In this study,the effect of rotating gas bubble stirring treatment on the microstructures of semi-solid AZ91-2Ca alloy was investigated.The semi-solid slurry was produced by injecting fine gas bubbles into the melt through a rotating steel diffuser during solidification,and the samples of semi-solid slurry were taken by the rapid quenching method.The results show that fine and sphericalα-Mg particles can be obtained under rotating gas bubble stirring treatment.The process parameters such as gas flow rate,cooling rate and rotation speed have significant influence on the morphology of primary solid particles.After rotating gas bubble stirring treatment,the higher the particle density,the finer and rounder the primaryα-Mg particles.The formation of numerous solid particles is due to the combination mechanisms of copious nucleation and dendrite fragmentation.
In this study,the microstructure evolution of semi-solid Mg-10Gd-3Y-0.5Zr alloy during isothermal heat treatment has been investigated.The results show that primary particles coarsen continuously during the holding.Coarsening rate decreases with the increase of isothermal temperature.When isothermal temperature increases from 600℃ to 620℃,the dominant mechanism for coarsening changes from particle coalescence to Ostwald ripening.Equiaxed as-cast microstructure is beneficial to the semi-solid microstructure after isothermal heat treatment,which brings about the refinement and spheroidization of primary particles,and shortening of holding time.Significant modification of second phases can also be achieved after isothermal heat treatment,due to its unique solidification process.The optimum processing parameters for Mg-10Gd-3Y-0.5Zr alloy in isothermal heat treatment are isothermal temperature of 610℃-620℃ and holding time of 20-40 min.
