Journal of Materials Processing Technology 123 (2002) 258–263

Particle distribution in cast metal matrix composites—Part II

J. Hashim, L. Looney, M.S.J. Hashmi*
Materials Processing Research Centre, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
Accepted 25 January 2002

Abstract

In order to achieve a good distribution of reinforcement particles in a cast metal matrix composite (MMC), the stirring action must be
efficient enough to disperse the particles in a homogeneous way. In normal practice stirring takes place in a closed vessel or crucible, where
efficiency cannot be seen, and simulation methods are required to inform experimental research. For this research finite element analysis,
employing a specialised computational fluid dynamics package, is used to simulate the fluid flow, and thus dispersion of reinforcement
material in a molten matrix alloy during stirring. The emphasis is on investigating optimum stirring conditions in order to achieve effective
flow patterns to disperse the solid particles in the melt, without breaking the surface layer of the melt.
The simulation shows that the stirring parameters such as stirring speed, and impeller position in the crucible have a significant effect on the
flow behaviour of the fluid. These parameters interact, with various combinations generating suitable conditions for composite mixing. The
model was validated using a visualisation experiment which indicates that, despite some limitations arising from the simplification of the
physical situation, the model is a useful tool in specifying process parameter in the production of MMCs. # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All
rights reserved.

Keywords: CAD; Bar rolling; Roll pass design; Roll profile design; Roll speed; Heat transfer

1. Introduction
The fabrication of metal matrix composites (MMCs)
using a stir casting technique represents a potential means
of producing complex shaped components. In the present
research, an aluminium based, SiC particle reinforced MMC
is being made using a stir casting technique. In this method
the matrix material and the reinforcement particles are
placed in a crucible, together with a wetting agent, and
are subsequently heated under an inert gas atmosphere until
the matrix material melts, as shown schematically in Fig. 1.
A stirrer is then applied after the matrix material is com-
pletely melted. A crucial part of this process is the efficiency
of the mixing action to disperse the reinforcement particles,
which are initially at the bottom of the crucible.
The importance and difficulty of achieving a uniform
distribution of particle reinforcement in the molten matrix,
and also during solidification of the MMC, have been
discussed in detail in Part I of this paper [1]. It is known
that effective stirring action is necessary to control distribu-
tion from immediately after the addition of the particles into
the melt, until pouring into a mould. However, in normal
practice, the efficiency of the stirring action in the closed
*
Corresponding author. Fax: þ353-1-704-5345.
E-mail address: hashmis@dcu.ie (M.S.J. Hashmi).
crucible cannot be seen, and the result of the stirring can only
be deduced from the solidified MMC, using optical exam-
ination [2], and may not be clear due to contributing
solidification effects.
Actual measurement of fluid flow characteristics is expen-
sive, time consuming, and in the case of molten metal may
be dangerous. Also all relevant parameters may not be
included. Additionally, the scale-up to industrial sized units
is neither straightforward nor well established, since most
stirrer-vessel systems perform several functions simulta-
neously (for example dispersion, reaction and heat transfer).
In these situations computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can
provide a means for understanding the details of flow. In the
past decade rapid progress has been made in numerical
solution of turbulent flow problems using CFD. However,
application of this knowledge to mechanically stirred vessels
is still in the early stages, because an impeller or stirrer
induces a complex flow field. However, if the stirring action
could be simulated, that would be very advantageous. In this
paper, flow generated by a stirrer in a cylindrical crucible is
studied. CFD analysis using the finite element analysis
(FEA) ANSYS1 package is used to simulate the fluid flow
representative of casting of an aluminium matrix composite.
The objective of this paper is to study the effect of stirrer
position in the crucible and stirring speed on the flow pattern
of particles. The computer simulation presented is compared

