The implication of rheology in semi-solid metal processes: An overview

The current article is to highlight the implication of rheology in semi-solid metal (SSM) processing. The effect of several process and metallurgical parameters, such as shear rate, shear time, holding time, pouring temperature, fraction solid of the primary phase and its morphology, size and distribution, on the apparent viscosity of the SSM alloys are reviewed and discussed. A variety of viscometry methods are introduced and the potential of typical routes in characterizing the microstructure and viscosity values of SSM slurries are given.