Effects of Casting Temperature and RE Refiner on Microstructure of the Squeeze-Cast Al-Zn-Mg-Cu Alloy Drive Hollow Shaft

Abstract

Effects of casting temperature and RE refiner on microstructure of the hollow Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy drive shaft prepared by squeeze casting ( in express locomotive) were investigated in this paper. As the casting temperature increase from 720°C up to 780°C, the average grain size of the α-A1 primary grains increased from 32μm up to 51μm, and the average equivalent roundness changed irregularly. Meanwhile the variation range was not big and the roundness value ranged from 0.63 to 0.72. With the casting temperature up to 780°C, the average equivalent roundness was 0.71. When the refiner was adopted, the average grain size of the alloy decreased obviously. However, no obvious change was detected in the average equivalent roundness, which ranged from 0.73 to 0.78. With the refiner of 3wt% Al-10RE, the average grain size of the alloy and the average equivalent roundness were 35μm and 0.77, respectively.