0924-0136/02/$ – see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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 J. Hashim et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 123 (2002) 258–263
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of MMC fabrication technique used.
with visualisation experiment results using glycerol and
polystyrene particles in a perspex crucible. The information
derived from the computer model will be used in parameter
specification in subsequent MMC production by stir casting,
in order to disperse reinforcement particles in the molten
matrix as uniformly as possible.
2. Stirring
In composites produced by a foundry technique inhomo-
geneous distribution of ceramic particles in the casting has
been identified as one of the primarily problems. Mechanical
stirring is usually used during melt preparation or holding
and, in this context, the stirring condition, melt temperature,
and the type, amount and nature of the particles are some of
the main factors to consider when investigating this phe-
nomenon, [3,4]. In general stirring helps in two ways: to
transfer particles into the liquid metal, and to maintain the
particles in suspension. Several types of stirrers are available
for stirring purposes. In some cases, the stirrers are design in
order to provide a high degree of axial flow, hence mini-
mizing power requirements. This may be an important
Fig. 2. Pattern of fluidisation of solid particles: (a) pattern 1; (b) pattern 2 [7].
259
requirement in the chemical industry, where large vessels
or long transport distances can be involved. In stir casting for
MMC fabrication, there are however other factors that need
to be considered. As well as dispersing the solid particles
uniformly, the stirring action must not be allowed to intro-
duce gasses into the melt, which would be detrimental to the
final product. A vortex created during stirring can suck in
even non-wetting particles and also bubbles into a molten
alloy. Particles often attached to the bubbles, counteracting
the buoyancy which would normally helps them to float out
of the melt. As a result, it has been observed that porosity
content in a stircast composite varies almost linearly with
particle content [5]. It is necessary to create turbulence
during stirring, but it should be only in the bottom region
of the fluid.
To correlate particle lifting with flow parameters, one
defines a particle dispersion number (PDN) as the ratio of the
axial velocity of secondary flow to the terminal settling
velocity. If PDN is greater than one, the settling velocity is
smaller than the axial velocity of the secondary flow, and the
particles will be carried to the top of the melt. On the other
hand if PDN is smaller than one, the particles will remain at
the bottom. For homogeneous dispersion PDN should be
greater than four [6]. PDN is given by
H0 ðmOÞ1=2
PDN ¼ 1=4
ri d 3=4 Vt
where H0 is the height of the melt, O the angular velocity of
the container, ri the radius of the inner cylinder, d the gap
between the inner and outer cylinder, Vt the particles settling
velocity and m the viscosity of the slurry.
The stirrer diameter is also an important factors to be
considered. When the stirrer diameter is too small, the solid
particles remain suspended at the periphery of the vessel in
spite of the lack of deposits at the centre. When the diameter
260 J. Hashim et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 123 (2002) 258–263

is too large, solid particles are apt to remain un-dispersed in
the centre of the vessel bottom. Therefore the optimum
diameter of the stirrer is the size at which solid particles
are fluidized in both the central and peripheral part at the
same speed. It has been found [7] that for a flat bottom
vessel, stirrer diameter, d should be equal to 0.4D, where D
is the diameter of the vessel, and the blade width b, should be
equal to 0.1–0.2D.
In case of agitation of solid particles in a liquid in a
cylindrical vessel, a deposit of solid particles is observed on
the bottom when the agitator speed is low, and all the
particles are fluidized when the speed reaches a certain
value [7]. This is a complex phenomenon dependent on
stirrer design, shape and size of the vessel and particle
properties. Two type of fluidisation of solid particles is
observed as shown in Fig. 2(a) and (b).
3. Simulation
In general, fluid flow can be approached in two different
ways. One can choose to include the elementary flow units
(for example molecules, particles, aggregates, etc.) or to
describe flow in macroscopic or continuum terms. The latter

