The effect of high velocity stirred molten aluminum on the castability and microstructure

The effect of high velocity stirring (the AMS technique) on castability of A356 and A380 alloys was investigated. The experiments were carried out with different applications such as addition of Micro100 (0,1 and 1wt%), pouring at different temperatures (between 600 and 750 ?C) and mechanical stirring ( 3000 rpm ) to understand the effects of these parameters on the form filling capability and fluidity, hence castability. For spiral tests, sand spiral molds were produced with core shooting machine (cold box) and used for A356, A356 AMS and A380 alloys.For Bolt tests, bolt die was used but it was integrated to tilt casting machine. The effect of melt superheat clearly increased the fluidity. However, the effects of Micro100 treatment on fluidity were not observed. Effect of the AMS method on the fluidity of A356 alloy was not seen due to the high scatter of the results. There was no significant difference in the microstructure (i.e. DAS) between the conventional and AMS techniques.