Effects of PMMT on microstructure and macrosegregation of large-sized 6061 alloy billet

• Published in: Materials science and technology Vol. ahead-of-print; no. ahead-of-print; pp. 1 - 8
• Main Authors: Bao, Xinyu, Ma, Yonglin, Huang, Ruiyin, Liu, Yongzhen, Tang, Yuanlu, Xing, Shuqing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England Taylor & Francis 01.12.2023; SAGE Publications
• Subjects: 6061 alloy; DC-casting; grain refinement; large-sized billet; macrosegregation; The pulsed magnetic field melt treatment; 6061 alloy; The pulsed magnetic field melt treatment; DC-casting; grain refinement; macrosegregation; large-sized billet
• ISSN: 0267-0836; 1743-2847
• DOI: 10.1080/02670836.2023.2215645

The pulsed magnetic field melt treatment (PMMT) was applied in the direct chill (DC) casting of 6061 alloy billets with a diameter of 430 mm. The results indicated that the billet solidification structure was refined and homogenised. The grain size was reduced by 20.4% in the billet centre. Meanwhile, the PMMT can reduce the addition of grain refiner. The negative macrosegregation in the billet centre was reduced significantly. This can be attributed to the melt structure being changed by the energy of the pulsed magnetic field, which leads to the temperature of the melt variation and increased nucleation rate. This study may offer a promising method for the high-quality large-sized 6061 alloy billets preparation with less grain refiner.