Fig. 3. The flow pattern for the position of the stirrer of: (a) 20% from the crucible base for 1000 rpm; (b) 20% from the crucible base for 100 rpm; (c) 70%
from the crucible base for 100 rpm; (d) 10% from the crucible base for 100 rpm; (e) 20% from the crucible base.
 J. Hashim et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 123 (2002) 258–263
is used in this simulation to simplify analysis, but it is
thought to be representative due to the fine nature of the
particles involved in the casting of the particular composite
being researched. Although this simulation is to study the
dispersion of the reinforcement particles in the molten
aluminium during stirring, no simulation of the solid par-
ticles was made. It is assumed that the particles are very fine
(<10 mm average diameter). According to Thomas [8], the
particles below 10 mm in size are almost always carried fully
suspended in the liquid and gravitational effects are negli-
gible. From this assumption, if the wettability between the
particles and the molten aluminium is good, it is expected
that the particle will follow the fluid flow pattern, which is
generated by the stirrer. The FEA package used also does not
support multiphase flow analysis. Newtonian flow of the
aluminium was presumed for the purposes of simulation.
The application software ANSYS1 Flotran-CFD was
used in this simulation, the model being built using two
dimensional elements. The simulation focuses on the fluid
flow pattern for different positions of a stirrer in a crucible,
and different speeds of stirring for two fluids: molten
aluminium, and glycerol. The stirrer geometry was therefore
kept as simple as possible, and a flat blade stirrer, as seen in
Fig. 3(a)–(e) was used. Due to the axisymmetrical shape of
the crucible and the stirrer, only half of the real shape was
included in the simulation, and the element coordinate
system used is axisymmetric about the Y vertical axis.
The model was built by initially creating a rectangle,
representing the shape of the crucible in 2D. The simulation
Fig. 4. Visualisation experiment for glycerol at the stirrer position of 20% from the crucible base, 100 rpm.
261
is representative of a fluid in an 80 mm diameter and
100 mm height graphite crucible. Meshing for the fluid in
the crucible was carried out by assigning 50 nodes at the
crucible wall in the vertical (y) direction, and 20 grid points
for the crucible base in the horizontal (x) direction. The
meshing was then reploted to generate 1000 of nodes in a
regular grid pattern. Boundary conditions were then applied
to these nodes. The validity of a CFD prediction depends
largely on the boundary conditions imposed. In this case the
boundary representing the crucible wall was specified as a
solid surface which is smooth and frictionless. This is
justified as molten aluminium does not wet graphite, as
was demonstrated experimentally. However the top surface
was allowed a degree of freedom to displace, such that
zero pressure would be maintained. The input viscosity
of the fully molten aluminium is 1:0  103 Pa S, with
density of 2.30 g/cm3 which is assume to be constant.
The viscosity and density of glycerol are 1.15 Pa S and
170 g/cm3, respectively.
Because of the fact that this CFD package does not
support solid elements, another means of representing the
stirrer, and its motion was required. The load was therefore
considered as the velocity of a group of elements. These
elements represented the shape and position of the stirrer. In
the case of this 2D simulation, the stirrer rotation speed is
given as radial velocity. The rotation speeds used were in the
range 50–1000 rpm, for four different heights of 10, 20, 50
and 70% of the total height, as measured from the crucible
base. The rotational speed range was chosen to encompass
262 J. Hashim et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 123 (2002) 258–263
the lowest and highest speeds nominally being used in
casting of MMCs. The position levels include those both
above and below the 30% optimum indicated by other
research [7], and also positions expected to cause a vortex
on the melt surface.
The results from this simulation using glycerol were
compared with those from a visualisation experiment. Streak
photography of tracer particles in such a visualisation
experiment is a good method for indicating the overall flow
pattern, and existence of stagnant regions of fluid. However
it is noted that it is not suitable for showing the rate of mixing
between different parts of a vessel. To physically simulate
