Study on structure and viscosity evolution mechanism of titanium-containing iron liquid in full viscosity range

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the relationship between the viscosity of Fe-4.5wt%C-0.2wt%Ti melt and its liquid structure. The actual experimental results of viscosity measurement reveal that the viscosity range of Fe-4.5wt%C-0.2wt%Ti melt can be segmented into three intervals. Through thermodynamically calculated equilibrium phases and high-temperature confocal experiments, it is observed that the abrupt change in viscosity in the lower temperature range is attributed to the precipitation of the graphite phase. Moreover, differential scanning calorimetry experiments exhibit a distinct phase transition in the liquid phase region. To delve into the atomic structure of the liquid phase region, molecular dynamics simulations are employed. The high-temperature liquid structure of Fe-4.5wt%C-0.2wt%Ti melt predominantly consists of vacancies, atomic clusters with Ti as the core, and atomic clusters with C as the core. Within the high-temperature liquid phase region, the conversion of Free-Fe and C1-Fe to Cx-Fe occurs, resulting in a reduction of free volume and enhanced stability of the cluster. Consequently, the inhomogeneity of the Fe-4.5wt%C-0.2wt%Ti melt increases, and the viscosity exhibits a significant increase with temperature, leading to a variation in the viscosity within the liquid phase interval.