0,&526758&785((92/87,212)&$670J$=%$//2<$7/2:683(5+($7
L. Nastac and N. El-Kaddah
The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
Copyright © 2013 American Foundry Society
$EVWUDFW
It is well known that casting at low superheat has a strong
influence on the solidification morphology and macrostruc-
tures and microstructures of the cast alloy. This paper shows
the microstructure of cast Mg AZ31B alloy at superheat of
5C (41F) and describes a stochastic mesoscopic solidifica-
tion model for predicting the grain structure of the cast al-
loy. Casting experiments were carried out using the Mag-
netic Suspension Melting (MSM) process, which is an inte-
grated containerless induction melting and casting process.
Casting at this low superheat was found to produce castings
,QWURGXFWLRQ
In recent years, there has been considerable interest in cast-
ing magnesium automotive components in order to reduce
the weight of vehicles as a means to improve their fuel ef-
ficiency.1, 2 At present, traditional AZ and AM series alloys
are being used in low-strength components such as steering
wheels and instrument panels.1 However, their use for high-
strength structural parts such as seat frames and steering col-
umn brackets have been rather limited due to processing dif-
ficulties of such reactive metals. The main problems in casting
high-strength components are oxidation and contamination of
a melt during melting and macro/micro segregation of alloy-
ing elements in the castings,1, 3, 4 which are known to signifi-
cantly degrade the mechanical properties of these alloys.1, 2, 5, 6
The current approach to overcome the problem of oxidation
in conventional melting techniques is to shield the molten
metal either by using a flux or by melting in a protective
SF6 or CO2-SF6 gas atmosphere. Although these techniques
are very effective in preventing magnesium burning, they
do not ensure obtaining oxide-free melt, which is critical
for achieving consistent properties of the cast products.7
The approach to minimize segregation is by the addition of
grain refiners, such as carbon and zirconium.6, 8, 9 Although
this technique significantly minimizes macrosegregation
in permanent mold and sand castings, it does not prevent
microsegregation of the alloying elements in the matrix be-
tween secondary dendrite arms.5, 8
The Magnetic Suspension Melting process (MSM), which
is an emerging technology for melting and casting reac-
International Journal of Metalcasting/Winter 2013
with a fine globular grain structure with an average grain
size of about 80 μm, which is much smaller than that ob-
tained by conventional casting techniques. The stochastic
model was found to reasonably predict the observed grain
structure. This makes the model a useful tool for controlling
the structure of cast magnesium alloys.
Keywords: containerless melting, casting, magnesium AZ
31B alloy, microstructure evolution, stochastic mesoscopic
modeling
tive metals,10, 11 offers the opportunity to cast magnesium
structural components for automotive applications. Unlike
conventional melting techniques, it completely eliminates
oxidation and contamination of the melt by melting with-
out a crucible. In addition, it has the capability of casting
metals at low superheat, which is another physical grain
refinement technique.12-16
The idea behind this technique is to suppress the formation of
the columnar zone by reducing temperature gradient, G, at the
solidification front in order to produce equiaxed grain struc-
ture. It was first proposed by Brinegar and co-workers in the
1980s, who developed a process for grain refinement of super-
alloys called Microcast X (MX).17 Previous studies on casting
superalloys using this technology have shown that a superheat
around 10C (50F) produces extremely fine equiaxed globular
grain structure of about 100 μm.18, 19 Studies on melting and
casting Al-Li and Mg alloys at low superheat using the MSM
process have shown that the castings are homogeneous, oxide
free and have a fine globular grain structure.12-16 The average
grain size for Al-Li and Mg AZ31B at superheat of 5C (41F)
was about 30 and 80 μm, respectively.
In recent years, a significant progress has been made
in simulating the microstructure evolution during so-
lidification as a tool for predicting the grain struc-
ture and segregation in cast alloys. The main methods
to predict microstructure evolution in cast alloys in-
clude Phase Field,20 Monte Carlo,21 Cellular Automaton
(CA),21-23 Stochastic Modeling21, 24 and Voronoi Tes-
sellation.25 This paper describes a stochastic solidifica-
tion model for predicting the grain structure of cast al-
 
