c o m p o s i t e . " T h e r e
is one f u r t h e r type of s t r u c t u r e that can be obtained in
b i n a r y a l l o y s that is not sketched in Fig. 1. That is the
COLUMNAR CELLULAR a m o r p h o u s or " g l a s s y " s t r u c t u r e obtained in s o m e a l -
DENDRITIC loys at s u f f i c i e n t l y high cooling r a t e .
Fig. 1 s k e t c h e s s o l i d i f i c a t i o n s t r u c t u r e s at a m a g n i f i -
/z/
/// cation such that d e n d r i t i c s t r u c t u r e s a r e v i s i b l e . At
///
/// s o m e w h a t lower m a g n i f i c a t i o n , and a f t e r solidification,
///
/// the two d e n d r i t i c s t r u c t u r e s a p p e a r a s in Fig. 2. Here,
/
/ / / the g r a i n s t r u c t u r e is delineated. Each g r a i n is c o m -
/ / /
/ / /
posed of t e n s or t e n s of thousands of d e n d r i t e a r m s ,
///
/ 1 /
/ / 1
but a l l the d e n d r i t e a r m s grew f r o m the s a m e i n i t i a l
/ / /
/ / i
growth point and c r y s t a l l o g r a p h i c o r i e n t a t i o n in a l l
a r m s is a p p r o x i m a t e l y identical. Thus, we s a y that the
g r a i n is c o m p o s e d of a s i n g l e d e n d r i t e . 1
PLANE FRONT PLANE FRONT Some e x a m p l e s of s t r u c t u r a l f e a t u r e s at s t i l l lower
SINGLE PHASE TWO PHASE m a g n i f i c a t i o n a r e given in Fig. 3, which shows s h r i n k -
age and m a c r o s e g r e g a t i o n in a k i l l e d s t e e l ingot. Other
s t r u c t u r a l f e a t u r e s at this s i z e s c a l e include s u r f a c e
f i n i s h and ingot c r a c k i n g .
Going downwards f r o m the size s c a l e of the d e n d r i t e
F// a r m , we next e n c o u n t e r i n c l u s i o n s , e x a m p l e s of which
,i/
/// a r e sketched in Fig. 4. The b l a c k i n c l u s i o n s a r e of the
type, such a s oxysulfides in s t e e l , that a r e e n t r a p p e d
r//
b y growing d e n d r i t e s . The white i n c l u s i o n s r e p r e s e n t
Fig 1--Types of solidification structures that can be obtained i n c l u s i o n s such as s i l i c a or a l u m i n a that tend to be
in directionally solidified binary alloys (of the aon-faceting " p u s h e d " b y the growing m e t a l l i c solid into i n t e r d e n -
type). d r i t i c s p a c e s . T h e s e i n c l u s i o n s m a y f o r m b e f o r e or
2122-VOLUME 5, OCTOBER 1974 METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS
during the solidification of the metal and at both stages
a r e f r e e to move and, therefore, to collide with one an-
other and thereby to f o r m " c l u s t e r s , " s e v e r a l of which
a r e sketched in Fig. 4. Microporosity, also sketched
in Fig. 4, is another feature that can occur on this size
scale.
COLUMNAR
DENDRITIC
At still higher magnification, we come to the atomic
scale, and we must turn to this scale to f o r m a picture
of the c h a r a c t e r of the liquid-solid interface. One s i m -
ple model is the atomically flat interface shown sche-
matically in Fig. 5(c). Above the flat line drawn, a c -
cording to this model, all atoms a r e "liquid," and b e -
low they a r e " s o l i d , " lying p r e c i s e l y in the lattice po-
sitions dictated by solid crystallography. In the " d i f -
f u s e " model of the liquid-solid interface, a sharp, flat
plane does not divide the liquid and solid, and this is

/// [
/// i
9 . : 9 . . .

///
///
///
~, ' l " : .... ~,'.;

///
///
///
///'
///
/// . LfQUtD 9

/ / /
///
/ / /

(a)
ii .
. , . . 9 . 9 .

EQUIAXED
DENDRITIC

9 i . ,..'
9 9 9 . . . . . "9 ,

//;d J _
/ / /

7"/A - : . . . . ~ ... 9 . . .' "..

/// " L."i :/:.i 9149 :.i.i : !: 9 ,. 9 , ...

Fig. 4--Some m i c r o s c o p i c f e a t u r e s of solidification s t r u c -

(b) t u r e s (sketched during solidification). Black c i r c l e s r e p r e -
Flg. 2 - - G r a i n s t r u c t u r e in a solidified casting or ingot. sent t r a p p e d inclusions; open c i r c l e s r e p r e s e n t " p u s h e d "
inclusions. M i c r o - v o i d s also shown.

LIQUID
~ _ ~ S H:L::?:OT TOP
...J " ~ SEGREGATION
flIF/ /
V
~c~,-.------"A" TYPE SEGREGATION
~ ("FRECKLES")
VV ' - " - " _.-"v" TYPE SEGREGATION
V
V SOLID
(a)
LIQUID LIQUID

(b) (c)
Fig. 5--Two types of i n t e r f a c e s , (a) atom packing in a diffuse
Fig. 3--Some m a c r o s c o p i c f e a t u r e s of solidification s t r u c - interface; (b) s c h e m a t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of a diffuse interface;
t u r e of a large ingot. (c) atomically flat interface.

METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS VOLUME 5, OCTOBER 1974-2123

shown s c h e m a t i c a l l y in Fig. 5(b). A s t i l l b e t t e r r e p r e - now m a d e b y p r o c e s s e s o r u s i n g p r o c e s s c o n t r o l s to
s e n t a t i o n , though, is that in F i g . 5(a), in which a line of a c h i e v e fine d e n d r i t e a r m s p a c i n g , p a r t i c u l a r e x a m -
the type d r a w n in Fig. 5(b) r o u g h l y d i v i d e s liquid and p l e s b e i n g high s t r e n g t h a l u m i n u m a l l o y s and high q u a l -
s o l i d , but s o m e a t o m s a b o v e the line l i e in c r y s t a l l o - i t y tool s t e e l s . The p r o p e r t i e s of wrought m a t e r i a l with
g r a p h i c p o s i t i o n s , and s o m e b e l o w (like the a t o m s the fine d e n d r i t e a r m s p a c i n g a r e m e a s u r a b l y , s o m e -
m a r k e d "A") a r e not e x a c t l y in t h e i r p r o p e r p o s i t i o n . t i m e s d r a m a t i c a l l y , b e t t e r than t h e i r c o n v e n t i o n a l coun-
C e r t a i n l y , the l i q u i d - s o l i d i n t e r f a c e of m e t a l s c o r r e -
s p o n d s m o r e c l o s e l y to that of the diffuse i n t e r f a c e of
F i g . 5(a) than the s h a r p i n t e r f a c e of Fig. 5(b), 2 but t h i s
is an area of solidification that is notably lacking in
good experimental work. It is important because it is ~ ,oo
the p r o c e s s e s at this l e v e l that d e t e r m i n e w h e t h e r o r
not " f a c e t s " a r e o b t a i n e d in s o l i d i f i c a t i o n s t r u c t u r e s ,
and t h a t d e t e r m i n e the p r e f e r r e d c r y s t a l l o g r a p h i c
growth d i r e c t i o n s of d e n d r i t e s .
With t h i s g e n e r a l i n t r o d u c t i o n , f o l l o w i n g a r e s o m e
e x a m p l e s of a d v a n c e s in s o l i d i f i c a t i o n t h e o r y and in
p r a c t i c e , and of t h e i r i n t e r a c t i o n with each o t h e r . ~ ~o o 220
o 519
355
DENDRITE ARM SPACING 9 A356
r i I
(31 I 10 t00
F i g . 6 shows a plot of d e n d r i t e a r m s p a c i n g v s c o o l - COOLING RATE, ~

ing r a t e f o r a n u m b e r of c o m m e r c i a l a l u m i n u m a l l o y s . Fig. 6 - - D e n d r i t e a r m s p a c i n g s in s e v e r a l c o m m e r c i a l a l u m i -
D e n d r i t e a r m s p a c i n g in a given a l l o y ts found to d e - n u m a l l o y s ( f r o m S p e a r and G a r d n e r ) . 3
pend s t r o n g l y , and s o l e l y , on c o o l i n g r a t e - - a n d not to
v a r y v e r y much from a l l o y to a l l o y . Other s t u d i e s have
e x t e n d e d t h e s e m e a s u r e m e n t s to c a s t i n g s that r e q u i r e d
s e v e r a l months to f r e e z e , and to c a s t i n g s that s o l i d i f i e d
a t r a t e s a p p r o a c h i n g " s p l a t " c o o l i n g . 4,5 The d a t a f a i l
on the s a m e ( e x t r a p o l a t e d ) s t r a i g h t line of Fig. 6. T h e r e
a r e few e x a m p l e s found in m e t a l l u r g i c a l l i t e r a t u r e
w h e r e d a t a l i e so n i c e l y on a s t r a i g h t line o v e r a change
in one of the v a r i a b l e s of 9 o r m o r e o r d e r s of m a g n i -
tude. S i m i l a r p l o t s have now b e e n c o n s t r u c t e d f o r a
wide v a r i e t y of f e r r o u s and n o n f e r r o u s a l l o y s , and a l l
a r e l i n e a r on a l o g - l o g plot, with a s l o p e of b e t w e e n
- 1/2 and - 1/3.1
The i m p o r t a n c e of d e n d r i t e a r m s p a c i n g is that m e -
c h a n i c a l a n d o t h e r p r o p e r t i e s of a v a r i e t y of c a s t a l -
l o y s , and of wrought m a t e r i a l p r o d u c e d f r o m c a s t in-
gots, a r e found to depend s t r o n g l y on d e n d r i t e a r m
s p a c i n g . F o r e x a m p l e , T a b l e I shows that b y s u i t a b l y
" c h i l l i n g " a s a n d c a s t a l u m i n u m a l l o y to a c h i e v e fine
dendrite arm spacing, "Premium Quality" castings
can be p r o d u c e d with g u a r a n t e e d m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r -
t i e s that a r e much h i g h e r than t h o s e of c o n v e n t i o n a l
castings. This principle has been widely used for a
n u m b e r of y e a r s b y a s e g m e n t of the a l u m i n u m f o u n d r y
i n d u s t r y to p r o d u c e such " P r e m i u m Q u a l i t y " c a s t i n g s
f o r the a e r o s p a c e i n d u s t r y . " Fig. 7 is an e x a m p l e of
one such c a s t i n g , showing l o c a t i o n s of t e s t b a r s t a k e n
in a d e s t r u c t i v e t e s t of a s a m p l e c a s t i n g to a s s u r e that
the g u a r a n t e e d p r o p e r t i e s w e r e obtained.
High p e r f o r m a n c e wrought a l l o y s of high q u a l i t y a r e

Table I. Mechanical Properties o f Cast AI-Si-Mg

Age Hardenable Alloy (7 pct Si, 0.3-0.5 Mg)

Tensile Yield Elongation

Strength (psi) Strength(psi) (pet)
Guaranteed Properties in
"Premium Quality" Castings 50,000 40,000 5
Guaranteed Properties in 22,500 15,000 3/4
"Conventional" Castings Fig. 7 - - A " p r e m i u m q u a l i t y " a l u m i n u m c a s t i n g . Note t e s t b a r
l o c a t i o n s for s e l e c t i v e d e s t r u c t i v e t e s t i n g .

