Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153154 (2004) 300306

Effect of macrostructure and microstructure on the viscosity

of the A356 alloy in the semi-solid state
E.J. Zoqui , M. Paes, M.H. Robert
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, The State University of Campinas, Post Code 13081-970, Campinas, Brazil

Abstract
An A356 alloy was processed from liquid state in different conditions to obtain globular as-cast structures instead of the conventional
dendritic ones. These structures were produced in a semi-continuous casting system coupled to an electromagnetic power source. This
device allows the variation of the intensity of the stirring by controlling the electromagnetic field, as well as of the cooling rate by controlling
the casting velocity. Different cast conditions were used: the alloy was poured at 600 C and left to solidify under the action of a 600,
900 and 1200 W electromagnetic field. Cast materials produced in these conditions are suitable for thixo-forming processes after a short
re-heating treatment to complete spheroidisation of the primary phase. The generated structures were characterised by macrostructure
(grain size) and microstructure (globule size and shape factor). The smaller the grain size, the smaller the globule size and shape factor. The
Rheocast Quality Index (RQI = globule size/grain size shape factor) was used to evaluate the morphological evolution during the partial
melting treatment necessary to complete spheroidisation of the primary phase. Viscosity of thixotropic slurries obtained by re-heating the
cast materials at 580 C for times of 0, 30, 90, 210 and 600 s, was also determined by hot compress test. A comparison with a commercial
ALTHIX 67S is described.
2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Semi-solid materials; Aluminium alloy; Thixo-forming; Viscosity

1. Introduction
The most common raw material productions for thixoforming process (electromagnetic stirring and ultra-refining),
obtain a very refined equiaxial dendritic structure. This
structure, when re-heated to the semi-solid state evolves
from dendritic to a globular shape [13]. This final structure is suitable for semi-solid processing. In this case, the
structure that presents minor grain size, minor shape factor
(roundness), and the most homogeneous and globular size
of the primary phase has the best behaviour in semi-solid
forming [4,5] as well as the best mechanical final properties
[6], but in this re-heating process, with the increase in the
temperature, at the semi-solid state, the solid phase could
present several three-dimensional interconnections within
the primary phase branches [4,5,7]. The relationship between macrostructure and microstructure explains how the
ratio between the size of the primary phase and the size
of the grain can help to quantify those interconnections
[2,5,6,8]. In this case, these complex structures present a
quasi-globular or rosette shape grain, which is bigger and

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zoqui@fem.unicamp.br (E.J. Zoqui).

0924-0136/$ see front matter 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2004.04.068

less globular. These structures have many branches and

the difference between the grain size and the globular size
(measured by the size of those branches) is bigger [810].
This paper intends to examine the influence of those morphological changes, in terms of the Rheocast Quality Index,
during the re-heating to the semi-solid state on the viscosity
of the slurry for an experimental A356 alloy in comparison
with a commercial one (ALTHIX 67S [11]).

2. Experimental procedure
The A356 alloy (Al7.0 wt.% Si0.4 wt.% Mg0.1 wt.%
Cu0.1 wt.% Fe) was prepared by electromagnetic stirring described in a recent work [810]. Different ingots
were poured under a 600, 900 and 1200 W electromagnetic field. From those ingots, samples were cut into small
pieces (25 mm diameter 15 mm high), and re-heated to
the semi-solid range at a temperature of 580 C (where
solid fraction of 45% is expected). At this temperature,
these samples were maintained at times of 0, 30, 90, 210
and 600 s (holding time) and quenched in order to study the
morphological evolution of those structures at a semi-solid
range. All these samples were used for both macrostructure
and microstructure characterisation [810] with the rheocast

E.J. Zoqui et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153154 (2004) 300306

quality index (RQI) criteria (ideal = 1):

RQI =

globule size
grain size shape factor

(1)

where the grain size was measured using colour metallography [8,12] from the macrostructure characterisation. The
measured globule size is the size of the primary phase (or
branches) in the microstructure. The shape factor used was
shape factor =

P2
4A

(2)

where A and P represent the area and perimeter of the primary phase in the microstructure measured by the intercept
method, respectively.
A part of these materials was also used for compression
tests, to determine the correlation between morphological
evolution, in terms of globalisation shown by the rheocast
quality index, and the semi-solid behaviour, in terms of apparent viscosity. In the compression tests, the same temperature and holding time were used. The characteristics of

301

those tests is shown as follows: deformation control, same

temperature and holding time; H0 = 15 mm; HF = 5 mm;
compression time = 1 s. The response variable was force
 ) char(F). The viscosity () and average shearing rate (AV
acterisation used the Laxmanan equations [13]:
1



1
1
8F
4
t
(3)
=
3V 2
H4
H0
and
AV

 


V
H/t
=

2H 2.5

(4)

where volume (V) is constant, but force (F) depends upon

compression time (t). In this particular case H/t =
10 mm/s. A commercial sample ALTHIX 67S was submitted to the same heat treatment (temperature and time)
to characterise these morphological changes, as well as, at
the same temperature and holding time for the compression
tests as a comparison. The commercial ALTHIX 67S was

Fig. 1. Original raw material macrostructure of the A356 alloy produced by electromagnetic stirring at: (a) 600 W, (b) 900 W, (c) 1200 W and (d)
ALTHIX 67S (for comparison). Original photos are in colour [8].

