Development of Microstructure and Homogenization During Solidification of Aluminum Alloys. Part 2: Continuous and Interrupted Solidification of Al-Mg, Al-Zn, AlZnCuMgZr and AlMgSi.

Experimental results from continuous and interrupted solidification experiments with binary aluminum alloys are compared with predictions made by a numerical model. The agreement between experimental and calculated data is very good for the cooling curves, the solidification times, the amount of nonequilibrium phases and the coarsening of dendrite arms. On the other hand, the concentration distribution shows large deviations which suggest the need for an improved theoretical approach. Together with data for two technical aluminum alloys and the data for directional solidification presented in the first part the results give a quantitative account for the solidification behavior of the aluminum alloys investigated.