Application of the Rappaz-Drezet-Gremaud Hot Tearing Criterion to Welding of Aluminium Alloys

Hot tearing, a severe defect occurring during solidification is the conjunction of tensile stresses which are transmitted to the mushy zone by the coherent solid underneath and of insufficient liquid feeding to compensate for the volumetric change. The RDG (Rappaz Drezet Gremaud) criterion for the appearance of hot tears in metallic alloys is based upon a mass balance performed over the liquid and solid phases and accounts for the tensile deformation of the solid skeleton perpendicular to the growing dendrites and for the induced interdendritic liquid feeding. When tackling the problem of hot tearing in welding of aluminium alloys, the RDG criterion can be used at three levels of increasing complexity by: - ranking the alloy with regards to their sensitivity to hot cracking - studying the risk of hot tearing in the process using only the thermal field (thermal criterion), - and studying the influence of the mechanical behaviour of the mushy alloy on the risk of hot cracking (thermo-mechanical criterion). Each level is illustrated by an example dealing with laser beam welding. Nevertheless, one of the critical issues in the RDG approach is the definition of a coherency point which, in low-concentration alloys, corresponds to the bridging or coalescence of the primary phase. To tackle this aspect, a 2D granular model is presented together with preliminary results.

A granular model of solidification as applied to hot tearing

Stéphane Vernède

Hot cracking is a spontaneous failure of an alloy during solidification. It is a severe problem for casting industry as it reduces the productivity of cast houses and limits the range of alloys compositions that can be industrially produced. Hot tears occurs at the end of solidification, when solid grains are separated by thin liquid films. At this stage of solidification, fluid flow between the grains is difficult and the solid network is not continuous enough to transmit stresses. The material is extremely brittle. Moreover, the deformation induced by the thermal shrinkage of the material tends to localize in hot spots, i.e., in zones which solidify at last. These zones become in tension and the concomitant effect of the tensile stress with the intrinsic brittleness of the material result in a hot crack. Even though the general mechanisms of hot tearing are understood, the importance of each physical parameter remains ill defined. The present work is mainly focused on the derivation of a granular model of mushy zone (the zone where solid and liquid coexist) for aluminium alloys, i.e., a model which explicitly considers the behaviour of each grain while being sufficiently simple to allow the computation of large mushy zones. First, a solidification model based on the Voronoi diagram of a random set of nuclei is derived. This model computes the solidification in each polyhedron considering back-diffusion and coalescence. Second, a pressure drop calculation is performed in the network of connected liquid channels assuming the centre of solid grains to be fixed. This model considers a Poiseuille flow in each channel, Kirchhoff's conservation of flow at nodal points and flow Losses compensating solidification (KPL model). Finally, the displacement of the solid grain centres is considered and the mechanical behaviour of the mushy zone is computed assuming perfectly rigid solid grains. This model shows the progressive formation of grain clusters and the localization of fluid flow at high solid fraction. Therefore, it allows to define transitions in the behaviour of the mushy zone. These transitions are essential for hot cracking models, but should be introduced as parameters in continuum approaches. Finally, the mechanical model shows a strong localization of deformation in liquid channels normal to the stress direction. Such channels create ideal sites for the nucleation and the propagation of hot cracks.

EPFL2007

In situ X-ray Diffraction during Casting: Study of Hot Tearing in Al-Zn alloys

Jean-Marie Drezet, Güven Kurtuldu, Bastien Gilbert Pierre Mireux

During solidification of metallic alloys, coalescence corresponds to the formation of solid bridges between grains when both solid and liquid phases are percolated. As such, it represents a key transition with respect to the mechanical behaviour of solidifying alloys and to the prediction of solidification cracking. Coalescence starts at the coherency point when the grains begin to touch each other, but are unable to sustain any tensile loads. It ends up at the rigidity temperature when the solid phase is sufficiently coalesced to transmit macroscopic tensile strains and stresses. This temperature, also called mechanical or tensile coherency temperature, is a major input parameter in numerical modelling of solidification processes as it defines the point at which thermally induced deformations start to generate internal stresses in a casting. The rigidity temperature has been determined in Al Zn alloys using in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) during casting in a dog bone shaped mould. This set-up allows the sample to build up internal stress naturally as its contraction is prevented. The cooling on both extremities of the mould induces a hot spot at the middle of the sample which is irradiated by X-rays. Diffraction patterns were recorded every 0.5 s using a detector covering a 426 x 426 mm2 area. The change of diffraction angles allowed us to observe agglomeration/decohesion of growing grain clusters and to determine a solid volume fraction at rigidity around 98 % depending on solidification time for grain refined Al 6.2 wt% Zn alloys.

Trans Tech Publications Switzerland2015

A New Hot-Tearing Criterion

Jean-Marie Drezet, Michel Rappaz

A new criterion for the appearance of hot tears in metallic alloys is proposed. Based upon a mass balance performed over the liquid and solid phases, it accounts for the tensile deformation of the solid skeleton perpendicular to the growing dendrites and for the induced interdendritic liquid feeding. This model introduces a critical deformation rate beyond which cavitation, i.e. nucleation of a first void, occurs. As should be expected, this critical value is an increasing function of the thermal gradient and permeability and a decreasing function of the viscosity. The shrinkage contribution, which is also included in the model, is shown to be of the same order of magnitude as that associated with the tensile deformation of the solid skeleton. A hot-cracking sensitivity (HCS) index is then defined. When applied to a variable-concentration aluminum-copper alloy, this HCS criterion can reproduce the typical ‘‘lambda curves’’ previously deduced by Clyne and Davies on a phenomenological basis. The calculated values are in fairly good agreement with those obtained experimentally by Spittle and Cushway for a non-grain-refined alloy. A comparison of this criterion to hot cracks observed in ring-mold solidification tests indicates cavitation depression of a few kilo Pascal and tensile stresses in the coherent mushy zone of a few mega Pascal. These values are discussed in terms of those obtained by other means (coherency measurement, microporosity observation, and simulation). Even though this HCS criterion is based only upon the appearance of a first void and not on its propagation, it sets up for the first time a physically sound basis for the study of hot-crack formation.

1999

A granular model of solidification as applied to hot tearing

Stéphane Vernède

EPFL2007