Viscosity Estimation of Semi-solid Alloys by Drop Weight Backward Extrusion Test under High Speed Deformation

A simple method for estimating the apparent viscosity of semi-solid alloys was investigated. A drop weight of 50Kg and backward extrusion equipments were used to test the deformation. Backward extrusion was employed in a closed die system due to the very little separation of liquid from solid phases compared with other methods at very high deformation rate. The half of the calculated impact velocity, 700mm/s was considered as an average velocity for deformation during the test, since the slop of the velocity changes against time is constant in the middle stage of the deformation. The initial height of the sample and the thickness of the residual compressed solid at the bottom of the cup were used to calculate the amount of apparent viscosity of A356 aluminum alloy in this work.