2 1 2 4 - V O L U M E 5, OCTOBER 1974 METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS

t e r p a r t s . Methods of a c h i e v i n g the high cooling r a t e s
and hence fine d e n d r i t e a r m s p a c i n g include c a s t i n g
s m a l l e r ingots, i n c r e a s i n g w a t e r c h i l l i n g in D.C. c a s t -
ing, e m p l o y i n g the e l e c t r o s l a g r e m e l t i n g p r o c e s s (ESR)
and m a k i n g b i l l e t s b y c o m p a c t i n g a t o m i z e d liquid d r o p -
l e t s . The d e n d r i t e a r m s p a c i n g in such d r o p l e t s is v e r y
fine indeed, a s shown in Fig. 8. One a l l o y of c u r r e n t in-
d u s t r i a l i n t e r e s t m a d e in this way is IN 100 (a n i c k e l -
b a s e s u p e r a l l o y containing Co, Mo, Ti, A1, and o t h e r
e l e m e n t s ) . In the c a s t f o r m t h i s a l l o y h a s an u l t i m a t e
t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h of 140,000 p s i , and, with a d u c t i l i t y of
1 pot, it is difficult o r i m p o s s i b l e to f o r g e . C o m p a c t e d
p o w d e r s can be w o r k e d and have a t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h of
220,000 p s i with up to 18 pct elongation. This m a t e r i a l
with i t s fine d e n d r i t e s t r u c t u r e and g r a i n s i z e is ideal
f o r use at t e m p e r a t u r e s b e l o w about 1400~ (760~
For higher-temperature applications, castings, espe-
cially columnar castings, are preferred.
I m p r o v e m e n t s to b e g a i n e d b y a c h i e v i n g fine d e n d r i t e
a r m s p a c i n g a r e not l i m i t e d to m e t a l l i c a l l o y s alone.
M a r k e d i m p r o v e m e n t s have b e e n a c h i e v e d in p e r f o r -
m a n c e of a l u m i n a - z i r c o n i a a b r a s i v e s in r e c e n t y e a r s
- - n o t a b l y b y Norton C o m p a n y with t h e i r Z F and ZS
a b r a s i v e s . The a b r a s i v e g r i t in this p r o d u c t is m e l t e d
and c a s t b e f o r e b e i n g m i l l e d and i n c o r p o r a t e d into the
g r i n d i n g wheel. The p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e m e n t s (roughly
METALLt~RGI('ALIRANSACTIONS
double) a r e a c h i e v e d b y c o n t r o l l i n g the c a s t i n g p r o c e s s
to a c h i e v e fine d e n d r i t e a r m s p a c i n g .
Why is it that d e n d r i t e a r m s p a c i n g is dependent so
s t r o n g l y , and a p p a r e n t l y so e x c l u s i v e l y , on c o o l i n g
r a t e ? The p r a c t i c a l i m p o r t a n c e of d e n d r i t e a r m s p a c -
ing has led to c o n s i d e r a b l e w o r k on t h i s f u n d a m e n t a l
question, p a r t l y with the hope of finding s o m e o t h e r way
to c o n t r o l s p a c i n g . The a n s w e r to the q u e s t i o n is now
l a r g e l y in, and it is not at a l l what we thought it would
b e . It t u r n s out that when a d e n d r i t e is g r o w i n g in a
m e l t a s shown in Fig. 9, the d e n d r i t e a r m s p a c i n g that
f i r s t f o r m s is v e r y fine, even if s o l i d i f i c a t i o n is p r o -
c e e d i n g quite slowly. Then, a s s o l i d i f i c a t i o n at the
given l o c a t i o n p r o c e e d s , only s o m e of the a r m s c o n -
tinue to grow. Other s i m u l t a n e o u s l y " m e l t " (or d i s -
s o l v e if you p r e f e r ) so that the d e n d r i t e a r m s p a c i n g
gets p r o g r e s s i v e l y l a r g e r d u r i n g s o l i d i f i c a t i o n . E s s e n -
t i a l l y , the final d e n d r i t e a r m s p a c i n g is d e t e r m i n e d b y
a " c o a r s e n i n g " p r o c e s s and the l e s s t i m e one p e r m i t s
t h i s p r o c e s s to p r o c e e d , the f i n e r will be the s p a c i n g .
Quantitative r e l a t i o n s h i p s have b e e n d e v e l o p e d to d e -
s c r i b e this c o a r s e n i n g p r o c e s s which a g r e e r e a s o n a b l y
well with e x p e r i m e n t , " q u e n c h " e x p e r i m e n t s show the
effect, and m o t i o n p i c t u r e s of s o l i d i f y i n g t r a n s p a r e n t
a l l o y s show it. N o n e t h e l e s s , s o m e i n t e r e s t i n g a c a d e m i c
q u e s t i o n s r e m a i n in this a r e a , including how c o o l i n g
Fig. 8--Photograph of an at-
omized liquid droplet. Mag-
nification about 330 times.
VOLUME 5, OCTOBER 1974-2125
 #I • @ q • I•
g r a d u a l l y crowd out t h e i r neighbors as sketched in
Fig. 2(a), r e s u l t i n g in a columnar s t r u c t u r e with den-
d r i t e s of p r e f e r r e d orientation p a r a l l e l to the growth
axis and r a n d o m l y o r i e n t e d about the growth axis. F e r -
rous and s u p e r a l l o y castings produced in this way t y p -
i c a l l y have b e t t e r room t e m p e r a t u r e ductility and i m -
proved high t e m p e r a t u r e strength over equiaxed s t r u c -
t u r e s , and so, much effort has been devoted to growing
turbine blades and vanes with this type of structure.
Fig. 10 (center), from work at Pratt and Whitney Divi-
sion, United Aircraft Corporation, shows a blade grown
in this way.
By suitable manipulation, as by growing through a
(a) s m a l l hole or around s e v e r a l c o r n e r s , it is p o s s i b l e
to obtain a s t r u c t u r e that c o n s i s t s of only one grain,
and, t h e r e f o r e , has p r e f e r r e d orientation p e r p e n d i c u -
l a r as well as p a r a l l e l to the growth axis. The casting
has no grain b o u n d a r i e s , although it, of c o u r s e , p o s s e s -
s e s a d e n d r i t i c s t r u c t u r e . Fig. 10 (left) shows a turbine
blade grown with such a " s i n g l e d e n d r i t e " s t r u c t u r e
and Fig. 11 shows an example of the improved c r e e p
p r o p e r t i e s obtained in these unidirectional s t r u c t u r e s .
The columnar s t r u c t u r e (D) p o s s e s s e s b e t t e r p r o p e r -
t i e s than the equiaxed s t r u c t u r e (C), and the s t r u c t u r e
that c o m p r i s e s a single g r a i n (M) p o s s e s s e s even b e t -
ter properties. 7
Columnar s t r u c t u r e s have other uses as well, and
one of these is for i m p r o v e d magnetic p r o p e r t i e s . In
(b) one Alnico composition, for example, the maximum
e n e r g y product obtainable in a columnar s t r u c t u r e is
twice that obtained in the equiaxed alloy (Table 1I) and
so, many Alnico magnets a r e made with at l e a s t a p a r -
t i a l l y columnar s t r u c t u r e .