loys at a low superheat. The model was applied to
investigate microstructure evolution of MSM cast
Mg AZ31B alloy at a superheat of 5C (41F). The theoretical
predictions were compared against experimental measure-
ments for assessment of the model.
'HVFULSWLRQRIWKH0DJQHWLF6XVSHQVLRQ
0HOWLQJ3URFHVV
The Magnetic Suspension Melting (MSM) process is an
integrated containerless induction melting and casting pro-
cess. In this process, the molten metal is supported in free
space by an electromagnetic force field. The electromagnet-
ic confinement field is generated using two induction coils
with opposite polarity as shown schematically in Figure 1.
The electromagnetic field also induces a strong convection
current in the molten pool, which is beneficial for produc-
ing a homogeneous melt with uniform temperature. In ad-
dition, this process combines induction melting and casting
into a single self controlling operation. The charge is melted
from top to bottom in a carefully controlled manner, through
movement of the induction coil. Pouring of the melt through
a hole in the chill block into the mold below occurs when the
interface reaches the base of the metal.
Figure 2 shows a schematic of the experimental MSM sys-
tem used in this study. It is comprised of an induction coil,
a melting compartment and a casting chamber. The melting
compartment is made of a silica tube with an inner diam-
eter of 80 mm mounted on a stainless steel plate. The top
of the tube is sealed using a brass flange fitted with ports
for gas input and output and for a thermocouple. The speci-
men rests on a water-cooled stainless steel chill block in-
side the silica tube. The block has a hole in the center which
is smaller than the diameter of the specimen. The casting
chamber is made of stainless steel tubing and is mounted be-
low the chill plate. It also has connections for gas input and
output and for a thermocouple. The casting mold is placed
on the bottom plate of the casting chamber. In this work,
the mold was designed to allow unidirectional solidification
of the melt. The mold is essentially an insulating refractory
tube around a stainless steel chill plate located on the bot-
tom. The refractory tube has a 3 in. inside diameter (ID) and
3.5 in. outside diameter (OD) and a height of 6 in. made by
Zircar Refractory. The stainless steel chill plate is 3 in. in
diameter and 2 in. long. A thermocouple holder is placed on
top of the refractory tube to allow measurements of the cool-
ing rate along the mold during solidification. Thermocouples
are connected to an Omega TC-08 data acquisition system.
The entire system is sealed using o-rings, and is connected to
a gas flow system which includes an argon gas cylinder and
a vacuum pump. The induction coil, which surrounds the
silica tube, has 10 turns and is connected to an Inductotherm
125 VIP power supply. The inner coil diameter is slightly
larger than the tube to allow movement of the coil during
melting. The system is equipped with a laser-based surface
tracking system to control the coil motion.

