Synthesis of Al–Sn alloys by direct chill casting under the effect of mechanical stirring: an experimental and simulation optimization study

Abstract

Abstract Aluminium–tin (Al–Sn) immiscible alloys for bearing materials are difficult to cast by the conventional direct chill casting method. At higher concentrations, Sn accumulates at the bottom of the as-cast solid due to a significant density difference in Al and Sn. In the present investigation, Al–Sn alloys were fabricated by the direct chill (DC) casting method under the influence of mechanical forced convection (MFC). A computer-based simulation approach has been implemented to study the effect of MFC device position and impeller speed on melt flow and solidification. Optimized parameters were experimentally validated and the quality of as-cast ingots was evaluated. Hence, this optimization approach can be used to produce better quality Al–Sn bearing materials with uniformly distributed Sn phase in Al-matrix by the direct chill casting route.