IN-SITU C O M P O S I T E S
As G/R (thermal gradient divided by growth rate) is
raised from the value typically obtained in castings and
ingots, other structures are obtained. At intermediate
value of G/R, it is cellular as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 12
shows a similar cellular structure, in an alloy that is
two-phase after equilibrium solidification. As G/R is
increased in such an alloy, the cells become gradually
(c) shorter and smaller in total cross section until finally
Fig. 9 - - G r o w t h of a d e n d r i t e . (a) t h r o u g h (e) s h o w a f i x e d p o - they can be pictured as being "driven" back into the
s i t i o n at v a r i o u s s t a g e s of s o l i d i f i c a t i o n . M a n y s m a l l e r a r m s
fully solid interface. Then, at this critical value of
disappear while larger ones grow.
G/R, plane front c o m p o s i t e solidification is achieved.
Fig. 13 shows s t r u c t u r e s that then r e s u l t in s e v e r a l
r a t e affects the dendrite a r m spacing that i n i t i a l l y different t i n - l e a d a l l o y s when grown as i n - s i t u c o m p o s -
f o r m s , and what it is that affects p r i m a r y dendrite a r m ites. The ones n e a r e s t the eutectic a r e e a s i e s t to grow
spacing. with the composite s t r u c t u r e . The ones f u r t h e r away
(The foregoing d i s c u s s i o n applies p r i m a r i l y to the r e q u i r e p r o g r e s s i v e l y higher G / R . s S i m i l a r s t r u c t u r e s
fine s c a l e " s e c o n d a r y " dendrite a r m spacing r a t h e r a r e found in multicomponent a l l o y s and Fig. 14 shows
than the " p r i m a r y " spacing which can be m e a s u r e d in some for a l l o y s f r o m the AI-Cu-Ni s y s t e m , for a p o r -
columnar s t r u c t u r e s and is usually somewhat c o a r s e r tion of the phase d i a g r a m where the alloy is t h r e e -
than the s e c o n d a r y spacing). phase after equilibrium solidification. The composite
consists of a nlckel-rich phase (gray) and aluminum-
rich phase (white) and a copper-rich phase (dark). As
COLUMNAR STRUCTURES
illustrated by the graph in this figure, progressively
By reducing convection to a low value and by being higher values of G/R are again required as composi-
sure that effective heterogeneous nuclei are not pres- tion is moved further from the eutectic--the ternary
ent, it is possible to grow castings with a fully colum- eutectic in this case. ~
nar structure. This is done by extracting heat unidi- Studies on these low temperature "model" systems
rectionally through one face of the casting. In most have been of great value in developing our understand-
metals, crystal orientation at the chill face is random, ing of the fundamentals of solidification of in-situcom-
but those grains most favorably oriented for growth posites, and for defining growth conditions necessary
2126-VOLUME 5, O C T O B E R 1974 METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS
to produce s i m i l a r s t r u c t u r e s in high t e m p e r a t u r e a l - e r a l usual s u p e r a l l o y s , including the d i r e c t i o n a l l y s o l -
loys. But it is in high t e m p e r a t u r e a l l o y s that c u r r e n t idified columnar MAR-M-200 alloy d i s c u s s e d above.
p r a c t i c a l i n t e r e s t l i e s . Fig. 15 is an " i n - s i t u " c o m - The " N i T a c " alloy c o m p r i s e s TaC rods in a nickel
posite of tantalum c a r b i d e rods in a cobalt m a t r i x , alloy m a t r i x and the ~,//~,' + 5 alloy c o m p r i s e s l a m e l l a e
grown by Bibring e t al, ~~ and Fig. 16 c o m p a r e s p r o p - of Ni3Cb and nickel alloy with Ni3A1 as a solid state
e r t i e s of s e v e r a l " i n - s i t u " composite alloys with s e v - p r e c i p i t a t e . These alloys p o s s e s s significantly b e t t e r

Fig. 1 0 - - M a c r o - - e t c h e d t u r -
bine b l a d e s of n i c k e l - b a s e
MAR-M200 showing from
r i g h t to left: e q u i a x e d s t r u c -
ture, columnar structure,
columnar single dendrite.
( C o u r t e s y F. V e r S n y d e r ,
P r a t t and W h i t n e y A i r c r a f t ) .

MAR M-200
30,000 PSI . ,n M,

CREEP 20 ~8oo F ]- ]
Table II. Effect of Cast Structure on Properties of an Alnico Alloy
STRAIN (350Co, 15Ni, 8AI, 4Cu, 5"1i, Fe)
P[RCENT
10 Maximum
Coercive Force Residual Induction Energy Product

Equiaxed 1,250 9,000 5.0

Columnar 1,500 11,000 10.0
2'o ' ~ ' s'o ' a'o ' 1;o '
TIME - HOURS
Fig. l l - - C o m p a r i s o n of t h e c r e e p p r o p e r t i e s of c o n v e n t i o n a l
(C), d i r e c t i o n a l l y s o l i d i f i e d c o l u m n a r (D), and " m o n o c r y s t a l "
(M). MAR M - 2 0 0 . ( F r o m V e r S n y d e r and Shank). ?