the molten aluminium and SiC particles, a 90 mm diameter
perspex vessel, filled to 100 mm height with the transparent
glycerol fluid was used. Particles of white polyethylene were
added to the fluid, and mixing was carried out using a digital
control dc motor, connected to a flat base rotor (10 mm
height  2 mm thickness, and diameter of 80 mm). The
stirrer speed chosen was chosen in the range 50–100 rpm,
as for some of the runs of the computer based simulation.
The results of this visualisation test were recorded as
follows. The vessel was illuminated using a collimated light
beam across a diametrical plane, and the backdrop darkened.
Using a suitable exposure time, a streak photograph of the
polystyrene particles flow pattern was recorded, one of
which is as shown in Fig. 4.
4. Results and discussion
Examples of the simulation results are shown in Fig. 3(a)–
(e), and the validity of the model predictions as found by
comparison with the visualisation experiment results is
indicated by Fig. 4. Output from the simulation is given
in the form of a flow pattern, indicated graphically by
velocity vectors. In interpreting the results it is important
to keep in mind two desired requirements: (1) turbulence at
the base region of the crucible which would give effective
mixing (SiC particles are more dense than molten alumi-
nium, and tend to settle, rather than float), and (2) the
absence of a vortex at the surface (to avoid gas/impurity
entrapment). It should be noted that to aid generalisation of
interpretation of results, impeller position is given as a
percentage of the total height of the fluid, h, and refers to
the position of the lower edge of the impeller.
4.1. Effect of stirrer speed
The effect of stirrer speed is illustrated taking the example
of a case where the impeller is placed with its lower edge
20% h from the base of the crucible. The speed is then
changed from 100 to 1000 rpm. Fig. 3(a) shows the flow
pattern at the highest speed, and Fig. 3(b) that at the lowest.
At 100 rpm two well-defined circulation zones are apparent,
one below the impeller, one above. Both zones reach the
crucible wall. Under the impeller the flow zone extends to
the crucible base, but there is a ‘dead’ zone at the centre of
the crucible. Above the impeller the circulation zone is
centred 35% h from the crucible base, and extends vertically
over a further height of 30% h. The region at the top of the
vessel (constituting approximately 35% h) has little or no
motion.
As speed increases the flow pattern below the impeller
remains essentially the same. The difference lies only in the
magnitude of the velocity of the fluid elements. At one
sample position, 10 mm from the crucible wall at the base,
the velocity increases almost by 30 times from 6.4 to
186 rad/s as impeller speed increases from 100 to
1000 rpm. This increase in speed causes even fluid at the
bottom centre of the vessel to be effected by the circulation
region at the highest speeds. Above the impeller, at higher
speeds the circulation is dominated by a vertical suction
pattern, and a vortex has formed on the fluid surface, causing
a maximum displacement of fluid elements of 3% h from
their original position. From running the simulation at
impeller speed values between those shown in Fig. 3(a)
and (b) it is clear that the transition to this type of flow occurs
at very high speeds for this position. The flow pattern at
500 rpm for example is very similar to that shown for
100 rpm.
4.2. Effect of position
According to experimental observation of Nagata [7] the
stirrer should be placed no more than 30% from the base, to
avoid accumulation of particles at the bottom of the mixture.
The simulation results show good agreement with this
statement. This is illustrated by Fig. 3(c) and (d), in which
rotor speed is maintained at 100 rpm, and the stirrer is
located at 10% h and 70% h from the crucible base,
respectively. At the lowest position the influence of the
impeller is seen over the bottom half of the crucible. There
is a circulation loop centred 25% h from the vessel base, and
below the stirrer mainly horizontal velocity is seen, which
does extend to the crucible wall, and to the centre. At the
highest position there are three distinct flow zones within the
fluid. The first is a volume of little or no flow at the bottom of
the crucible over 15% h, the second a circulation zone
beneath the impeller, centred 50% h from the base, and
the third, above the impeller, where a vortex has formed
accompanied by strong vertical suction within the fluid. The
