Effect of ultrasonic stirring on temperature distribution and grain refinement in Al-1.65%Si alloy melt

A series of experiments were conducted for AI-1.65%Si (mass fraction) alloy melt to study the formation of grain refining structure with ultrasonic stirring. The cooling curves of ingots with ultrasonic were measured and compared with those without ultrasonic. At the same time, the effect of the time of ultrasonic stirring on solidification structure of ingots was investigated. The influence of ultrasonic on the grain-refining efficiency of ingots was analyzed. In order to well understand the melts behavior under ultrasonic, by using ammonium chloride solution, the simulation experiment was carried out and the temperature distribution in ingot with or without ultrasonic was compared. The results indicate that the ultrasonic reduces the temperature inhomogeneity of melt, i.e the ultrasonic helps to homogenize the melt temperature. The effect of stirring and heat generation in ingot start to occur with increasing the time of ultrasonic stirring.