.J ~'~.'..;-.:~.::.~.:::::!:::.:-:.;-:.::::i..::-::.::.: .... : . : .. : . . . .

,:..i:.-.:::..:..
-..i. .
Fig. 1 2 - - S k e t c h s h o w i n g a
c e l l u l a r s t r u c t u r e as it a p -
II p r o a c h e s t h a t of an "in-situ"
c o m p o s i t e a s G/R is i n -
creased.

~....:... :.:: ;:;: . ......

IJ ""~'"""'"~::':'::"::': :'"'"'"'. :"," ". :'. ", "'. :'. ". 9 9 .
~37i~:~: :.:i::"::.:.".. - " . ' 9 . . - ..
. . . . . . . . . . . . -. -.' . - ' . . .' .'. 9 .- . . . .
- 4 h ' v . . . - . . . . . - : - ' . ' . . . ' . ~ " ". 9 9 " . 9 ~ " . 9 "

D ~ . . . . ~-..'1~:'~.~':-.::':.:...".-'-'- 9 .

METAt.LURGICALTRANSA('TIONS VOLUME 5, OCTOBER 1974 -2127

 AT % LEAD "
350!o 40. 60
300t
i
aso~
I
~t
ot-
Sn
p r o p e r t i e s at high t e m p e r a t u r e s than do c o n v e n t i o n a l
s u p e r a l l o y s and so g r e a t effort is b e i n g made to d e -
velop p r a c t i c a l p r o c e s s e s to p r o d u c e t u r b i n e b l a d e s
and v a n e s of this in-situ c o m p o s i t e m i c r o s t r u c t u r e .
It is of i n t e r e s t to note that in d i r e c t i o n a l l y s o l i d i -
fied m u l t i c o m p o n e n t alloys, a wider r a n g e of s t r u c t u r e s
is o b t a i n a b l e than in b i n a r y a l l o y s . F o r example, in d i -
r e c t i o n a l l y solidified t e r n a r y a l l o y s , t w o - p h a s e d e n -
d r i t e s o r c e l l s a r e o b t a i n a b l e as shown in Fig. 17 for
an A1-Ni-Cu alloy. The wide r a n g e of s t r u c t u r e s ob-
t a i n a b l e by v a r y i n g G/R is shown s c h e m a t i c a l l y in
Fig. 18. P e r h a p s one day we will find a use for s o m e
of the s t r u c t u r e s that a r e obtained at v a l u e s of G/R
i n t e r m e d i a t e to those r e q u i r e d to p r o d u c e in-situ c o m -
p o s i t e s and those obtained in c o n v e n t i o n a l p r o c e s s e s ,
o r to p r o d u c e a l i g n e d d e n d r i t i c s t r u c t u r e s .
T h e o r e t i c a l a s p e c t s of growth of in-situ c o m p o s i t e s
and of s t r u c t u r e s obtained at i n t e r m e d i a t e v a l u e s of
G/R have b e e n e x t e n s i v e l y studied in r e c e n t y e a r s and
2i28-VOLUME 5, OCTOBER 1974
09
Fig. 13--Structures of i n - s i t u
composites of tin-lead alloys
{after Mollard and Flemings). 8
t h e s e s t u d i e s will no doubt continue. Many i n t e r e s t i n g
and i m p o r t a n t a r e a s for study r e m a i n , i n c l u d i n g how
to ' ~ the G/R r e s t r i c t i o n , how s t r u c t u r e changes
at a n g l e s and c o r n e r s , and how s o l i d i f i c a t i o n o c c u r s
when one o r m o r e phase is faceted.
MACROSEGREGATION
T u r n i n g now to a m a c r o s c o p i c f e a t u r e of s o l i d i f i c a -
tion s t r u c t u r e s , the d e v e l o p m e n t of new i n g o t - m a k i n g
p r o c e s s e s over the l a s t decade and m o r e has led to
f o r m s of s e g r e g a t i o n such as " f r e c k l e s " in c o n s u m -
able e l e c t r o d e ingots and i n v e r s e c e n t e r l i n e s e g r e g a -
tion in continuous c a s t i n g s that in no way could be ex-
plained b y c o n v e n t i o n a l textbook e x p l a n a t i o n s . This
c o n c l u s i o n led to e x t e n s i v e f u n d a m e n t a l work that has
developed wholly new e x p l a n a t i o n s for the phenomena,
e x p l a n a t i o n s which have lent t h e m s e l v e s to q u a n t i t a t i v e
t r e a t m e n t and to e x p e r i m e n t a l v e r i f i c a t i o n . 1 T h e s e e x -
METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS
 u3 30 l o o COMPOSITE
b I COLONY
X 25 +~ + DENDRITIC
9 TWO-PHASE
DENDRITES
(j,
PRESENT

& \\ \/THEORETICAL -
Fig. 14--Structure of AI-Cu-
0
\\~EXPERIMENTAL Ni in-situ composite alloys. 9
~5