Experiments were carried out using an Mg AZ31B alloy
with a composition of Mg-3.14%Al-0.66%Zn -0.377%Mn-
0.051%Si. A typical experimental run involved placing a
specimen on the chill block, followed by evacuating and
flushing the system with argon to establish an inert atmo-
sphere. Argon was then allowed to flow continuously at a
rate of 8.5 liters per minute. The melting experiment be-
gan by energizing the coil, and pouring at 5C (41F) super-
heat; the coil current was 788 amps. The power was turned
off after pouring, which occurred when the liquid front
reached the bottom of the charge. When the temperature of
the casting reached 300C (572F), data acquisition and gas
flow were stopped.
)RUPXODWLRQRIWKH6WRFKDVWLF6ROLGL¿FDWLRQ0RGHO
A stochastic mesoscopic model for grain structure evolu-
tion includes nucleation and growth kinetics, as well as
the growth anisotropy and grain selection mechanisms.
The geometry of the solidified material is first enmeshed
in macro-volume elements for which energy, mass and
momentum transport can be calculated by a classical de-
terministic methods.
Then, each macro-volume is subdivided into a number of
cubic micro-volume elements that have a state index as-
sociated with them. In the time-step calculation, the av-
erage temperature of the specimen is calculated from an
energy balance. When the average temperature is lower
than the equilibrium (or nucleation) temperature, the nu-
cleation and growth of grains begin. The structure of the
stochastic micro-model consists of a regular network of
microcells that resembles the macro-volume element.
The mesoscopic model is characterized by: (a) geometry
of the microcell, (b) state of the microcell, (c) neighbor-
hood configuration and (d) transition rules that determine
the state of the microcell. The geometry of microcell is
chosen to be cubic in 3-D and square in 2-D calculations.
Each microcell can have only two possible states: it is ei-
ther liquid or solid. The ratio between the number of solid
)LJXUH6FKHPDWLFRIWKHPDJQHWLFVXVSHQVLRQPHOWLQJ
SURFHVVLVLOOXVWUDWHG
International Journal of Metalcasting/Winter 2013
microcells and the total number of microcells represents For computational convenience, the models for the descrip-
the fraction of solid within the macro-volume element. A tion of nucleation and grain growth kinetics are initiated
schematic 2-D representation of a macro-volume element based on the local solidification start time, tL, which is calcu-
is given in Fig. 3. The selected neighborhood configura- lated from the macroscopic model. The local solidification
tions are also shown in Fig. 3. They are based only on start times of microcells were obtained by interpolating the
the first- and second -order nearest neighbor microcell. local solidification start times of macro-volume elements.
Type “A” is the first-order configuration and it has four
first nearest neighbors. Type “B” configuration has eight
first nearest neighbors. Type “A” configuration is based
on the cubic von Neumann’s definition of neighborhood,
while type “B” configuration is based on Moore’s defini-
tion.21, 23 Type “C” hexagonal configuration has six first
nearest neighbors. The growth of a type “A” configura-
tion reproduces rhomboidal grains; type “B” configura-
tion gives square grains, while type “C” configuration
leads to hexagonal grains. Based on these configurations,
other configurations can be obtained. If the two types of
