Morphological features of interfacial intermetallics and interfacial reaction rate in Al-11Si-2.5Cu-(0.15/0.60)Fe cast alloy/die steel couples

Soldering reactions are commonly observed during high pressure die casting of aluminium alloys, and involve the formation and growth of interfacial intermetallics between the die and the cast alloy. It is generally believed that close to 1% Fe is necessary in the aluminium alloy to reduce soldering. However, the role of iron in the interfacial reaction has not been studied in detail. In this investigation, reaction couples were formed between H13 tool steel substrates and an Al-11Si-2.5Cu melt containing either 0.15 or 0.60% Fe. Examination revealed distinctly different intermetallic layer morphology. The overall growth and chemistry of the reaction layer and the reaction rate measured by the consumption of the substrate were compared for the two alloy melts. It was demonstrated that a higher iron content reduces the rate of interfacial reaction, consistent with an observed thicker compact ( solid) intermetallic layer. Hence, the difference in reaction rate can be explained by a significant reduction in the diffusion flux due to a thicker compact layer. Finally, the mechanism of the growth of a thicker compact layer in the higher iron melt is proposed, based on the phase relations and diffusion both within and near the interfacial reaction zone. (C) 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers

Enhanced pinning of superconducting vortices by magnetic vortices

Periodic arrays of magnetic structures are well known to give rise to commensurate pinning of superconducting vortices in adjacent superconducting films. In this work we compare the pinning effects due to magnetic dots with either single-domain or magnetic-vortex magnetization configuration. We observe a clear correlation between the magnetoresistance in the superconductor and the magnetization configuration of the magnetic dots indicating that the pinning of superconducting vortices is strongly enhanced for the magnetic vortex state. The origin of this enhanced pinning is due to the locally larger stray magnetic fields produced by the magnetic vortex cores

Effect of mold coating materials and thickness on heat transfer in permanent mold casting of aluminum alloys

In permanent mold casting or gravity die casting (GDC) of aluminum alloys, die coating at the casting-mold interface is the most important single factor controlling heat transfer and, hence, it has the greatest influence on the solidification rate and development of microstructure. This investigation studies the influence of coating thickness, coating composition, and alloy composition on the heat transfer at the casting-mold interface. Both graphite and TiO2-based coatings have been investigated. Two aluminum alloys have been investigated: Al-7Si-0.3Mg and Al-9Si-3Cu. Thermal histories throughout the die wall have been recorded by fine type-K thermocouples. From these measurements, die surface temperatures and heat flux density have been evaluated using an inverse method. Casting surface temperature was measured by infrared pyrometry, and the interfacial heat-transfer coefficient (HTC) has been determined using these combined pieces of information. While the alloy is liquid, the coating material has only a weak influence over heat flow and the thermal contact resistance seems to be governed more by coating porosity and thickness. The HTC decreases as the coating thickness increases. However, as solidification takes place and the HTC decreases, the HTC of graphite coating remains higher than that of ceramic coatings of similar thickness. After the formation of an air gap at the interface, the effect of coating material vanishes. The peak values of HTC and the heat flux density are larger for Al-7Si-0.3Mg than for Al-9Si-3Cu. Consequently, the apparent solidification time of Al-9Si-3Cu is larger than that of Al-7Si-0.3Mg and it increases with coating thickness