Lxl
I
\\A~A~, TERNARY
EUTECTIC
9 \
\ COMPOSITION
<_9 I 5

tO 12
AT
14
% Cu
16 I8 20

p l a n a t i o n s , now c o n f i r m e d to b e l a r g e l y c o r r e c t , have r e s u l t in the p o s i t i v e s e g r e g a t i o n o b s e r v e d . The p r o b -

in t u r n l e d to s i g n i f i c a n t a d v a n c e s in i n g o t - m a k i n g p r o -
c e s s e s to r e d u c e o r e l i m i n a t e the s e g r e g a t i o n .
A s i m p l e e x a m p l e is the u n d e r - h o t top s e g r e g a t i o n
often e n c o u n t e r e d in l a r g e ingots, and s k e t c h e d in Fig.
19. A c c o r d i n g to c o n v e n t i o n a l w i s d o m , the s e g r e g a t i o n
r e s u l t s b e c a u s e t h i s a r e a f r e e z e s a f t e r the bulk of the
ingot and the a l l o y e l e m e n t (e.g., c a r b o n ) is p u s h e d
t h e r e b y the a d v a n c i n g s o l i d i f i c a t i o n front. A c t u a l l y ,
t h i s t y p e of s e g r e g a t i o n r e s u l t s only when the hot t o p -
p i n g p r a c t i c e is i n a d e q u a t e so that a n e g a t i v e t e m p e r a -
t u r e g r a d i e n t e x i s t s d u r i n g s o l i d i f i c a t i o n of the hot top.
Now the s t r u c t u r e in, o r j u s t below, the hot top a p p e a r s
s c h e m a t i c a l l y a s in the i n s e t of Fig. 19, with c o o l e r ,
m o r e s o l u t e - r i c h liquid e x i s t i n g in i n t e r d e n d r i t i c s p a c e s
above the w a r m e r , s o l u t e - p o o r e r liquid. Convection
c u r r e n t s a r e t h e r e b y s e t up in the i n t e r d e n d r i t i c r e -
gions which c a r r y the s o l u t e - r i c h liquid d o w n w a r d s and
l e m is e l i m i n a t e d b y i m p r o v i n g hot top p r a c t i c e .
INC LUS IONS
On a s c a l e f i n e r than d e n d r i t e a r m s , an i m p o r t a n t
s t r u c t u r a l f e a t u r e is i n c l u s i o n s . The i n c l u s i o n s a f f e c t
ingot s u r f a c e finish, m a c h i n a b i l i t y and m e c h a n i c a l b e -
h a v i o r of the f i n a l c a s t o r wrought s t r u c t u r e . In the
p a s t , much a t t e n t i o n h a s b e e n p a i d to the t h e r m o d y n a m -
i c s of f o r m a t i o n of i n c l u s i o n s , but o n l y r e c e n t l y have
we begun to look at t h i s a s a s o l i d i f i c a t i o n p r o b l e m .
I n c l u s i o n s can n u c l e a t e , m u l t i p l y , and grow d e n d r i t i c -
a l l y o r n o n - d e n d r i t l c a l l y on cooling of a m e l t , j u s t a s
can the p r i m a r y m e t a l l i c p h a s e . T h e y m a y grow b e f o r e
o r d u r i n g growth of the m e t a l l i c p h a s e o r p h a s e s and
can be v i e w e d a s if t h e y w e r e s i m p l y a n o t h e r m e t a l l i c
p h a s e but p r e s e n t in s m a l l v o l u m e f r a c t i o n . T h e s e i n -

METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS VOLUME 5, OCTOBER 1974-2129

 (a) Equiaxed grains, two-phase
eutectic, three-phase eutectic

(b) Aligned single-phase dendrites,

two-phase eutectic cells,
aligned three-phase composite

(c) Aligned single-phase cells,

aligned two-phase cells, and
aligned three-phase composite

Fig. 15--Eutectic rods of t a n t a l u m - c a r b i d e in a cobalt base

matrix. Matrix etched away so rods protrude (from H. Bi- m
bring ). to

100~ (d) -----~ Aligned single-phase cells and

m aligned three-phase composite

300 HOUR 60 ~/~'*~ .,.1 Ni~~ 13

RUPTUR, STRESS
Ks, 1o *.~ ~, __~\
(e) Aligned three-phase composite

I 1 I J I I I
1400 1600 t800 2000
Fig. 18--Various possible m i c r o s t r u c t u r e s obtained from
t h r e e - p h a s e alloys, in o r d e r of i n c r e a s i n g G/R.
TEMPERATURE - OF

Fig. 16--Improvement in high t e m p e r a t u r e r u p t u r e s t r e s s ob-

tained in two in-situ c o m p o s i t e s as c o m p a r e d with d e n d r i t i c -
ally solidified high t e m p e r a t u r e alloys. (Courtesy F. V e r -
Snyder, P r a t t and Whitney Aircraft).

9 ir
UNDER H O T - T O P
SEGREGATION

Fig. 1 9 - F o r m a t i o n of positive s e g -
!~:| ,
regation under an ingot hot top be-
cause of inadequate insulation on the
hot top.

l
Fig. 17--Quenched i n t e r f a c e of directionally solidified AI-Cu-
Ni alloy showing p r i m a r y dendrite, two-phase eutectic cells
and t h r e e - p h a s e composite, s

2130-VOLUME 5, OCTOBER 1974 METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS

 (a) (b) (c)
Fig. 20--Different morphologies of A120a inclusions. (a) Dendritic, magnification 1120 times, (b) faceted, magnification 7300
times, (c) clustered, magnification 2250 times. (From T. Braun). 12

BEFORE FLOW

AFTER FLOW

.." ; ...0":"-."... (a)

9 9 , . 9 . ~ 9 9 . .

9. . ~ . ~ . . . . . ;.. . ..
".'" '"" "-. ;O' "

, 9 . " 9 " . ' . ' 9 ." . "

Fig. 21--"Dendrite multiplication" resulting from convection

and associated thermal pulses.

c l u s l o n s i n t e r a c t with growing m e t a l p h a s e s in s e v e r a l
ways. N u c l e a t i o n of the m e t a l s o m e t i m e s s e e m s to o c -
c u r p r e f e r e n t i a l l y on i n c l u s i o n s . The i n c l u s i o n s a r e
s o m e t i m e s e n t r a p p e d b y the g r o w i n g m e t a l (as o x y s u l -
t i d e s in steel) n and s o m e t i m e s " p u s h e d " into i n t e r -
d e n d r i t i c s p a c e s (as s i l i c a i n c l u s i o n s and a l u m i n a i n -
c l u s i o n s tend to be). 1 (b)
F r o m a s o l i d i f i c a t i o n standpoint, an e s p e c i a l l y i n t e r - Fig. 22--Non-dendritic structure of a tin-lead alloy, vigo-
e s t i n g p r o b l e m involving i n c l u s i o n s is the " i s o t h e r m a l rously agitated during solidification; (a) sketch, (b) struc-
s o l i d i f i c a t i o n " that o c c u r s , for e x a m p l e , d u r i n g deoxi- ture, 14 magnification about 6 times.

