Numerical simulation of titanium alloy ingot solidification structure during VAR process based on three-dimensional CAFE method

Hongchao Kou, Yingjuan Zhang, Pengfei Li, Hong Zhong, Rui Hu, Jinshan Li, Lian Zhou

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

A multiscale three-dimensional (3D) mathematical model has been established for simulating the temperature field, the fluid flow and the solidification structure of Ti-6Al-4V alloy ingot during vacuum arc remelting (VAR) process, which consists of the macroscopic mass, the momentum and energy conservation equations and the macroscale model of the nucleation and growth of grains. On the basis of heat transfer and fluid flow calculation, the 3D solidification structure formation of the ingot during whole VAR process has been obtained. Comparing the simulation result with the experimental observation, a reasonably qualitative agreement is achieved on grain structure and grain growth pattern. In particular, when taking the heat radiation into consideration during the calculation, the columnar grains on the ingot top are predicted well. Furthermore, a sensitivity study of the effect of natural convection on the grain structure has been carried out. The results show that the natural convection has a great influence on columnar-to-equiaxed transition (CET) and grain size, expressing as promoting the CET and refining the grain.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1537-1542
Number of pages6
JournalXiyou Jinshu Cailiao Yu Gongcheng/Rare Metal Materials and Engineering
Volume43
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jul 2014

Keywords

  • Natural convection
  • Solidification structure
  • Temperature field
  • Titanium
  • Vacuum arc remelting (VAR)

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