Structural characterisation of liquid AL-SI hypoeutectic alloys

Several studies in the past decades have been devoted to characterize the solid and semi-solid structures of the commercially important Al-Si alloys. However, minimum efforts were directed to characterize the liquid structure of these alloys. Characterizing liquid structures will enable an in-depth understanding of the melt behavior and the nucleation events in the melt prior to solidification. Liquid phase diffraction experiments were carried out in two hypoeutectic alloy compositions (Al-11wt%Si & Al-11wt%Si-0.04wt%Sr) at various melt superheats ranging from 600 °C to 650 °C. Detailed experimental procedure and sample preparation techniques are presented along with quantified structure factor, pair distribution functions, and coordination numbers as a function of temperature.