The effect of heat transfer on local solidification kinetics of eutectic Al-Si cast alloy

Recently, Fourier thermal analysis (FTA) has been proposed as a suitable te chnique to obtain information about local solidification kinetics in castin g alloys. In this work, FTA was applied to a near-eutectic aluminum-silicon cast alloy in order to seek experimental evidence supporting the solidific ation kinetics obtained from this method. Also, a heat-transfer/solidificat ion-kinetics model was used to compare predictions with experimental result s. The metallographic findings, focused on interlamellar eutectic spacings in different locations within a cylindrical casting, support the solidifica tion kinetics obtained from FTA. The model and experimental outcome includi ng FTA results and metallographic observations suggest that local solidific ation kinetics depend strongly on local heat transfer, and the analysis of this dependence may be used to explain the observed changes in microstructu ral characteristics at different locations within castings.