Modeling on the solidification structure of Fe-Ni-based alloys using cellular automaton method

School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, P.R. China
e-mail: zhanglifeng@ustb.edu.cn

Received: 23 December 2015
Accepted: 25 March 2016

Abstract

In the present work, the solidification structure of the Fe-Ni-based alloy under vacuum condition using Cellular Automaton Method has been established with the commercial software ProCAST. Based on a three-dimensional (3D) cellular automata method, the nucleation on the ingot surface and in the bulk liquid has been simulated using two distributions of nucleation sites. The predicted temperature profiles of the mold and the solidification structure of the ingot were compared with the measurement, showing a reasonable agreement. The validated model was then used to study the effects of undercooling, casting temperature, mold initial temperature and filling rate on the solidification structure of the ingot. The results show that, the undercooling is a critical parameter on the solidification. Meanwhile, a low filling rate and casting temperature can refine the grains and extend the equiaxed crystal fraction, but the initial temperature of the mold has little effect on the final solidification structure.