Numerical Simulation of the Effect of Hypergravity on the Dendritic Growth Characteristics of Aluminum Alloys

Abstract

The cellular automata‒lattice Boltzmann model is used to simulate the dendritic growth process of aluminum alloys under the action of hypergravity by performing coupling heat and mass transfer, solidification and flow and the effect of hypergravity on the dendritic growth characteristics of aluminum alloys. The dendrite arm spacing, growth rate, and dendrite morphology vary greatly with the size and direction of hypergravity, and solute segregation occurs. Compared with the gravity of the earth (1 g), hypergravity strongly strengthens the buoyancy-driven flow and considerably affects the morphology of the solidified grain. The dendritic growth rate is also accelerated. According to the direction of hypergravity with respect to the dendritic growth direction, there exist different flow states, which show stable or unstable dendritic growth dynamics. For columnar crystal growth, when the hypergravity and growth direction are identical, the dendrite tip undergoes downward melt flow, and the dendrite grows in a stable manner. When the hypergravity and the growth direction are opposite, the dendrite tip undergoes upward melt flow, the dendrite grows in an unstable manner, and the primary dendrite spacing decreases. For the growth of equiaxed crystals, the convection induced by hypergravity causes the equiaxed crystals to be asymmetric, and the solute segregates in the direction of gravity. Channel segregation occurs in the mushy zone in the presence of equiaxed crystal chains.

Keywords: hypergravity, dendritic growth, aluminum alloy, numerical simulation