Journal of Materials Processing Technology 210 (2010) 618623

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Journal of Materials Processing Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmatprotec

Prediction of cooling curves during solidication of Al 6061SiCp based metal matrix composites using nite element analysis
S.K. Jagadeesh a , C.S. Ramesh b, , J.M. Mallikarjuna c , R. Keshavamurthy b
a b c

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Bangalore 560056, India Department of Mechanical Engineering, PES Institute of Technology, 100ft Ring Road, BSK 3rd Stage, Bangalore 560085, Karnataka, India Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
In recent years, aluminium based cast composites have gained popularity in all the emerging elds of technology owing to their superior high stiffness and strength. The properties of cast composites are dictated largely by the solidication phenomenon, which needs to be well understood by foundry technologists. Information on the solidication studies of cast composites is scarce. However, the theoretical prediction of the solidication behaviour of cast composites by the use of commercially available nite element analysis (FEA) software has not yet been reported. The theoretical prediction can denitely yield good lot of information as regards the cooling rates of the cast composites saving enormous time in experimentation. In light of the above, the present investigation is aimed at the prediction of cooling curves of Al 6061SiCp composites using nite element analysis. L-shaped composite castings were prepared using stir cast technique. The temperature of the composite during solidication was measured by K-type thermocouple, from which the cooling curves were constructed. Experiments were carried out over a range of particle weight percentage of 26 wt% in steps of 2 wt%. Comparison of the cooling curves of Al 6061SiCp composite with the un-reinforced alloy reveals signicant decrease in cooling rate with the addition of SiC particles. A two-dimensional transient heat transfer model was used in commercial nite element analysis software to predict the cooling curves of composite castings. The predicted cooling curves are compared with results obtained from experiments and found to be in good agreement. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 14 August 2009 Received in revised form 16 October 2009 Accepted 18 November 2009

Keywords: Metal matrix composite Solidication Cooling curves Finite element analysis

1. Introduction Composite materials are continuously displacing traditional engineering materials because of their advantages of high stiffness and strength over homogeneous materials. Composites may have metal or polymer matrices and may be reinforced with continuous bers or discontinuous bers or particles (Zhou and Xu, 1997). The particle-reinforced metal matrix composites (MMCs) are relatively a new class of engineering materials in which a strong ceramic reinforcement is incorporated into a metal matrix to improve its properties. The most commonly used reinforcements are silicon carbide (SiC) and alumina (Al2 O3 ) particles. Aluminium based particle-reinforced metal matrix composites are already in use or in prototype for aerospace, defence, electronic packaging, automotive and recreational applications. The specic applications of AlSiC composites are mentioned in detail by Pillai et al. (1993). There are several techniques to prepare aluminium based composites, of which, melt-stirring technique is quite popular due to its

Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 80 2672 1983; fax: +91 80 2672 0886. E-mail address: csr gce@yahoo.co.in (C.S. Ramesh). 0924-0136/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2009.11.010

unique advantages. In this technique, the reinforcing particles are added directly into the liquid melt and stirred thoroughly to ensure their proper mixing in the matrix alloy. The properties of particlereinforced metal matrix composites produced from melt-stirring technique are mainly dictated by their solidication behaviour during casting. The rate of cooling during the solidication process has a signicant effect on the micro-structure of composites, which in turn affects their mechanical behaviour. Nath et al. (1987) studied the mica particle distribution in AlCuMg melt solidied in a variety of moulds under different heat ow congurations and concluded that thin castings of 12.5 mm could easily be produced with a homogeneous distribution of mica particles. Lloyd (1989) experimented on AlSiC composites and shown that the AlSi casting alloys have low reactivity with SiC. Segregation of silicon carbide particles by settling and particle pushing in cast Al 35715 vol% SiCp composites under various solidication conditions was studied by Rohatgi et al. (1991). They concluded that the best distribution of particles was obtained under fast cooling rate during multidirectional cooling. Hanumantha and Irons (1993) studied the solidication behaviour of metal matrix composites using cooling curves. In their study, aluminium A356 alloy with SiC particle reinforcement was used and cooling curves were obtained