“C” configurations are utilized consecutively, the grains
grow into octagons, while if they are sequentially com-
bined, square grains can be simulated. All three selected
configurations are totally deterministic. Probabilistic se-
lection of the previously described deterministic configu-
rations gives another growth configuration, named type
“D” configuration. The probabilistic selection is based
upon the crystallographic anisotropy of grain growth. )LJXUH  'HILQLWLRQ RI VHOHFWHG QHLJKERUKRRG
Solidification behavior depends to a great extent on the FRQILJXUDWLRQV²$W\SH UKRPERLGDO QHLJKERUV 
transition rules. In the present model, the change of state %W\SH VTXDUHQHLJKERUV DQG&W\SH KH[DJRQDO
of the microcell from liquid to solid is initiated either by QHLJKERUV ²DUHLOOXVWUDWHG
nucleation or by grain growth kinetics.

International Journal of Metalcasting/Winter 2013  

*URZWK$QLVRWURS\DQG3UREDELOLVWLF6HOHFWLRQRI
1HLJKERUKRRG&RQ¿JXUDWLRQ
At the beginning of the simulation, all the microcells are
liquid and their state index is set to zero. As nucleation
proceeds, some microcells become solid, and their index is
changed to an integer larger than zero, n. The microcells in
contact with the mold wall are identified with a different ref-
erence index, m. The index is transferred from the parent mi-
crocell to adjacent microcell s, as they become solid through
growth. For the case of dendritic solidification of AZ31B
alloys, the integer takes into account the preferential growth
of hexagonal crystals in the prism direction. The anisotro-
pic characteristic in the prism direction certainly results in
6-fold preferred growth directions with angles between the
primary trunks of dendrites of 60°.
When equiaxed eutectic solidification is considered, the
integer shows the random location of various nuclei. For
graphical representation, each integer has a color associated
with it and each microcell is a pixel on the computer screen.
Both crystallographic orientation and random location of
the new grains are chosen randomly among 255 orientation
classes, which are the first 255 colors used for graphical rep-
resentation.
In 2-D calculations, the probability, dp(θ), that a newly nu-
cleated grain has a principal growth direction in the range (θ,
θ + dθ) is given by:
Equation 1
where 3/π takes into account the six-fold symmetry of the
hexagonal crystal, i.e., the integral of dp(θ) from -π /6 to π
/6 is equal to unity.
The probabilistic selection of the previously presented
neighborhood configurations (type “D”) is based on the
angle θ as shown in Table 1. It should be noted that the
integer, i, calculated as a function of θ, gives the neighbor-
hood configuration rule. When 15° < θ < 30°, type “C”
configurations are selected. Since two types of “C” con-
figurations are used in calculations, a further random se-
lection of either one of the two type “C” configurations is
chosen. As shown in Table 1, the selection of the type “C”
configurations is arbitrary and is based on a random num-
ber, rand (0 < rand < 1), that is generated for each temporal
and spatial calculation.
1XFOHDWLRQ
The number of grains, δNe and δNc , that nucleate in the
volume of the liquid and at the surface of the mold during
one micro-time step, δt, are calculated by using nucleation
site distributions, Ne(δt) and Nc(δt) , respectively. These dis-
tributions can be calculated by assuming some experimen-
tal approaches similar to those already used in determinis-

