Login (DCU Staff Only)
Login (DCU Staff Only)

DORAS | DCU Research Repository

Explore open access research and scholarly works from DCU

Advanced Search

Examination of the stir-casting method to produce Al-SiC composites

Naher, Sumsun (2004) Examination of the stir-casting method to produce Al-SiC composites. PhD thesis, Dublin City University.

Abstract
This work examined the influence of processing parameters on the production of Al-SiC metal matrix composites (MMC) by batch compocasting process. Processing parameters investigated includes tirring speed, stirring time, stirrer geometry, stirrer position , metal fluid temperature (viscosity). Room temperature (25°C) visual simulations, computer simulations and validation Al-SiC MMC production tests were performed. In the visual and computer simulations, water an d g ly c e ro l/water were used to represent liquid an d semi-solid a lum in ium respectively. The effects of viscosities of 1, 300, 500, 800 and 1000 mPas and stirrin g speeds of 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 rpm were investigated. A 10 vol. % reinforced SiC particulate , similar to that used in the aluminium MMC’s, was used in the visualisation and computational tests. The visualisation tests were carried out in a transparent glass beaker. The computational simulation was performed with Fluent(CFD software) an d an ad d on package MixSim. This consisted of a 2D axisym metric multip h a se time dependent simulation of the production routeusing an Eulerian (granular) model. The dependence of particle dispersion times, settling timesand vortex height on stirring geometry and stirrer speed was found. A blade angle of 60 degrees was found better for the flat blade stirrer, to obtain uniform particulate dispersions quickly. From the setestsas tirrin g speed of 150 rpm for water-SiC an d 300 rpm for the glycerol/water-S iC sy stem were found to be necessary in order to obtain a uniformd is tribution of the SiC. A viscosity increase from 1 mPas (for liquid metal) to 300 m Pas (for semi-solid metal) was found to have a tremendous effect on the SiC dispersion and settling times. However, a further increase from 300 mPas to 1000 mPashad negligible effect on this time. A significant part of the work consisted of the design, construction and validation of a specialised quick quench compocaster for this high temperature processing method. This machine consisted of a stirrer with four 60 degree angled flat blades and a cruciblein a resistance heated furnace chamber. An actuator was integrated to this rig to enable quick quenching of the processed mixture. This device was used to produce Al-SiC composites. Generally, good agreement was found between the visualisation, computational and validation experimental results.
Metadata
Item Type:Thesis (PhD)
Date of Award:2004
Refereed:No
Supervisor(s):Brabazon, Dermot and Looney, Lisa
Uncontrolled Keywords:Metallic composites.; Metal castings
Subjects:Engineering > Electronic engineering
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Engineering and Computing > School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
ID Code:19178
Deposited On:24 Sep 2013 10:49 by Celine Campbell . Last Modified 24 Sep 2013 10:49
Documents

Full text available as:

[thumbnail of Sumsun_Naher_20130624085653.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
6MB
Downloads

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Archive Staff Only: edit this record