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experimentally. Using a one-dimensional enthalpy model of MMC solidication, the cooling behaviour was predicted. Comparison of the cooling curves for the composites with the un-reinforced alloy revealed a slight depression of the liquidus and solidus temperatures and a higher solidication rate in the presence of the particles. Jeng and Chen (1997) carried out differential thermal analysis (DTA) to determine the cooling curves for Al 6061 and Al 356 alloys and their SiCp and Al2 O3 reinforced composites. The results were compared with that of a mathematical model and found that the principal characteristics of the solidication curves of the composites and their matrix alloy were similar. Dutta and Surappa (1998) studied macro- and micro-structure of AlCuSiCp composites under multidirectional solidication conditions and concluded that an increase in particle volume fraction and cooling rate reduced the extent of macro-segregation of reinforcements in the composites. Simulation studies by Naher et al. (2003) to optimize the particle dispersion and settling time for batch compocasting have shown that higher stirrer blade angles and lower viscosity of uid mixture results in reduced particulate dispersion time. Eardley and Flower (2003) studied the temperature development during inltration and solidication stage of casting commercial purity aluminium matrix composites. The results indicated that the nal macro- and micro-structures of the material are strongly dependent on the temperature prole. Youssef et al. (2005) measured the latent heat values of in situ formed AlTiB2 composite and found to be 10% less than those predicted using the rule of mixtures between pure TiB2 particles and the matrix. Youssef et al. (2005) investigated the behaviour of TiB2 particles in molten aluminium at different cooling rates and particle addition levels. Further, they studied the particle engulfment phenomenon and particle clustering effects for two matrix alloy systems, commercial purity (CP) aluminium and an Al4% Mg (A-514) alloy. Recently, Ramesh et al. (2006) predicted the cooling curves for Al 6061SiCp composites using a mathematical model based on Fourier series and compared the predicted results with that of experiments. Rajan et al. (2007) studied the effect of varying volume fraction of SiCp and graphite particles on the solidication curves of 356 aluminium matrix composites solidifying in sand, steel and graphite moulds having different heat extracting capacity. They concluded that cooling rate increases with introduction of SiCp into the matrix alloy. Further, total solidication time of the composite is found to get reduced in all the moulds studied at lower volume fractions and increases at higher volume fractions. It is observed from previous works that though Al 6061SiCp composites have widespread application in the eld of engineering, they need to be further developed. Much information is not available with regard to their solidication behaviour, which is an important factor in dictating their properties. Therefore, the present investigation aim at the experimental study of solidication behaviour of Al 6061SiCp composites, and the prediction of its cooling curves by nite element analysis using commercial FEM software. The results from experiments and model predictions are compared and found to be in good agreement. 2. Experimental methodology Al 6061SiCp metal matrix composite are prepared by using stircasting technique. A batch of 3 kg of Al 6061 matrix alloy was melted in a graphite crucible using a 6 kW electrical resistance furnace. The melt was degassed using hexachloroethane tablet. Preheated silicon carbide particles of known quantity and of 400 mesh size were added to the molten metal. The molten metal was agitated using a mechanical stirrer at a constant speed of 300 rpm to create ne vortex and ensure sufcient wetting of the particle. The composite melt maintained at a temperature of 720 C was poured into the L-shaped green sand mould. The sand mould was prepared in

Fig. 1. Geometry of mould and casting.

cope and drag boxes with bottom gating. The assembled mould was dried and then preheated to 75 C by means of a heater to remove any moisture content. K-type thermocouple was inserted into the mould at a convenient location, T, as shown in Fig. 1. Temperature of the solidifying composite was recorded at intervals of 1 s through a data acquisition system (using ALS-PC-05 card) interfaced with a digital computer. The temperature data acquisition set up is shown schematically in Fig. 2. Experiments were carried out for a wide range of particle percentages varying from 2% to 6% by weight in steps of 2%. Finally, the cooling curves of Al 6061SiCp were compared with that of un-reinforced Al 6061 matrix alloy. 2.1. FEA model and boundary conditions Commercially available ANSYS software (version 9.0) has been used for nite element analysis to predict the temperature of solidifying Al 6061 and its composites. For FEM analysis, a 2D transient heat transfer model is considered. Only half of the L-shape is modeled to take advantage of the symmetry in the problem. The nite element used is a solid two-dimensional, 4-noded quadrilateral thermal element. A total number of 115 elements were used. The geometry of sand mould model and casting are shown in Fig. 1. The material properties for the sand mould such as density, thermal conductivity and specic heat are considered to be constant with temperature. In case of casting, as there exists phase change, the thermal properties such as thermal conductivity and enthalpy,

Fig. 2. Schematic of the temperature data acquisition set up.

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Fig. 3. Meshed model and boundary conditions.

Table 1 Thermophysical properties of Al 6061 (Mills, 2002). Temperature ( C) Conductivity (W/m C) Enthalpy (J/g) 100 195 69 200 203 166 500 225 480 600 200 596 642 85 981 700 90 1049

change with temperature. Hence, temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and enthalpy are input for the casting model. The material properties and boundary conditions used in the analysis are given in Tables 13. Rule of mixture is adopted for calculating thermal conductivity of composites. However, the enthalpy of the composites was assumed to be that of matrix alloy, as the ceramic particles does not involve in heat liberation because there is no phase change. An initial temperature of 720 C and 75 C is imposed on all the nodes of casting and sand mould model, respectively. Convection boundary conditions are considered on the top, bottom and vertical sides of the mould model as shown in Fig. 3. Solution control is used to establish time stepping which determines the proper time-step increments to converge the phase change non-linearity. Smaller time-step sizes are used during the transition from molten metal to solid state. After the analysis is completed, time-history post processor is used to plot the variation of temperature with respect to time at specied location on the symmetric plane of the casting. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Experimental cooling curves Fig. 4 shows experimentally obtained cooling curves of the matrix alloy 6061 indicating the three stages of solidication,
Table 2 Properties of sand (Rajan et al., 2007). Material Sand Silicon carbide Thermal conductivity (W/m C) 0.52 100

Fig. 4. Experimental cooling curves for Al 6061 matrix alloy indicating three stages of solidication.

namely, the liquidliquid (LL), liquidsolid (LS) and solidsolid (SS) cooling regimes. It is observed that the start of the solidication of the matrix alloy occurs at a temperature of 661 C with the solidication ending at 591 C. The freezing range of the matrix alloy obtained in the present investigation is 70 C. The experimentally obtained temperatures at the start and end of solidication for the matrix alloy Al 6061 closely agrees with the literature (Mills, 2002). Fig. 5 shows the effect of incorporation of SiC particles into Al 6061 matrix alloy on its cooling curve. It is observed that there is a reduction in cooling rate with increase in the addition of silicon carbide. The cooling rate of Al 6061 matrix alloy is found to be 1.39 C/s which is higher than that of Al 60612 wt% composite

Density (kg/m3 ) 1600 3200

Specic heat (J/kg K) 1170 1300

Table 3 Initial conditions and convection properties. Initial conditions Temperature of composite ( C) 720 Temperature of sand ( C) 75 Convection properties Film coefcient (W/m2 C) 0.01 Ambient temperature ( C) 30

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140 s, respectively. This trend may be attributed to the fact that there is a signicant decrease in the effective thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of the composite due to the presence of low heat conducting SiC dispersoids. At higher weight percentage of the reinforcement particles, the effect of thermal diffusivity of the composite system plays a major role on heat transfer within the solidifying composite (Rajan et al., 2007). 3.2. Predicted cooling curves Cooling curves predicted by nite element analysis for Al 6061 and its composites are compared with experimental results and are shown in Fig. 6. The predicted cooling rate in the solidication region of the matrix alloy has decreased with increase in SiC content in the matrix alloy. A cooling rate of 1.9 C/s is observed for Al 6061 matrix alloy which matches closely with the experimental results. However, in case of composites, the cooling rate has considerably decreased. The predicted cooling rates are 1.35 C/s, 1.30 C/s and 1.26 C/s for 2 wt%, 4 wt%, and 6 wt% and SiCp composites, respectively. The reduced cooling rate with increase in SiC content can be mainly attributed to the poor thermal conductivity of silicon carbide when compared with the matrix alloy. Lower the thermal conductivity, lesser is the heat dissipation at the liquidsolid interface which in turn delays the kinetics of solidication front. The deviation in predicted and experimental cooling curves as observed in Fig. 6 can be mainly attributed to the fact that

Fig. 5. Experimental cooling curves for Al 6061 and its composites.

(0.81 C/s) and Al 60614 wt% composite (0.55 C/s) in the solidication range. A similar trend has been reported by Rajan et al. (2007). However, there is no signicant change in the cooling rate of the composite beyond 4 wt% of SiCp . A considerable variation in the total solidication time of the melt is also observed from Fig. 5. The solidication time has considerably increased with the addition of SiC particles into the matrix alloy. The total time taken by the matrix alloy for its solidication is 50 s while for the composite with 2 wt% and 4 wt% it is 90 s and

Fig. 6. Comparison of predicted and experimental cooling curve for Al 6061 and its composite. (a) Al6061 matrix alloy; (b) Al60612 wt%SiCp composite; (c) Al 60614 wt% SiCp composite; (d) Al 60616 wt% SiCp composite

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Fig. 7. Temperature distribution of solidied Al 6061 alloy and its composites at the end of 800 s. (a) Al 6061 matrix alloy; (b) Al 60612 wt% SiCp composite; (c) Al 60614 wt% SiCp composite; (d) Al 60616 wt% SiCp composite

experimental data of temperature-dependent thermo physical properties such as thermal conductivity, enthalpy and specic heat of Al 6061SiCp composite are not readily available in the literature for computation purpose. However, in the present study, these properties of composite are assumed to follow the rule of mixtures and hence the deviation. 3.3. Predicted temperature distribution The temperature distribution in the solidied casting at the end of 800 s is shown in Fig. 7. It is observed that there is a profound effect of SiCp content in Al 6061 on the maximum temperature of the casting at the end of 800 s. The maximum temperature of Al 6061 is 251 C while for 2 wt%, 4 wt% and 6 wt% of SiCp in Al 6061, the maximum temperature observed are 255 C, 259 C and 261 C, respectively. This trend in the maximum temperature of the casting can be attributed to the retardation of the solidication front due to overall decrease in the effective thermal conductivity and diffusivity of the composite leading to delay in the solidication. This trend has been clearly obtained in the experimental results also. 4. Conclusions Cooling curves have been recorded experimentally for Al 6061 with varied percentage of SiC particles from 2 wt% to 6 wt% in steps of 2 wt%. Further, the cooling rates have been predicted using a nonlinear transient heat transfer analysis using commercially available ANSYS FEA software. With increased content in SiC particles in the matrix alloy, a decrease in cooling rate has been observed. The predicted cooling rates are in close agreement with the experimental ones.

Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the support and encouragement of Prof. D. Jawahar, CEO, PES Institutions and Dr. K.N.B. Murthy, Principal, PESIT, Bangalore in carrying out this research. References
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