Energy dissipation and apparent viscosity of semi-solid metal during rheological processes - Part I: Energy dissipation

The energy dissipation caused by the viscous force has great effects on the flow property of semi-solid metal during rheological processes such as slurry preparing, delivering and cavity filling. Experimental results in this paper indicate that the viscous friction between semi-solid metal and pipe wall, the collisions among the solid particles, and the liquid flow around particles are the three main types of energy dissipation. On the basis of the hydromechanics, the energy dissipation calculation model is built. It is demonstrated that the micro-structural parameters such as effective solid fraction, particle size and shape, and flow parameters such as the mean velocity, the fluctuant velocity of particles and the relative velocity between the fluid and solid phase, affect the energy dissipation of semi-solid metal.