tic models of solidification. The instantaneous nucleation
model presented in another paper26 was used in this work to
calculate the nucleation site distributions. Other nucleation
models are also described.23, 27 Assuming no grain movement
in the liquid, the grain density at any given location, N, can
be expressed as a function of local cooling rate
Equation 2
where C0, C1, and C2 are the nucleation parameters deter-
mined from experiments and is the local cooling rate at the
beginning of solidification.
The probabilities, dpe and dpc, for a microcell located in the
bulk of the liquid or at the surface of the mold to nucleate
during the micro-time step, δt, are calculated as
and Equation 3
where and are the number of microcells in the
bulk and at the metal-mold interface, respectively. Dur-
ing each time-step calculation both metal-mold in-
terface and bulk microcells are scanned and a ran-
dom number, rand, is generated for each of them
(0 < rand < 1). The nucleation of a microcell that is still liq-
uid will occur only if rand < dpe or rand < dpc.
*URZWK
It is assumed that a nucleus formed at a particular loca-
tion (the center microcells in each configuration of Fig.
3) will grow based upon a growth kinetics model and a
neighborhood configuration rule previously described.
As nucleation proceeds, the microcell becomes active
(n or m > 0) and can grow over a distance, dμVE(t), that is
given by the following equation:
Equation 4
where t0 is the initial time, t is the actual time, and V is the
growth velocity.
7DEOH6HOHFWLRQRI1HLJKERUKRRG&RQ¿JXUDWLRQV
%DVHGRQ3UREDELOLVWLF&DOFXODWLRQRIϝ
International Journal of Metalcasting/Winter 2013
The initial time is defined as either the nucleation time, if
growth is initiated through a nucleus, or the capturing time,
if growth is initiated by capturing another microcell. At the
capturing time, tc, the initial microcell on which the growth
was initiated captures the nearest neighbors based on a se-
lected neighborhood configuration. For the case of equiaxed
growth, this occurs when dμVE(tc) is equal to the distance
Equation 5
where a is the size of the microcell for the stochastic net-
work and θ takes values from -π/6 to π/6. At the capturing
time, the initial microcell becomes solid and its state index
is transferred to the captured neighbors. For the case of eu-
tectic solidification, growth is not controlled by Equation 5
since crystallographic growth direction is irrelevant. Thus,
aθ = a.
In order to reflect the probabilistic nature of grain extension,
the nearest neighbors are trapped by the active microcells
only when a randomly generated number, rand, is smaller
than the capture probability, p , defined as follows:
g
Equation 6
Further, the same procedure is used until all microcells be-
come solid.
*URZWK.LQHWLFV0RGHOV8VHGIRU&RPSXWDWLRQRI'—YH
With the present model, at least three grain growth morphol-
ogies can be simulated: equiaxed, columnar and eutectic.
Nucleation and growth competition of the grain morpholo-
gies controls the distribution and amount of phases. For the
case of columnar solidification, the growth velocity, V(ΔT),
is calculated with the model developed by Kurz, Giovanola,
and Trivedi28 as follows:
Equation 7
where D is the liquid diffusivity, Γ is the Gibbs-Thomson
L 2.03°C/s at the end of solidification. It is interesting to see
coefficient, k is the partition ratio, ΔTo is the solidification
interval, ΔT* is the S/L interface undercooling, and is the
cooling rate.
For equiaxed solidification, the model developed by Nastac
and Stefanescu21 is applied. Thus, the growth velocity is de-
scribed by
Equation 8
where mL is the liquidus slope, ρ is the density, L is the latent
International Journal of Metalcasting/Winter 2013
heat of fusion, K is the liquid thermal conductivity, is the
L
liquid interface concentration, and the stability constant ı =
1/4ʌ2 The melt undercooling for the system under consid-
eration can be calculated based on the following definition/
assumption:
Equation 9
where T is the equilibrium liquidus temperature, is the
L
intrinsic volume-averaged liquid concentration, and T is the
b
bulk temperature defined as the average temperature in the
volume element. and are calculated with the mi-
crosegregation model.21
The growth of eutectic grains is calculated by 21
Equation 10
5HVXOWVDQG'LVFXVVLRQ
This section presents the results of characterization and mi-
crostructure evolution modeling of unidirectional solidified
AZ31-B ingots prepared using the MSM process at low su-
perheat of 5C (41F). The corresponding results for castings
produced by conventional casting techniques at high super-
heat of 60C (140F) are also presented.
6ROLGL¿FDWLRQ5DWH
The microstructure of cast alloys depends on the tempera-
ture gradient at the solidification front, G, and solidification
rate, V. These two solidification parameters can be evaluated
from cooling curves. Figures 4a and 4b show the measured
cooling rate of cast metal in the middle section of the mold
(19 mm) at low and high superheats, respectively. Figure 4a
shows that solidification at low superheat starts immediately
upon pouring and takes about 41 seconds for complete solid-
ification of the melt. This figure also shows that the cooling
rate during solidification, which determines the grain size of
the cast metal,14, 29 is fairly constant, around 1.17°C/s. For
casting at high superheat the cooling curve is similar except
in the mushy region (Fig. 4b). The rate of cooling is sig-
nificantly slower at the beginning of solidification, 0.44°C/s,
and increases progressively during solidification to about
that the total solidification time is equal to that of cast in-
got at low superheat as would be expected for the same rate
of heat extraction in the mold. Based on these results one
would anticipate a difference in the grain structure of cast
alloys at high and low superheats.
Figure 5 shows a typical plot of the variation of the cooling
rate in the mushy region during solidification at high and low
superheats. This figure also shows that the cooling rate de-
creases with time at low superheat, while it increases at high
superheat. At the beginning of solidification (f = 0) the cool-
ing rate at high superheat is about 0.48°C/s and quadrupled
 
