Microstructure Characterization and Thermal Analysis of Aluminum Alloy B206 During Solidification

The solidification kinetics of a high strength B206 aluminum casting alloy as a function of cooling rates between 1 and 15 K/min has been characterized through a combination of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and optical microscopy. Three different peaks were detected in the DSC analysis, which corresponded to the nucleation of an α-Al solid solution, an Al-Cu-Fe intermetallic, and the eutectic …