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The semi-solid casting process has a lot of advantages in controlling casting defects. High quality impellers have been produced successfully by the semi-solid process for several years. The semi-solid processed impellers have uniform microstructure and premier mechanical properties, and therefore excellent durability. Further improvement of performance of the impellers is demanded and achieved by increasing curvature and length of blades of impellers. These changes create potential trend of casting defects in blades of impellers, such as non-filling holes. In our recently work, castings were made in different conditions, including two-step plunger velocity and one-step plunger velocity. The experimental results show that the change of plunger velocity played a decisive role in the forming of non-filling holes. Entrapped gas is the direct reason of the non-filling holes. With the increasing of plunger velocity, the area of non-filling holes increased. The non-filling holes in blades could be avoided by eliminating the plunger velocity’s changing during filling blades.

A crucial problem concerned with the semi-solid forming process is the liquid segregation phenomena during shape formation, especially for rheo-casting process. Liquid segregation occurs due to the separation phenomena of the solid grain and the liquid phase. In this work, using commercial finite element software, the liquid segregation during rheo-casting process was numerically investigated by Eulerian-granular multiphase model based on the comparable results of single phase model, Eulerian-granular two-phase and three-phase model, along with Eulerian-granular DDPM three-phase model. In the study, solid grains and liquid phases were regarded as rigid material and non-Newtonian fluid at microscale, separately. This validation was experimentally proved and also compared to the proposed relationship of power law, Herschel-Bulkley model with yield stress at macroscale.

Semi-solid slurry has significantly higher viscosity than liquid metal. This character of fluidity makes product design and die design, such as gating system, overflow and venting system, be different between these two die casting processes. In the present paper, taking a clamp product as an example, analyses the product optimization and die design by comparing the experimental and computational numerical simulation results. For the clamp, product structure is designed to be suitable for characters of SSM die casting process. The gating system is designed to be uniform variation of thickness, making the cross-sectional area uniformly reduce from the biscuit to the gate. This design ensures semi-solid metal slurry to fill die cavity from thick wall to thin wall. Gate position is designed at the thickest location, the gate shape of semi-solid die casting is set to be much bigger than traditional liquid casting. A good filling behaviour can be achieved by aforementioned all these design principles and it will be helpful to the intensification of pressure feeding after filling.

Surface blistering during T6 heat treating is an artifact that is essentially unique to high pressure casting processes such as semi-solid casting and die casting. It is believed that the blistering originates from subsurface defects present in the castings. When the castings are exposed to elevated temperatures during solution heat treatment, the strength of the aluminum is reduced, and the defects expand to deform the surfaces of the castings. There are three potential sources for the subsurface defects - entrapped air, die lubricant or shot sleeve lubricant.This paper will report on a study to determine the origin of the defects present in the castings that produce the blisters. Along with attempting to separate the influence of air and the two types of lubricants on blister formation, the study will also examine the impact of a number of process parameters on blistering.

The enthalpy equilibration method is a novel technique to produce globular grain structure in semi-solid slurry preparation. In this process, the liquid is firstly poured into a metallic crucible, which possesses low thermal conductivity and high thermal capacity. Homogeneous distribution of temperature within the metallic crucible is achieved by rotating the crucible and cold down to a temperature between liquidus and solidus, determined by the requirement of solid fraction. The semi-solid slurry is then transferred to a high pressure die caster. In order to achieve a spherical microstructure morphologies in the entire slurry, effects of grain refiners, in addition to the enthalpy equilibration method, on the microstructure of the slurries of A357 alloy were investigated. Quantitative metallographic measurements were applied to evaluate microstructural evolution and processing parameters were optimized.

Compared with traditional liquid and solid processing methods, semi-solid die casting process can apparently overcome shrinkage cavity and porosity defects in castings and high deformation resistance and high residual stress shortcomings in forging parts. Semi-solid die casting process with advantages such as high efficiency and low cost, will become the optimal process for high quality automobile parts. In this study, using the clamp as an example, the author introduced product structure optimization and die design for semi-solid die-casting process of aluminum alloy in a new product development.The Computer Aided Engineering technology was applied to the product structure optimization according to the stress analysis. The optimal mold structure, including cavity layout, gating system, overflow and vent systems, were confirmed based on the die design criteria for traditional die casting, combining with the characteristics of semi-solid forming and the simulation results. The semi-solid aluminum alloy clamp parts with excellent performances were finally developed successfully by means of product structure optimization, die design, parameters optimization of die casting process, and the mechanical properties test of products.The existing parts were optimized to make them more suitable for semi-solid die casting processing. In addition, a reasonable die design specially for semi solid processing was an important guarantee for a successful semi solid product applied in industry. Computer numerical simulation was applied in product structure design for semi-solid die casting, die design, die-casting process optimization and other aspects, to shorten the development cycle of new product, reduce cost and improve efficiency.