transition to vortex formation occurs at positions higher than
50% h in the case of 100 rpm stirring speed.
4.3. Effect of fluid viscosity
The simulation was run for two different fluid types: the
relatively low viscosity molten aluminium, and high visc-
osity glycerol. The effect of viscosity change on predictions
was significant, as can be seen by comparing Fig. 3(b)
(aluminium) and Fig. 3(e) (glycerol). In both figures stirrer
speed and position are the same at 100 rpm and 20% h from
 J. Hashim et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 123 (2002) 258–263
the base, respectively. In the higher viscosity fluid, the effect
of stirrer rotation is more localised to the region of the
impeller, and centred more toward the crucible centre. In
addition, rather than two circulation tracks, in the more
viscous fluid a single major circulation area is clearly
identifiable. This area extends above and below its ‘eye’
to approximately 20% h. However there is a zone of no flow
directly beneath the impeller, and another at the top of the
vessel extending over 30% h of the fluid.
4.4. Interaction of effects
It is obvious that as flow patterns are effected by both
stirrer position and speed, several different combinations of
these parameters could result in the desired mixing condi-
tions. Which combination of speed and position is chosen
may depend on constraints to resources such as equipment,
power or space. A systematic analysis of the candidate
combinations for the current application was not carried
out, but will be part of further analysis.
4.5. Comparison with visualisation experiment
As it is not possible to experimentally validate the simu-
lation using molten aluminium, the model was checked by
comparing results for the more viscous fluid glycerol with
experimental data. Fig. 4 is a photograph of the visualisation
experiment for the same stirring conditions as those for the
simulation shown in Fig. 3(e) The white lines in the photo-
graph are the paths followed by the polyethylene particles
through the fluid, and reflect the general fluid flow pattern.
It can be seen that the predicted flow pattern in the simula-
tion show a very good agreement with the experimentally
observed one. This lends confidence to the validity of the
model to predict optimum conditions for the aluminium
casting situation.
4.6. Limitation of the CFD model
While the model has been shown to represent the flow
characteristics of stirred glyclerol, it does have specific
limitations in relation to simulating the stirring of aluminium
263
and reinforcement particles. Firstly Newtonian flow has
been presumed. This is not strictly valid for the real process,
as discussed in [1]. In addition no solid elements were used
in the model, therefore it is not possible to account for
variations in characteristics of the particles such as size
distribution, and wettability for example.
5. Conclusion
A model of the stirring of molten aluminium containing
fine SiC particles has been built using FEA. The model was
applied to the case of the more viscous glycerol fluid, and the
results from this were compared with experimental results.
The general flow patterns predicted by the model have been
validated using this technique, indicating the usefulness of
the model in parameter choice for casting aluminium based
MMCs. The speed of rotation of the stirrer is shown to
significantly impact on fluid flow characteristics, both velo-
city of flow, and direction. At higher speeds an undesirable
vortex forms on the fluid surface. Stirrer location is also
important. When the impeller is placed excessively
high within the fluid, little flow occurs at the base of the
vessel where it is required to lift particles into the melt. The
model does have limitations, however is sufficiently repre-
sentative of the process of stirring to inform decisions on
process parameters for stirring of MMCs during the casting
process.
References
[1] J. Hashim, L. Looney, M.S.J. Hashmi, Particle Distribution in Cast
MMCs—Part I, in: Proceedings of the AMPT’98, Kuala Lumpur,
August 1998, in press.
[2] P.K. Ghosh, S. Ray, Zeitschrift Fuer Metallkunde 80 (1989) 53–59.
[3] D.J. Lloyd, J. Int. Mater. Rev. 39 (1994) 1–23.
[4] A. Mortensen, I. Jin, Int. Mater. Rev. 37 (1992) 101–128.
[5] S. Ray, in: Proceedings of the 1995 Conference on Inorganic Matrix
Composites, Bangalore, India, 1996, TMS, pp. 69–89.
[6] N.E. El-Kaddah, K.E. Chang, Mater. Sci. Eng. A 144 (1991) 221.
[7] S. Nagata, Mixing Principles and Applications, Wiley, New York,
1975, pp. 250–258.
[8] D.G. Thomas, AIChE J. 1 (1962) 373.