Evaluation of volume fraction of solid in alloys formed by semisolid processing

Three of the methods used to determine the volume fraction of solid as a fu nction of temperature in alloys in the semisolid state, namely utilization of thermodynamic data, thermal analysis, and quantitative metallography on quenched microstructures, are studied. The accuracy of each method is evalu ated and the advantages and limitations are recognized. It is demonstrated that, while all methods are approximate, they offer distinct and different advantages. (C) 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers.