Control of the solidification structure of hypermonotectic Cu-40 wt.%Pb alloy melt by pulse currents

Abstract

In this study, pulse currents with different peak densities were applied on hypermonotectic Cu-40 wt.% Pb alloy during the cooling process. The microstructures of the alloy before and after the application of pulse currents were compared to explore the influences of pulse currents on solidification microstructures of the alloy. The comparison results indicated that pulse currents could decrease the activity of clusters inside the alloy melt, enhance the solvent effect, and reduce the volume fraction of the second phase, thus inhibiting liquid phase separation and achieving the control of the solidification structure of the alloy.