METALLURGICALTRANSACTIONS VOLUME 5, OCTOBER 1974-2131

 7C ] - -

- 14.0
6C

- 12_0

5o
(D (a)
i,i
- IO.0 z

%
8 - 8.0
m"
u')
3o LIJ
nr
-6.0
n."
LIJ
T
-40 u)

I0
20

0 --o~~ , I I 1 l 0 (b)
0 o2 0.4 0.6 08 Fig 24-A die casting made of a partially solidified non-den-
F R A C T I O N SOLID, fs dritic aluminum alloy:(a)at a reduction of 72 pct, (b)magnifi-
Fig. 23--Viscosityof a partially solidified non-dendritic tin- cation 36.25 t i m e s Black speckLes at top and white globules
lead alloy (at a given shear rate).14 below are metal that was solid at time of casting. 16

datlon of s t e e l by a l u m i n u m . When a l u m i n u m is added

to a n oxygen c o n t a i n i n g s t e e l melt, the d r i v i n g force I100
for i s o t h e r m a l s o l i d i f i c a t i o n of Al~O3 is v e r y l a r g e ,
and s o l i d i f i c a t i o n of the phase o c c u r s v e r y rapidly, a p - I000
p a r e n t l y l i m i t e d only by convection and diffusion of the
a l u m i n u m into the m e l t . A v a r i e t y of i n c l u s i o n s t r u c - 900
t u r e s (all A12Os) have b e e n found in a l u m i n u m deoxi-
dized m e l t s , s o m e of which a r e shown in Fig. 20. '2
80O
The i n c l u s i o n s in this figure a r e d e n d r i t i c (on the left), /lnit iol Fraction
f a c e t e d (in the c e n t e r ) and c l u s t e r e d (at the right). o Solid 0.5
7OO
A p o s s i b l e , although not yet proven, explanation is 9 U
that t h e s e t h r e e s t r u c t u r e s f o r m s e q u e n t i a l l y . F i r s t ,
v e r y fine d e n d r i t e s f o r m b e c a u s e of the l a r g e d r i v i n g 6O0
13
f o r c e for s o l i d i f i c a t i o n of the Al=O3. Then, the d e n - $ LIQUIDUS = 1190~
d r i t e s b r e a k up b y the d e n d r i t e " m u l t i p l i c a t i o n " p r o - 50O SOLIDUS =1150~
c e s s to be d i s c u s s e d below. F i n a l l y (and this s e e m s h = I0
c e r t a i n ) , the i n c l u s i o n s collide and p a r t i a l l y c o a l e s c e 4OO
with one a n o t h e r to p r o d u c e the s t r u c t u r e shown in Fig.
20(c) that c r e a t e s so much difficulty with nozzle b l o c k - 3OO
age and with poor s u r f a c e finish in ingot casting, e s p e -
c i a l l y continuous c a s t i n g . Many i n t e r e s t i n g and unsolved 2o0
p r o b l e m s in s o l i d i f i c a t i o n of i n c l u s i o n s s e e m r i p e for
attack. IOO

___J L [ ._1. l I
DENDRITE MULTIPLICATION 0 .02 04 .06 D 8 .tO .12 .14
Not so long ago, we thought all new grains in cast- time (seconds)
ings and ingots arose from a nucleation event, the nu-
Fig. 25--Reduction in die surface temperature obtained by
cleus being generated as described by classical homo- casting cast iron at 50 pct solid rather than at 250~ super-
geneous or heterogeneous nucleation theory. Now, we heat (calculated). (Courtesy D. G. Backman and E. J. Mc-
know that this is not true. In fact, it seems likely that, tlale).