A general rule in conventional liquid metal casting processes is that smaller size would produce better metallurgical quality and mechanical properties. The conclusion that semi-solid thixocasting process doesnt follow this rule has been made recently. The microstructure and mechanical properties of semi-solid thixocastings are much less dependent on casting size and cooling rate than the liquid castings. The step casting in the previous study is specially designed and simplified. The practical castings, e.g. turbocharger impellers, are more complex than the step castings. In this work, the turbocharger impeller is used to study the impact of section size representing the casting size on the microstructure and mechanical properties of semi-solid thixocastings, compared with the step casting. Section thickness decreases from 50 mm to 3.5 mm. In addition, the impact of casting thickness on the eutectic phase is also presented. The results reveal that the size of primary α-Al particles is insensitive to the casting thickness in semi-solid thixocasting. The cooling rate has a notable impact on the size and geometric characteristics of the eutectic silicon particles, but the impact is reduced by the following T61 heat treatment. The association between the casting thickness and casting defects is discussed, in order to further understand the impact of casting size on durability and reliability of real casting components.

Blistering is one of the main surface defects of thixocasting parts after solution treatment. In this paper, experimental study about the influence of plunger velocity on blistering problem was carried out, and the blistering level with various velocities was discussed. In addition, a series of simulation work for filling process were performed to analyse the formation mechanism of blister. The results indicate that the power law cut-off model can reflect the thixotropic characteristics better at shear rate range from 100s-1to 500s-1than Carreau model. Based on power law cut-off (PLCO) model, the filling process simulation reveals the air entrapments were caused by poor venting instead of turbulence, either decreasing the filling speed or modification of the die venting system would improve blistering problem.

The thixocasting technology is chosen to produce the turbocharger impellers as it is capable of producing castings with high precision dimension, free of oxide and shrinkage porosity defects and therefore long service life. The thixocasting turbocharger impellers have the similar mechanical property to those produced by forging and machine processes, but much less costs. In the thixocasting process, the semisolid slurry with certain solid fraction is injected into mould at a high speed. Since high viscosity and thixotropic characteristics, the semisolid slurry reveals unique flow condition and characteristics in the filling process. So, its very desirable for the die design, process optimization, and defect control to visualize the high-speed filling process of semisolid slurry by numerical simulation. In this paper, several commonly used viscosity models for semisolid slurry are analysed. The Power law cut-off model (PLCO) model is selected to simulate the filling process in the thixocasting process of the impellers of 319s alloy, compared with actual results by partial filling testing. The causes of the casting defects are also analysed, indicating that the simulation results can accurately reproduce the filling process of semisolid slurry, and PLCO model is a successful choice for simulating the filling process of semisolid slurry with high solid fraction.

This paper investigates two kinds of ultra thin interfacial layer (UTIL) include SiO2 and SiON, their formation and application in HKMG for advanced CMOS technology. Compare to SiO2 UTIL, SiON UTIL demonstrates good NMOS EOT uniformity, low gate leakage current, but high defect density. Beside offline characterization, these two kinds of interfacial layer were also investigated their application in semiconductor device wafer for electronic test. It is found that the ultrathin SiON as interfacial layer exhibits a lower Tinv and better leakage performance under same physical thickness as compared to SiO2. However, PMOS device mobility suffers some degradation, which is contributed to N diffusion into the interface between UTIL and substrate, as verified by N SIMS profile. Different N atom concentration and thickness of UTIL SiON and their impact on device performance were also discussed in this paper. In general, UTIL SiON film is a promising candidate interfacial layer for HKMG advanced CMOS technology to meet EOT scaling requirement.

Un-doped poly process becomes more critical with CMOS scaling down as gate electrode in advanced Poly/SiON process and dummy poly in HK/MG technology. The poly grain size and roughness impact the device mis-match between different transistors like NMOS off current fluctuation and it plays as dummy poly role in HK/MG technology. It is necessary to investigate the poly grain size after deposition and thermal process as it will change the poly grain structure. In this paper, top view Scanning Electrical Microscope (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD),Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) are used to characterize the poly grain size, crystalline fraction, surface roughness and poly structure. It is find that the poly grain becomes larger after thermal, especially spike anneal. A smaller grain size of undoped poly with lower roughness was achieved by process tuning of temperature, pressure, gas flow etc which was implemented in device wafer and get improved performance.

The evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties during solution and ageing heat treatment process was studied in terms of a thixo-diecast impeller of 319s aluminium alloy. The cast alloy exhibited a microstructure consisting of primary uniformly distributed in α-Al globules and the eutectics. A series of heat treatment studies were performed to determine optimum heat treatment parameters, in order to achieve fine grain structure, fine silicon particles and optimal precipitate size and distribution. Optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to study the evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties. The results demonstrate that, the full T6 heat treatments are successfully applied to thixo-diecast 319s impellers. A two-step solution heat treatment is employed to prevent porosity due to overheating. The tensile properties of thixo-diecast 319s impellers were substantially enhanced after T6 heat treatment. The plate-shaped θ′ precipitates and lath-shaped Q′ precipitates are the most effective for precipitation strengthening.

FEM simulation of aluminum profiles in porthole die extrusion process using Lagrange mesh description will inevitably bring mesh self-contact, severe grid distortion and frequent remeshing, which will result in the loss of computational accuracy and excessive calculation time. In order to solve the above mentioned problems, numerical simulation of aluminum profiles with large and complicated cross-section in extrusion process was achieved using finite volume method based on Euler mesh description. The metal flow behavior and welding course was investigated in detail, which can provide the theoretical guide for porthole die design and optimization. In addition, extrusion experiment was carried out by numerical simulation results. The experimental extrudate was in good agreement with the simulation results, which laid a good solid foundation for non-steady state extrusion process analysis of large scale and complicated cross-section profiles.

In order to investigate the effects of pockets in the porthole die on the metal flow, temperature at the die bearing exit and the extrusion load were contrasted with the traditional die design without the pockets in the lower die. Two different multi-hole porthole dies with and without pockets in lower die were designed. And the extrusion process was simulated based on the commercial software DEFORM-3D. The simulation results show that the pockets could be used to effectively adjust the metal flow and especially benefit to the metal flow under the legs. In addition, the maximum temperature at the die bearing and the peak extrusion load decrease, which indicates the possibility of increasing the extrusion speed and productivity.

Semi-solid Continuous roll-casting process applied to produce the AZ91D magnesium strips and its microstructure was studied in this paper. In order to examine further process ability and forming property of the roll-casting strips, hot and cold rolling and punching experiments were investigated. It was clarified that it is significant to combine the semi-solid process techniques with roll-casting techniques, through which we can get high quality magnesium alloy strips with nondendritic structure and improve the overall properties of the products. The largest deformation by cold rolling and hot rolling can reach 18% and 21% respectively with one-pass roller.

Semi-solid M2 steel casting ingots were prepared using inclined slope pre-crystallization method, and the microstructure at different slope length and thermal plasticity of ingots were investigated in this paper. It was clarified that semi-solid processing technology can solve the serious problem of eutectic carbides segregation in casting microstructure. The dendritic primary austenite grains are changed into non-dentritic or equiaxed grains, and the eutectic ledeburite carbide networks are fine. So, it improves the thermal plasticity of casting ingots, and the carbide distribution of the semi-solid casting ingots is better than conventional casting after being forged.

Based on a novel cocoating strategy and dissociation enhancement lanthanide fluorescence immunoassay technique, a sensitive time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TRFIA) has been developed for simultaneous quantification of human serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroxin (T4) in a one-and-the-same assay procedure. The new cocoating strategy for preparing highly active surface anti-TSH and anti-T4 monoclonal antibodies (McAbs) was performed by a three-step protocol. Namely, anti-TSH McAb at high concentration (10 micro g/ml) and extensively biotinylated bovine serum albumin (BSA) at low concentration (0.5 micro g/ml) were coated on microwells by passive adsorption, then streptavidin was captured by the surface BSA-biotin, and finally biotinylated anti-T4 McAb was immobilized by the remnant binding sites of the bound streptavidin. In the present TSH/T4 TRFIA, both sandwich- and competitive-type configurations were involved, and Eu(3+) and Sm(3+) were used as labels for TSH and T4 detection, respectively. The method showed rapid kinetics; the equilibrium was reached within 30min at 37 degrees C due to the use of high concentrations of reaction reagents, rapid agitation, and small reaction volume. The lower limits of detection of the method were 0.028 mIU/L for TSH and 4.1 nmol/L for T4 with 20 micro L of sample volume. The assay ranges for TSH and T4 were 0.21-80.00 mIU/L and 20-300 nmol/L, respectively. The correlation between the TSH/T4 values obtained by the present TSH/T4 TRFIA and those obtained by commercial chemiluminescence immunoassay was satisfactory.