to 1.91°C/s at low superheat. This condition is reversed at 7DEOH9'WGWDQG*IRU/RZDQG
the end of solidification with a cooling rate of 1.91°C/s at +LJK6XSHUKHDW&DVWLQJV
high superheat and 0.87°C/s at low superheat. It is interest-
ing to see that at the middle of solidification the cooling rate
of high and low superheat are almost identical at 1.10°C/s
and 1.22°C/s, respectively. The same average cooling rate
during solidification for these two superheats is expected for
the same rate of heat extraction in the mold.

From the growth velocity, V, and cooling rates, the tempera-

ture gradient, G, during solidification was calculated. Table
2 shows the measured cooling rate, growth. velocity, V, and
calculated temperature gradients G for high and low super-
heats at solid fractions f = 0 and 0.5. For high superheat the
mean growth velocity, V, and temperature gradient, G, are
about 0.29 mm/s and 2.66°C/mm, respectively. It is impor-
tant to note that these values fall in the equiaxed dendritic
solidification morphology, shown in Fig. 6.

6ROLGL¿FDWLRQ0RUSKRORJ\

Figures 7a and 7b show typical optical micrographs of

the grain structure of cast AZ31-B alloy at the center of
the ingot for the MSM and conventional castings, re-

)LJXUH  7KH JUDSK VKRZV WKH '7GW IRU & DQG &
VXSHUKHDWVDVDIXQFWLRQRIWLPH

)LJXUH7KHJUDSKVVKRZWKHFRROLQJFXUYHRI D WKH )LJXUH  6FKHPDWLF RI VLQJOHSKDVH PRUSKRORJLHV LQ

060LQJRWDQG E RIWKHFRQYHQWLRQDOO\FDVWLQJRW DOOR\FDVWLQJVLVVKRZQ

 International Journal of Metalcasting/Winter 2013

spectively. These figures show that the grains of as cast
MSM cast alloy at 5C superheat are much smaller than
that obtained by conventional casting at high superheat.
The average grain size of the MSM cast alloy is about
80 μm, which is about 3 times smaller than that obtained by
conventional casting at a high superheat of 60C.
It should be mentioned that there is very little variation in
the grain size of the MSM cast ingot, despite the decrease
in the solidification rate along the mold away from the chill
plate. Figure 7a also shows that the grain boundaries of the
MSM casting at low superheat are characterized by sharp
boundaries in contrast to the irregular grain boundaries at
high superheat (Fig. 7b). The observed globular grains in
AZ31-B castings produced at low superheat imply a cellular
solidification morphology.22 Here, it should be mentioned
that this solidification morphology was also observed in cast
Al alloys at such low superheats.12, 13
Figures 8a and 8b show the microstructure of the grains pro-
duced at low and high superheat, respectively. The bright
area corresponds to the primary α-Mg phase while the Alu-
minum rich secondary α-Mg phase appears dark. It is seen
that the grains at low superheat are essentially primary α-
phase of cellular solidification morphology, Fig. 8a, while it
is dendritic at high superheat, Fig. 8b. At the solidification
)LJXUH7KHVHDUHPDFURVWUXFWXUHVRI D 060FDVWDQG E FRQYHQWLRQDOO\FDVWPDJQHVLXP$=%DOOR\
)LJXUH7KHVHDUHPLFURVWUXFWXUHVRI D 060FDVWDQG E FRQYHQWLRQDOO\FDVWPDJQHVLXP$=%DOOR\
International Journal of Metalcasting/Winter 2013
rate used in this study, the grains are equiaxed dendritic with
the secondary-α phase and other intermetallic phases within
the grains between the grains (Fig.7b). In the MSM casting,
Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive Spec-
troscopy (SEM/EDS) analysis showed that the intermetallic
precipitates were found exclusively at the grain boundaries
(Fig. 7a). The main intermetallic precipitates found in MSM
cast ingots are Mg17Al12 and Al8Mn5.
The significant difference in the grain size and solidifica-
tion morphology, shown in Figs. 7 and 8, can be attrib-
uted to the combination of the high nucleation potential of
the melt in the MSM process due to dendrite fragmenta-
tion during remelting of the alloy12 and casting at low su-
perheat. These two factors not only reduce the grain size
in the casting, but also act to enhance the grain-growth
rate and reduce the temperature gradient at solidification
front, thus favoring the transition from dendritic to cel-
lular solidification. 22
6WRFKDVWLF0HVRVFRSLF0RGHOLQJRI
0LFURVWUXFWXUH(YROXWLRQ
Figure 9 shows predictions and experimental results for
the microstructure in AZ31B castings. Table 3 presents the
modeling data used in the microstructure modeling of alloy
 
 7DEOH'DWD8VHGLQ
0LFURVWUXFWXUH0RGHOLQJRI$OOR\$=%

)LJXUH  7KLV LV D FRPSDULVRQ EHWZHHQ D  H[SHULPHQWDO DQG E  VLPXODWHG PLFURVWUXFWXUHV FDVW DW  ƒ& VXSHUKHDW
VROLGL¿FDWLRQWLPHWV V 7KHOHJHQGLQ)LJELOOXVWUDWHVWKHFU\VWDOORJUDSKLFRULHQWDWLRQRIWKHJUDLQV

