Materials Transactions, Vol. 44, No. 11 (2003) pp.

2334 to 2338
#2003 The Japan Institute of Metals

Solidication-Path and Microstructure of Al-Ti-Cr Alloy Analyzed

by Progressive-Type Solidication Equation
Nobuyuki Mori and Keisaku Ogi
Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan

There have been many analytical and numerical studies on microsegregation and prediction of second phase in solidication structures of
alloys, and they have both advantages and disadvantages especially on the applicability of variable partition ratio (k) of solute and diusion
coecient (D) in the solid. In this paper, we propose and apply a new progressive-type solidication equation: CLi
CLi
1  f1
1
B  ki
1 fsi g=f1
1
B  ki
1 fsi
1 gki
1
1=1
Bki
1 , which has a parameter (B) including variable partition ratio (k) and
D. A specic parameter B is given in each progressive solidication model: B 2
(Flemings model), B 2
1
exp
1=

exp
1=2

(Clyne-Kurz model), or B 2
=1 2
(Ohnaka model), where
D  f =L2 , L: eective length of volume element ( s  d2 =2, s: structure
factor ( 0:5  1), d2 : dendrite arm spacing), f : local solidication time. The dierence in B-values among the above models are small when
D-value is relatively small. The solidication-paths of various Al-Ti-Cr alloys, which crystallize L12 -type (Al,Cr)3 Ti as the primary phase, are
analyzed by the progressive-type solidication equation by using the above B values and the data of Al-Ti-Cr phase diagram including k-values
(: functions of composition) and experimentally determined diusion coecient. The calculated results agree well with the solidication
microstructures: the species and the amounts of non-equilibrium eutectic phases and the composition of primary phases.

(Received April 4, 2003; Accepted September 12, 2003)

Keywords: solidication, microsegregation, solidication path, solidication equation, aluminum-titanium-chromium, non-equilibrium
second phase, progressive equation, intermetallic compound

1. Introduction The following approximate equation is given by Flemings

Many analytical or numerical methods were proposed and
examined to analyze microsegregation of alloys: Flemings
equation, Clyne-Kurz equation, Ohnaka equation, or many
numerical simulations.13) The authors have proposed a new
progressive-type solidication equation which has a param-
eter (B) including D in the solid and variable partition ratios
(ki
1 ).46) This progressive-type solidication equation is
applied to analyze the solidication of L12 -type (Al,Cr)3 Ti
alloys. This intermetallic alloy is studied as a next-generation
heat-resistant alloy, however, the industrial applications are
not realized yet because of its insucient toughness. Since
the information on the solidication process in arc-melting or
unidirectional solidication is not sucient for this Al-Ti-Cr
system, the microstructure couldnt be controlled well and
contains defects such as non-equilibrium second phases and
boids after solidication or heat treatment.79) In this study, to
evaluate the solidication path and non-equilibrium solid-
ication microstructures of (Al,Cr)3 Ti alloys, the new
progressive-type solidication equation is applied with
solidication parameters: variable partition ratio (k) of solute
and diusion coecient (D), eective length of volume
element (L s  d2 =2, s: structure factor ( 0:5  1), d2 :
dendrite arm spacing) and local solidication time (f )
obtained by the experiment.10,11)
2. Analysis of Solidication Path by Progressive-Type
Solidication Equation
The following equation is given for the solidication of a
volume element (with section: A, length: L) when the
interface position is  and fraction of solid is fs ( =L).
CL
Cs   A  d 1
fs  V0  dCL
A  D@Cs =@x  dt
et al. when the growth is proportional to the square root of the
time (t):  Lt=f 1=2 , and @Cs =@x dCs  =d, dCs 
k  dCL .
CL
Cs   dfs 1
fs B  k  fs  dCL 2
where, CL : liquid concentration, Cs : solid concentration, Cs  :
interface concentration of solid ( k  CL ), k: partition ratio
of solute, fs: solid fraction, B 2
,
D  f =L2 , f : local
solidication time, D: diusion coecient in the solid, L:
growth length ( d2 =2, d2 is secondary dendrite arm spacing
of primary phase), V0 : volume of the element ( A  L for
plate).
By the integration of the equation (2), the following
solidication equations on the changes of liquid and solid are
obtained. Three cases ((a) Constant k, (b) Variable k, (c)
Variable k and D) are shown in the following.
2.1 Constant k
The following solidication equation is obtained by the
integration of Eq. (2) from (CL0 , 0) to (CL , fs).
k
1
CL CL0 1
1
Bkfs 1
Bk 3
For Flemings model, B 2
,
D  f =L2 . When
0,
Eq. (3) becomes to well-known Scheils equation (or Pfanns
equation).12,13) Since the above equation becomes Equili-
brium solidication equation when
0:5 (B 1:0), and
the error becomes larger for large value of diusion
coecient (D), the following modied models are proposed.
In Clyne-Kurz model,2) B 2
1
exp
1=


exp
1=2
is applied for the eq. (3). By using this modied
B, eq. (3) becomes Equilibrium solidication equation
when D 1,
1 and B 1:0, and Scheils equation is
obtained when D 0,
0, B 0. In Ohnaka model,3)
B 2
=1 2
is applied for the eq. (3), and solid
1 concentration (Cs ) is given by the equation: Cs b cx2