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E.J. Zoqui et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153154 (2004) 300306

Fig. 2. Macrostructure of the A356 alloy produced by electromagnetic stirring at: (a) 600 W, (b) 900 W, (c) 1200 W and (d) ALTHIX 67S (for comparison)
submitted to heat treatment at 580 C during 210 s. Original photos are in colour [8].

received in a 3 in. diameter bar (76.2 mm), which suggests

heating time between 9 1.8 min (540 108) from room
temperature to 580 C. Actually, the holding time and temperature for this alloy was determined in order to respect
the use instructions for the commercial sample [11]: 7 min
heating and 2 min holding time.

3. Results
This work intends to complete previous work [810]
in contribution to the semi-solid characterisation area,
through the comparison of the macro/microstructure and
the semi-solid behaviour: there is a direct correlation between both. The smaller the grain size in the raw material
macrostructure, the smaller and more spherical shape the
globule/particle of the phase, except for the ALTHIX 67S
commercial material that presents a very refined dendritic
structure in the raw material condition (Fig. 1).
The re-heating at 580 C allows the generation of a globular structurethe optimum morphology. In this case, despite

Fig. 3. Evolution of the rheocast quality index as a function of the heat

treatment holding time at 580 C for the A356 alloy tested.

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303

Fig. 4. Semi-solid behaviour of the A356 alloy produced by electromagnetic stirring at: (a) 600 W, (b) 900 W, (c) 1200 W and (d) ALTHIX 67S (for
comparison) as a function of the holding time during the isothermal heat treatment at 580 C for the A356 alloy tested.

the commercial ALTHIX 67S sample presenting a very refined dendritic morphology, its structure evolves rapidly to a
globular one, in a very short period of time. Fig. 2 shows the
corresponding structure for the samples above after 210 s of
holding time at the semi-solid range. The smaller the raw
material primary phase structure, the faster the globularisation process, as expected.
Comparing the micrographs shown in Figs. 1(a) and 2(a)
it is possible to see that for a very poor electromagnetic
stirred sample, a coalescence phenomena took place and the
material presents, at the end of the globularisation process,
a quasi-dendritic structure with very large branches. Still,
for Figs. 1(c) and 2(c) it is possible to see a more homogeneous globularisation: small quasi-dendritic particles originate well-formed globules. This is much more evident when
comparing Figs. 1(d) and 2(d). The imperative controller for
the globularisation process is the grain size of the raw material, despite its morphology.
Fig. 3 shows the use of the rheocast quality index criteria
to understand this evolution: from its original form (RM: raw
material) to complete globularisation (higher RQI). Fig. 3
also shows that the material with the higher initial RQI

presents faster globularisation, but the key issue for this process, again, is the initial grain size of the material, which
explains why the commercial one, despite having a poor initial RQI presents good globularisation with a short period
of time at 580 C. In fact, what really matters is the RQI,
presented by the material, at the time and temperature of the
semi-solid processing.
The RQI, i.e., the rate or degree of globularisation, presented by the structure at this temperature and time will
command the thixo-forming process as can be seen in Fig. 4.
This figure shows the semi-solid behaviour of the A356 alloy in terms of viscosity versus shearing rate. In this particular case, the velocity of the compression test was constant
and the shearing rate and viscosity changed throughout the
test.
The main idea in this paper is to analyse the semi-solid
behaviour close to the real application. Most of the industrial applications of semi-solid technology use injection machines with position control, i.e., none of the equipment controls the shearing rate or the viscosity or force. That is why
deformation control instead of force control is used in the
compression test.

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Fig. 4 shows that increasing the shearing rate decreased