AZ31B. It can be seen from Fig. 9 that the predictions com-
pare favorably well with the experimental microstructure in
terms of size and morphology. The validated stochastic me-
soscopic model can thus be used to assist in designing Mg
casting technologies with globular morphologies.
&RQFOXVLRQV
Experiments were performed to investigate the solidifica-
tion morphology and structure of magnesium AZ31-B al-
loy cast at low superheats using the MSM process. Cast-
ing at a superheat of 5C (41F)was found to produce fine
globular grains with an average grain size of 80 m, which is
about 3 times smaller than that obtained at a high superheat
of 60C (140F). These results suggest that the MSM process
may prove to be a viable technique to improve mechanical
properties of cast magnesium alloys for structural automo-
tive components.
A stochastic mesoscopic model was developed to predict the
microstructure evolution in AZ31B castings. The model pre-
dictions were found to be in good agreement with the experi-
mental measurements in terms of size and morphology. The
validated stochastic mesoscopic model can therefore be used
to assist in designing Mg casting technologies with globular
morphologies.
$FNQRZOHGJPHQW
The authors wish to thank the National Science Founda-
tion for funding this investigation under Grant No. CMMI-
0856320.

 International Journal of Metalcasting/Winter 2013

5()(5(1&(6
1. Li, N., Osborne, R., Cox, B., Penrod, D., “Magnesium
Engine Cradle: The USCAR Structure Cast
Magnesium Development Project: ASE paper,” 337
(2005).
2. Thomson, J.P., Xu, S., Sadayappan, M., Newcombe,
P.D., Millette, L., Sahoo, M., “Low Pressure Casting
of Magnesium Alloys AZ91 and AM50,” AFS
Transactions, 1-10 (2004).
3. Lee, S.G., Patel, G.R, Gokhale, A.M.,
“Characterization of the Effects of Process Parameters
on Macrosegregation in a High-Pressure Die-Cast
Magnesium Alloy,” Materials Characterization, 55,
219-224 (2005).
4. Chino, Y. Furuta, T., Hakamada, M., Mabuchi, M.,
“Influence of Distribution of Oxide Contaminants
on Fatigue Behavior in AZ31 Mg Alloy Recycled
By Solid-State Processing,” Materials Science and
Engineering: A, 424, 355-360 (2006).
5. Prakash, D.G.L, Regener, D., “Quantitative
characterization of Mg17Al12 phase and grain size in
HPDC AZ91 Magnesium Alloy,” Journal of Alloys
and Compounds, 461, 139-146 (2007).
6. Jin, Q., Eom, J.P., Lim, S.G., Park, W.W., You, B.S.,
“Grain Refining Mechanism of a Carbon Addition
Method in a Mg-Al Magnesium Alloy,” Scripta
Materialia 49 1129-1132 (2003).
7. Proffitt, H., “Magnesium and Magnesium Alloys,”
ASM Handbook on Casting, ASM International,
Materials Park, OH, 798 (1988).
8. Han, G., Liu, X., Ding, H., “Grain Refinement of AZ31
Magnesium Alloy by New Al-Ti-C Master Alloys,”
Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China,
19, 1057-1064 (2009).
9. Cao, P., Qian, M., StJohn, D.H., “Native Grain
Refinement Of Magnesium Alloys,” Scripta
Materialia, 53, 841-844 (2005).
10. El-Kaddah, N., Piwonka, T.S., Berry, J.T., “Induction
Melting of Metals without a Crucible,” U.S. patent,
No. 5033948 (1991).
11. El-Kaddah, N., Proceedings of Int. Conf. on
Magnetohydrodynamics in Process Metallurgy, eds.
Szekely, J., Evans, J.W., Blazek, K., El-Kaddah, N.,
TMS, 283 (1992).
12. Adams, J., El-Kaddah, N., “Containerless Processing
and Characterization of High Purity Aluminum
Alloys,” Proceedings of the 1st International
Conference on Processing Materials for Properties,