A new highly fluorescent beta-diketone-europium chelate was synthesized and employed as a tracer to develop a time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TRFIA) for detection of serum total thyroxine (T4). The tetradentate beta-diketone chelator, 1,10-bis(thiophene-2'-yl)-4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7-octafluorodecane-1,3,8,10-tetraone (BTOT), was structurally composed of two units of thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA) derivatives but expressed fluorescence that was greatly enhanced, as compared to the original TTA molecules, in the presence of excess amount of Eu3+. The luminescence properties of the europium chelate of BTOT werestudied in aqueous solution. Chlorosulfonylation of BTOT afforded 1, 10-bis(5'-chlorosulfo-thiophene-2'-yl)-4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7-octafluorodecane-1,3,8,10-tetraone (BCTOT), which could be coupled to proteins (i.e., streptavidin or the BSA-T4 conjugate) and used as a tracer for TRFIA. Although the BCTOT-Eu complex could be detected at a very low level (approximately 1.07 x 10(-12) mol/L) in buffered aqueous solution (50 mmoVLTris-HCl; pH, 8.0), the application of the chelate label in direct serum T4 TRFIA experienced a problem of matrix interference, which was probably caused by some unknown chelating components in the samples as a result of the fact that the fluorescence of the BCTOT-Eu chelate was prone to quenching or enhancement by some chelating reagents. To remove this problem, an indirect serum T4 TRFIA was proposed with the use of BCTOT-Eu-labeled streptavidin (SA) as signal generation reagent. The concentrations of T4 in 27 human serums were determined by indirect T4 TRFIA, and the assay results correlated well with those obtained by commercial Coming-CLIA (r = 0.955) and Wallac-DELFIA (r 0.965).

In our development of total serum thyroxin TRFIA using an immobilized second-antibody (S-Ab) as the separation agent, we observed a significant measurement bias caused by a matrix interference when the immobilized S-Ab had a relatively low binding capacity for the primary anti-T4 monoclonal antibody (McAb). Therefore, we employed a new separation system based on the highly active surface streptavidin and biotinylated anti-T4 McAb. Our results indicate that the matrix interference was removed and the assay performance was improved with the use of streptavidin-biotin separation technique. In our method, microwells were first coated with biotinylated BSA and then a streptavidin solution in the presence of 1% BSA was added to allow streptavidin to be immobilized via the pre-coated BSA-biotin. Surface streptavidin prepared in this protocol expressed a significantly increased binding capacity for the biotinylated anti-T4 McAb, compared to the passively adsorbed S-Ab for binding the original anti-T4 McAb. The immunoreactions between the biotinylated anti-T4 McAb and the T4 in the standard or sample or the europium-labeled T4-BSA conjugate mainly occurred in liquid solution, and then the immune complex was specifically trapped by the surface streptavidin and isolated from the free trace by washing. Serum TT4 TRFIA based on surface streptavidin was accurate, precise and economic, maintained all the merits of the directly immobilized surface antibodies.

Sensitive TSH immunoassays offer a clear advance in discriminating the TSH concentrations in serum between hyperthyroid and euthyroid individuals; they have been proposed as the best single screening test for thyroid disorders. We have developed a highly sensitive serum TSH TRFIA based on DELFIA technology. Three monoclonal antibodies (McAbs) directed against different epitopes of the TSH molecule were involved in this assay, of which, one McAb was used to coat clear microwells, and the other two were biotinylated' for signal generation after being bound by the europium labeled streptavidin. The europium label captured on the well surface was quantified by a routine dissociation-enhancement procedure. The fluorescence intensity was directly proportional to the serum hTSH concentration. The assay required two steps and could be completed within 5 h. The analytical sensitivity reached 0.002 mIU/L with a sample volume of 100 microL, the function sensitivity was 0.017 mIU/L. Measurements by the present method correlated well with that obtained by the ACS-180 chemi-luminescence immunoassay (CLIA). The discrimination of hyperthyroid patients from clinically euthyroid patients by the present method was much better than that by the routine IRMA.