The Study of Micro-segregation in Al-Cu Alloys Using Thermal Analysis and Numerical Modeling

The micro-segregation in binary Al-Cu alloys containing 2.2, 3.7, and 4.8 wt.% copper was investigated by differential thermal analysis (DTA) and numerical modeling. For this purpose, the alloys were melted using a DTA furnace with the capability of quenching samples during solidification. The melted samples were cooled at 0.008 and 0.083 K/s and subsequently quenched from predetermined temperatures during cooling. The evolution of the microstructure and micro-segregation was modeled with and without considering excess vacancies formed during solidification. It was found that the experimental and modeling results show a better correlation when excess vacancies are considered