The Effect of Water Mist Cooling of Casting Die on the Solidification, Microstructure and Properties of AlSi20 Alloy

Unmodified AlSi20 alloy were casted at the research station, allowing for sequential multipoint cooling using a dedicated computer- controlled program. This method allows for the formation of the microstructure of hypereutectic AlSi20 alloy and also increases hardness. Primary silicon dendrites were found in the microstructure of cooled samples. Based on these dendrites, the formation of primary silicon particles is explained. Cooling of casting die with a water mist stream causes changes in solidification, which leads to expansion of the boundary layer with columnar crystals and shrinkage of the core zone with equiaxed crystals. It also causes more regular hardness distribution around pre-eutectic Si crystals, which can lead to tensile strength and machinability improvement.