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The article discusses the microstructure formation in aluminum-silicon alloy which are directionally solidified in a rotating magnetic field. Accordingly, aluminum-silicon7Mg (AlSi7Mg) alloys are used in order to produce high stressed automotive components such as engine frames and cylinder heads in foundry industry. Various processes have been used in order to investigate the microstructure formation in AlSi7Mg0.3 and AlSi7Mg0.6 alloys during directional solidification.

Abstract: For the understanding of the formation of microstructures the initial transient, i.e. the very beginning of solidification, is of major relevance. At this stage a complex interaction between the velocity of the solidification front, the concentration pile-up and the temperature gradient takes place. In a Bridgman-Stockbarger furnace directional solidification experiments with binary AlCu 1.3wt.% were performed allowing solidification with a planar solid–liquid interface. The velocity and temperature profile were measured during the experiments, concentration profiles afterwards. In this paper we present experimental results. Parallel to the experimental work numerical simulations based on the model of Coriell et al. were performed and first results are compared to the experiments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]