TMS, Warrendale, OH, 905-908 (1993).
13. Reynolds, D.J., Shamsuzzoha, M., El-Kaddah, N.,
“Characterization of Al-Li Castings Produced by the
Magnetic Suspension Melting Process,” Proceedings
of the 4th Decennial International Conference on
Solidification Processing, edited by Beech, J., Jones,
H., University of Sheffield, Sheffield, 45-48 (1997).
14. Mahato, C., Shamsuzzoha, M., El-Kaddah, N.,
International Journal of Metalcasting/Winter 2013
“Solidification Morphology and Structure of Cast Al-
Li 2090 Alloy at Low Superheats,” Solidification of
Aluminum Alloys, edited by Chu, M.G., Granger, D.A.,
Han, Q., TMS, Warrendale, OH, 321-328 (2004).
15. Rimkus, N., Vihtelic, L., El-Kaddah, N., “Grain and
Microstructure of Cast Mg AZ31-B Alloy Produced
by the Magnetic Suspension Melting Process,”
Proceedings of Light Weight Materials for Vehicles
and Components Symposium, TMS, 753-761 (2010).
16. Rimkus, N.W., Weaver, M.L., El-Kaddah, N.,
“Microstructure and Mechanical Behavior of Cast Mg
AZ31B Alloy Produced by the Magnetic Suspension
Melting Process,” Proceedings of Magnesium
Technology 2011, TMS, 335-343 (2011).
17. Brinegar, J.R., et al., “Method of Forming a Fine-
Grained Equiaxed Casting,” U.S. patent, No. 4832112
(1989).
18. Ma, Y., et al., “An Investigation on Fine-Grain
Formation and Structural Character in Cast IN718
Superalloy,” Journal of Materials Processing
Technology 137, 35–39 (2003).
19. Liu, L., et al., “Grain Refinement of Superalloy
K4169 by Addition of Refiners: Cast Structure and
Refinement Mechanisms,” Materials Science and
Engineering A, 394 1–8 (2005).
20. Warren, J.A. and Boettinger, W.J., “Prediction of
Dendritic Growth and Microsegregation Patterns in
a Binary Alloy Using the Phase Field Method,” Acta
Materialia, 43(2), 689703 (1995).
21. Nastac, L., “Modeling and Simulation of
Microstructure Evolution in Solidifying Alloys,”
Springer-New York (2004).
22. Stefanescu, D.M., “Science and Engineering of Casting
Solidification,” Kluger publisher, 145-148 (2002).
23. Nastac, L., Stefanescu, D.M., “Stochastic Modelling of
Microstructure Formation in Solidification Processes,”
Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and
Engineering, 5, 391-420 (1997).
24. Nastac, L., “Numerical Modeling of Solidification
Morphologies and Segregation Patterns in Cast
Dendritic Alloys,” Acta Materialia, 17, 4253-4262
(1999).
25. Vernede, S., Rappaz, M., “A Simple and Efficient
Model for Mesoscale Solidification Simulation of
Globular Grain Structures,” Acta Materialia, 55, 1703-
1710 (2007).
26. Stefanescu, D.M., Upadhya, G., Bandyopadhyay, D.,
“Heat Transfer-Solidification Kinetics Modeling of
Solidification of Castings,” Met. Trans., 21A, 997-
1005 (1990).
27. Olfield, W., “A Quantitative Approach to Casting
Solidification: Freezing of Cast Iron,” ASM Trans., 59,
945-959 (1966).
28. Kurz, W., Giovanola, B., Trivedi, R., “Theory
of Microstructural Development During Rapid
Solidification,” Acta Metall., 34 (5), 1986, 823-830
(1986).
 
29. Kang, D.H., Paliwal, M., Essadiqi, E., Jung, I.H.,
“Experimental Studies on the As-Cast Microstructure
of Mg-Al Binary Alloys with Various Solidification
Rates and Compositions,” Magnesium Technology,
TMS, 533-536 (2010).

30. Fisher, K., “Fundamentals of Solidification,” Trans
Tech Publications (1986).
31. Hansen M., Anderko, K., Constitution of Binary
Alloys, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, (1958).
International Journal of Metalcasting/Winter 2013