the viscosity of the slurry for all sample conditions tested.
This behaviour could be analysed in two separate parts: (a)
shearing rate range from 0.0 to 1.0 s1 and (b) shearing rate
range from 1.0 to 3.0 s1 . The first part indicates the initial
moments of deformation, so the initial data varied randomly due to the accommodation of the sample and the first
squeeze of the solid phase over the liquid one that moved
part of the liquid phase from the centre to the periphery
of the sample. After this first movement the sample started
to deform in a more homogeneous way. First the viscosity
went to a maximum (Fig. 4) that showed the final stage
of the liquid segregation and the beginning of the contact
between different solid particles, then (part b) the viscosity
tended to remain almost constant between shearing rate
range from 1.5 to 3.0 s1 .
Fig. 4 also shows that the more globular the structure,
i.e., the higher the RQI, the lower the viscosity obtained
in the compression test. The best semi-solid behaviour was
achieved for the ALTHIX 67S commercial material with
a globularisation time (holding time) of 210 s at 580 C.
The same occurred with the A356 EMS 1200 W. Still, a
long period of globularisation promoted coalescence between particles of different crystalline orientation (grains)
that led to higher viscosity, despite the better globularisation shown by the RQI. After a short period of time to
stabilise the behaviour of the slurry during the compression
test, the deformation continued in a very homogeneous
way. The apparent viscosity diminished slowly with the
increase in the shearing rate. In fact, some of the structures,
especially those that presented a higher RQI (the 1200 W
and ALTHIX 67S, both re-heated at 580 C during 210 s),
presented no changes in viscosity with the increase of the
shearing rate. For these two alloys and heat treatment conditions the apparent viscosity is 3 105 and 2 105 Pa s
approximately.
According to those observations, it was possible to plot
the apparent viscosity in this shearing rate range as a function of the macro/microstructure in terms of rheocast quality
index. Fig. 5 shows this relationship. Fig. 5 also shows the
phenomena described previously, where after long globularisation holding time, the coalescence process between grains
took place causing difficulties to the deformation, leading
the viscosity to a higher level.
From Laxmanan and Flemings [13], the Ostwald-de-Waele
equation (or power-law) was also used to characterise those
structures. It is widely used to describe the rheological
behaviour of pseudo-plastic materials. In this case, the relationship between the viscosity () and the average shearing
 ) is defined by
rate (AV
= m (n1)

Fig. 5. Evolution of the apparent viscosity as a function of the rheocast

quality index, due to the isothermal heat treatment holding time at 580 C
for the A356 alloy tested.

type. Fig. 6 shows the evolution of m as a function of

the RQI.
Increasing the globularisation of the structure decreased
the consistency m for all conditions tested, as expected: a
very fine and globular structure presented lower viscosity
than a quasi-dendritic one. The coalescence phenomena for
long holding times could be noticed again: the highest RQI
(always the last point at every condition), represents the 600 s
holding time and for all conditions tested, m was higher
than for the previous one (210 s). Thus, considering only
the best semi-solid behaviour, i.e., holding time of 210 s
(420 s heating plus 210 s homogenising), the constant m,
illustrated as a dotted line in Fig. 6, could be represented
as
m (Pa s2 ) = (2.37 + 53.6544 e(5.62RQI) ) 105

(6)

Fig. 7 shows the power-law index n as a function of the

globularisation process: by increasing the RQI, there was an

(5)

where m is the consistency and n the power-law index. The

higher the n, the higher the pseudo-plastic behaviour. Constant m and n were obtained easily from log log transformation of Eq. (5), that generates a graph y = ax + b

Fig. 6. Consistency: m as a function of the RQI for the A356 alloy.

E.J. Zoqui et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153154 (2004) 300306

305

shape (rheocast quality index = 0.9), for the A356 alloy

at 580 C. The higher the RQI, the higher the apparent
viscosity and for the best globular shape morphology,
RQI near 1.0, the viscosity is much lower. Note that, this
curve applies only to the A356 alloy at this temperature
and shearing rate and it was neither tested for other alloys
nor for higher shearing rate range. But, the semi-solid behaviour described by this model is consistent with literatures
[13,14] (Fig. 8).

4. Conclusions

Fig. 7. Power-law index: n as a function of the RQI for the A356 alloy
at 580 C.

increase in the average n. Still, n varied from 0.45 to 0.70 for

the rheocast materials, but actually converged to 0.5 for the
highest RQI. Actually, the power-law index depends upon
the alloy type and the temperature process (solid fraction),
and is poorly affected by the morphology (RQI). This way,
assuming n equal to 0.5 (value obtained for the highest RQI
at 210 s holding time), the apparent viscosity could be done
by
(Pa s) = (2.37 + 53.6544 e(5.62RQI) ) (0.5) 105

The rheocast quality index is a powerful tool to evaluate the raw rheocast structures. Increasing the holding
time, increases the globularisation of the structure, and the
RQI reflected this change on the morphology very well.
The best globularisation achieved was for long periods of
time, i.e. 600 s for all raw materials tested, but the best
thixo-forming behaviour, i.e., the lowest viscosity was
achieved for shorter periods of time (around 210 s). Short
periods of time were enough to produce suitable raw material for the thixo-forming process. Long periods of time
led to a grain coalescence that diminished the final viscosity. A very simple model of semi-solid behaviour, apparent
viscosity versus shearing rate, is proposed in terms of the
rheocast quality index.

(7)

From Eq. (7), it is possible to simulate the expected apparent viscosity as a function of the shearing rate, with
different morphologies, from quasi-rosette shape (rheocast
quality index = 0.1) to an almost and perfect globular

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the financial support received from FAPESP (Fundao de Amparo
Pesquisa do Estado de So PauloProject: 2001/04305-3),
CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfico
e Tecnolgico), CAPES (Coordenao de Aperfeioamento de Pessoal no Ensino Superior) and Faculty
of Mechanical Engineering of the State University of
Campinas.

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Fig. 8. Expected apparent viscosity as a function of the shearing rate
with different morphologies, from quasi-rosette shape (rheocast quality
index = 0.1) to an almost and perfect globular shape (rheocast quality
index = 0.9), for the A356 alloy at 580 C.

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