2132-VOLUME 5, OCTOBER 1974 MI!TALI..UR(,ICALTRANSACTIONS

in s t e e l at l e a s t , the g r e a t m a j o r i t y of g r a i n s (perhaps
even all but one !) a r i s e f r o m a d e n d r i t e m u l t i p l i c a t i o n
as shown s c h e m a t i c a l l y in Fig. 21.
D e n d r i t e s , once they f o r m , quickly b e c o m e highly u n -
s t a b l e b e c a u s e of all the s u r f a c e a r e a they p o s s e s s . One
way to r e d u c e the s u r f a c e a r e a is b y the " c o a r s e n i n g "
method d i s c u s s e d e a r l i e r and shown s c h e m a t i c a l l y in
Fig. 9, which r e s u l t s in p r o g r e s s i v e l y fewer d e n d r i t e
a r m s as solidification p r o c e e d s . But the s a m e p r o c e s s
can also cause a r m s to " m e l t " or d i s s o l v e off c o m -
p l e t e l y as shown in Fig. 21. The p r o c e s s is e n h a n c e d
(a)
! 84184i[~
(b)
METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS
by convection which b r i n g s t h e r m a l p u l s e s to the d e n -
d r i t e tip, p o s s i b l y s t r a i n s the d e n d r i t e tip somewhat,
and has the additional effects of (1) c a r r y i n g the r e -
m e l t e d d e n d r i t e a r m s o m e w h e r e e l s e w h e r e it can grow
to a new g r a i n , and (2) r e d u c i n g t e m p e r a t u r e g r a d i e n t
in the bulk liquid so the m e l t e d off a r m is l e s s l i k e l y
to be d i s s o l v e d when it is c a r r i e d off.
Had we known e a r l i e r about this m e c h a n i s m and its
e f f e c t i v e n e s s , we would have spent far l e s s t i m e (and
money) in t r y i n g to p r o m o t e h e t e r o g e n e o u s n u c l e a t i o n
b y u l t r a s o n i c s or v i b r a t i o n . In fact, as one looks over
Fig. 2 6 - S t r u c t u r e of a " c o m -
p o s i t e " die c a s t a l l o y c o n s i s t -
i n g of 30 p c t SiC in a n a l u m i -
n u m a l l o y m a t r i x . (a) m a g n i f -
i c a t i o n 1 t i m e , (b) m a g n i f i c a -
tion 100 t i m e s . 17
VOLUME 5, OCTOBER 1 9 7 4 - 2 1 3 3
the meager successes of experiments on grain refine-
ment in metals by these methods, it seems likely that
even these refinements were due to grain multiplica-
tion and that the same or better results could have
been obtained by gently stirring the melt as is now
done c o m m e r c i a l l y on occasion to achieve fine grain
size.
There is an interesting limiting structure that is ob-
tained when stirring is v e r y vigorous, and that is the
" n o n - d e n d r i t i c " structure shown at the upper right of
Fig. 2 and again schematically in Fig. 22(a). This
structure and its unique theological properties for
metal were first observed by Spencer, et a114 who
partially solidified a tin-lead alloy between two coun-
t e r - r o t a t i n g cylinders as shown in Fig. 22(a). The r e -
sulting structure of solidified small spheroids sus-
pended in a liquid (Fig. 22(b)) was found to flow as a
slurry, the effective viscosity of which remained at a
very low value up to fractions solid of 0.4 to 0.5, Fig.
23.
Thus, it became Immediately evident that vigorously
agitated, partially solidified slurries could be formed
into shapes by conventional casting p r o c e s s e s such as
die casting or, at higher fractions solid, by forging or
pressing p r o c e s s e s , and we have carried out extensive
studies in our laboratory and in industry since that time
demonstrating that this is indeed the case. 1%16 An alu-
minum alloy die casting made of the liquid-solid s l u r r y
is shown in Fig. 24.
Heretofore, all metal-forming p r o c e s s e s of signifi-
cant c o m m e r c i a l importance have been done in either
the fully liquid or fully solid state. This has been the
case because foundrymen could not " r u n " their c a s t -
ings when solid dendrites began to form, and because
solids could not be deformed homogeneously (without
cracking or segregate formation) when liquid was p r e s -
ent. The unique structure obtained by vigorous agitation
during solidification appears to circumvent both these
difficulties and to lay the foundation for development
of improved or wholly new, more economical metal-
forming p r o c e s s e s .
At the present time, one area of application of this
process being explored is that of die casting of higher
melting point metals, especially ferrous metals. These
2134-VOLUME 5, OCTOBER 1974
metals are not die cast in significant quantities today
because the thermal shock to metal components (in-
cluding the mold) is so great that component life is
short. But casting of a somewhat viscous, semi-solid
alloy can result in much reduced thermal shock to the
die surface as shown in Fig. 25.
Another potential application for forming of s e m i -
solid metals is casting of composites, such as the one
shown in Fig. 26.17 A wide variety of particulate and
fibrous materials are readily mixed into agitated s e m i -
solid metals and they are retained as a dispersion be-
cause the solid present apparently prevents them from
floating or agglomerating. Perhaps parts made in this
way will find application for abrasion resistance or for
low friction applications or perhaps this will prove to
be a practical way to lower the cost and weight of die
castings which do not have a high strength requirement
--by diluting the metal, with, say recycled glass.
RE F E R E N C E S
1. M. C. Flemings: Solidification Processing, McGraw-Hill,January 1974.
2. J. W. Calm: Acta Met., 1960, voL 8, p. 554.
3. R. E. Spear and G. R. Gardner: Trans. AFS, 1963, vol. 71, p. 209.
4. T. F. Bowei, H. D. Bsody, and M. C. Flemings: Trans. TMS-AIME, 1966,
vol. 236, pp. 624-34.
5. H. Matyja, B. C. Gies.wn,and N. J. Grant: Z lnst. Metals, 1968, vol. 96, p. 30.
6. M. C. Flemings and H. F. Taylor: Aerospace Eng., July 1962, pp. 10-15.
7. F. L. VerSnyder and M. E. Shank: Mater. SeL Eng., 1970, vol. 6, p. 213.
8. F. R. Mollard and M. C. Flemmgs: Trans. 131S-AIME, 1967, vol. 239, pp.
1534-46.
9. M. D. Rinaldi, R. M. Sharp, and M. C. Flemings: Met. Trans., 1972, vol. 3,
pp. 3133-48.
10. H. Bibring, G. Seibel, and M. Rabinovitch: Mere. Sci. Rev. Met., 1972, vol. 49,
no. 5, p. 341.
11. J. Yarwood, M. C. Flernings, an d J. F. Elliott: Met. Trans., 1971, vol. 2,
pp. 2573-82.
12. T. Braun, J. F. Elliott, and M. C. Flemings: to be published.
13. S. N. Singh: 1974, vol. 5, pp. 2165-78
14. D. B. Spencer, R. Mehrabian, and M. C. Flemings: Met. Trans., 1972, vol. 3,
pp. 1925-32.
15. M. C. Flemingsand R. Mehrabian: "Casting Semi-Solid Metals," Transaction,
international Foundry Congress,Moscow, 1973,AFS Trans., 73-102, pp. 81-88.
16. E. F. Fascetta, R. G. Rick, R. Mehrabian, and M. C. Flemings: D/e Casting
Engineer, September.October 1973, pp. 44-54. (Also AFS Cast Metals Res. J.,
December 1973, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 167-71 .)
17. R. Mehrabian, R. G. Rick, and M. C. Flemings: Met. Trans,, 1974, vol. 5,
pp. 1899-1905.
METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS