Double-stream-pouring technique for production of gradient

materials by continuous casting

ZHANG Weiwenl, ZHU Cangshan2, WE1 xingzhaol,

MENG Jilongl, YUAN shuguil and YU ~ e '
1. South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China; 2. Hunan Switch Plant, Chengsha 410083, China

Abstract A novel method for producing gradient materials by continuous casting is introduced. By using many-stream-pouring
technique, samples with gradient distribution of alloy composition along the cro~psection have been prepared. The main difference
of this method from the conventional continuous casting is the pouring system equipped with two sets of tundishes for liquid metals
of different alloy compositions. Special consideration is given to the promotion and control of the crass-sectional mass transport. The
steady heat transfer and mass flow ensure a partial mixing of two metals and yield a continwsly varying cornpasition distribution. By
adjusting the processing parameters, composition profile with different shapes can be achieved. First experiments have been carried
out in A-Si system and A1-Cu system for three series of A/ASi. A S i / A and AICdAI. It is shown that the alloy composition, the
microntructure and the mechanical property change smoothly from the centre to the surface of the samples. This simple and practical
method is potential for mass prodution of "structural gradient materials" and may offer a new way for alloy design.

Keywords: eontinwus casting, gradient material, double-atream-pouring technique.

IN many practical applications. there are different requirements of properties in the surface and in the in-

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ternal region. The traditional methods for solving the problem are either the application of expensive ma-
terials which can deliver all required properties or the surface treatment. Both methods unavoidably lead to
a considerable increase of production cost. The most economical solution can be achieved by the establish-
ment of an ideal distribution of alloy composition directly in as-cast state.
At the beginning of the 9th decade, one of the present authors p r o d a novel method of producting
a kind of structural materials in which alloy concentration follows gradient distribution along the cross sec-
tion by continuous casting using many-stream-pouring technique['], which has two distinct differences
from the functionally gradient materials ( F G M ) developed first by Japanese in 1 9 8 7 [ ~ . ~ First,
'. the
preparation of FGM is mainly by vapor deposition, spraying, sintering, self-propagating high-temperature
synthesis and other methods typical for fabricating layered structures. The gradient material studied here
is prepared by continuous or semi-continuous casting, which is a usual method for producing uniform
structure. The underlying mechanisms of gradient concentration distribution are thus completely differ-
ent. Second. FGMs are designed for one or several special functions. Primarily, they were focused on the
heat resistance materials for relaxing the thermal stress in aerospace and aviation industry. The FGMs
may find applications in advanced technology. But the gradient material studied in this work can be used
for various kinds of structural applications on a large scale.
1 Fundamentals of the method
The present method is based on the many-stream-pouring technique in continuous casting. Because
the double-stream-pouring is the simplest case but the principles can be extended to many-stream-pouring
method, in the present study only the double-stream-pouring technique is discussed.
Figure 1 illustrates the brief principles of producing gradient materials for two different manners of
vertical and horizontal casting. Compared with the conventional casters, the most significant modification
lies in the pouring system: two sets of tundishes, instead of one set, are used for teeming two streams of
melts with different alloy concentrations. The liquid metal in the outside tundish flows directly into the
mold through the outlet. A thin skin forms on the inner surface of the mold immediately. The liquid in in-
side tunsdish flows into the liquid pool through the entry nozzle which is surrounded by the solid skin and
the outside liquid containing many floating dendritic grains. By adjusting the casting parameters, the ten-
dency of the sequential solidification can be enforced and controlled in a broad range, so that an entire
mixing cannot happen. On the other hand, the convection between the outside liquid and inside liquids en-
sures a partial mixing. A continuously changing structure without any drastic composition change is then
yielded.

Fig. 1. Principle schematics of producing gradient niaterials. ( a ) Vertical caster: (b) horizontal caster. I. Inside tundish: 2.
outside tundish; 3, entry nozzle; 4. embedded gate; 5, mold.
To realize the concepts. two special points are vital and have to be considered: to establish a steady
mass and heat flow and to prevent two melts from the entire mixing. With more and more extensive ap-
plication of computer technology in foundry, the automation control of relevant parameters is becoming
possible in continuous casting. This makes the present method feasible if the relationship between the alloy
composition and the casting parameters can be explored.

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2 Results and analysis
Based on the principle of producing gradient materials in the vertical caster illustrated in fig. 1, the
first experiments of three series were carried out in Al-Si and Al-Cu system by semi-continuous casting us-
ing double-stream-pouring method. The raw materials are commercially pure aluminum, Al-Si and Al-Cu
casting alloys. Two kinds of liquid metals with different concentrations are poured simultaneously into the
inside tundish and outside tundish. The fluid in outside tundish flows directly into the graphite mold with
an inner diameter of 65 mm and the liquid in inside tundish flows down to the liquid pool through the en-
try nozzle which is ceaxial with the graphite mold. The flow of the inside metal is controlled by the open-
ing of an embedded gate in the nozzle. The flow rate of two liquids is determined by the total mass flow
determined by the steady casting speed and the flow of the inside metal liquid. Other casting parameters
are listed in table 1, among which the submergence length of nozzle represents the length of nozzle in the
mold.
Table 1 Experiment series and casting parsmetem

Composition Composition Tempenture/K TemperatudK Submergence Diameterlmm of Casting

Series inside outside inside outside lengthlmm of the embedded sped/m. min- t
node gate
AI/AISi Al All2 mass fraction 1023 973 18 1.8
AISi/AI All2 mass fraction Al 973 1023 18 1.6 12
AICu/AI Al5 mass fraction A1 993 973 18 1.8

Figure 2 shows the average values of

Rockwell hardness against the distance to the 60
center of the samples in three series illustrat-
ed in table 1. The values of Rockwell hard-
50 8
8
ness increases from the center to the surface
for the sample in the series of Al/AlSi but
decrease continuously in the series of AlSi/Al
and AlCu/Al.
Figure 3 demonstrates the feature of
microstructure in the series Al/AlSi. The re- 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
markable difference of microstructure be- Distance to the center R/mm
tween the and regions of the Fig. 2 Rockwell hardness (HRF) against the distance to the center
sample is shown in this figure. The micro- ( R ) in the ,,ies W M S i , AS~/AI and ~ l c u / ~~h~
. dot line in&-
graphs build a complete series including cates the value 1s beyond the limit of the hardness tester.
points of distance of 30, 20, 10, 5 mm to
the center respectively.
There is a considerable amounts of eutectic silicon shown in fig. 3 ( a ) but a(Al) in fig. 3(d) is domi-
nant. The amounts of eutectic silicon in fig. 3(b) and 3(c) are the intermediate state between fig. 3(a)
and 3 ( d ) . Similar results have been found for AlSi/Al system.
Figure 4 is the distribution of the alloy concentration measured by energy disperse spectroscopy
(EDS) for the three series of samples.
In the series of Al/AISi, the silicon concentration decreases from the external region to the center
which is consistent with the tendency of Rockwell hardness profile shown in fig. 2 and the microstructures
in fig. 3 . Other two series also indicate the feature of continuous variation of alloy composition. It is rec-
ognized that the composition at the outer layer is nearly the same as the nominal composition of raw mate-
rials used for outside metals, whereas the composition in the center of the sample apparently deviates from
that of the raw metals for the inside melt (see table 1). This indicates an effect of partial mixing in the
middle of the fluid zone.
Combining the results from fig. 2 to fig. 4 we can conclude that the gradient variation of alloy con-
centration, microstructure and mechanical property along the c m section are all achieved in three experi-
ment series.

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Fig. 3. Microstructure of Al/AlB gradient material at the different positions. The distance R to the center of the sample
is 30 mm (a), 20 mm ( b ) , 10 mm ( c ) and 5 mm ( d ) ,
3 Conclusion
From the above analysis of the first series of ex- 16
perimental results, it can be concluded that the +AV AISi
method proposed in this note for producing the gradi-
ent materials for the structural application is feasible.
This method based on the conventional continuous
casting is simple. For its application only a small
change of pouring system which makes up a small
portion of the total production cost is required. The
present method can be easily extended for variety of 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
alloy systems, not only for producing structural ma- Distance to the center R/mm
terials such as steels and aluminum alloys, but also
for preparing the FGM synthesized by metals and Fig. 4. The concentration distribution of the samples along
the cross section in the series of Al/AISi, AlSi/AI and AlCu/
non-metal materials. ..
A1 .
Because of its economic and ecological aspects,
the idea of alloy design has attracted materials scientists for decades. The method of producing materials
with desired alloy distribution by continuous casting using many-stream-pouring technique will allow de-
sign of alloy composition distribution, so that the concept of alloy design will gain more extensive sense.

Acknowledgement This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (Grant No. 1994005) and
the Foundation of National Education Commssion for Returned Researcher (Grant No. 1994660).

References
1 Yu, G . , Deutschea Putentant, DE4108203 Al, 1991.
2 Sasaki, M . , Hirai, T . , Fabrication and, properties of functionally gradient materials, J . G r a m . Soc. Japan, 1991, 99
(10): 1002.
3 Bishop, A. , Lin, C. Y . , Navaratnam, M . , A functionally gradient material produced by a powder metallurgical process, J.
Mater. Sci. Letters, 1993, 12(19) : 1516.
( Received November 18, 1997)

9 14 Chinese Science Bulletin Vol .43 No. 11 June 1998