The Growth of Secondary Dendritic Arms in Directionally Solidified Al-Si-Cu Alloys: A Comparative Study with Binary Al-Si Alloys

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Abstract
Experiments of vertical unsteady-state directional solidification were carried out in order to permit the influence of copper alloying to Al-Si alloys on the scale of secondary dendritic arm (λ2) to be investigated. The microstructures of Al-nSi-3wt%Cu alloys, with “n” equal to 5.5wt%Si and 9.0wt%Si, were characterized and correlated with solidification thermal parameters: the growth rate (VL), the tip cooling rate (Ṫ) and the local solidification time (tSL). A comparative analysis between the present results and those from the literature related to the secondary dendrite growth during directional solidification of Al-nSi alloys is also conducted. It is shown that the addition of Cu to both Al-nSi alloys decreases λ2, and experimental growth laws relating λ2 to VL and ṪL are proposed for the ternary alloys examined. The experimental scatter of λ2 is also compared with the only theoretical dendritic growth model from the literature for multicomponent alloys, and it is shown that the theoretical predictions overestimate the present experimental results.

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