Rheo-Cast Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of AM60 Alloy Produced by Self-Inoculation Rheo-Diecasting Process

Rheo-forming is becoming the choice for production of high quality parts with diminished defects and fine integrity. In this paper, the novel self-inoculation rheo-diecasting (SIRD) process, in which semisolid slurry is produced by mixing two precursory solid and liquid alloys and subsequently pouring them through a multi-stream fluid director, has been proposed. Microstructural characteristics of AM60 alloy slurry and the microstructure and mechanical properties of rheo-diecasting AM60 samples were investigated. Quenching experiments reveal that the slurry microstructure of AM60 was well refined to irregular α-Mg particles with the average size of approximately 20–40 μm after pouring with the self-inoculation process, and these particles were evolved to globular and coarse morphology while continuously keeping in semisolid state. After rheo-diecasting, the microstructure of the sample was dominated by fine primary α-Mg globules accompanied with tiny secondary α-Mg particles while the sample from conventional liquid die casting was characterized by developed dendrite and porosity. Microscopic analysis indicates that there are three stages of remaining liquid solidification in die cavity in SIRD: α-Mg nucleation and growth on primary α-Mg surface, α-Mg nucleated independently in liquid, and, finally, formation of skeleton devoiced eutectic. Due to diminished porosity and hot tearing, tensile strength and elongation of SIRD samples were increased by 12.9% and 35.3%, respectively, compared to a conventional liquid die casting sample.