Rheological Behavior Of Semi-Solid A356 Aluminum Alloy At Steady State

The rheological behavior of the semi-solid slurry of A356 aluminum alloy has been measured through a Couette-type viscometer. The experimental results show that the apparent viscosity of semi-solid A356 alloy increases with increasing the fraction solid, but decreases with increasing the shearing rate in the steady-state. When the solid fraction reached a critical value, the apparent viscosity increases rapidly. An empirical equation that shows the effect of fraction solid f(s) and shearing rate on the apparent viscosity of semi-solid A356 alloy, eta(a) = 2.79 exp (6.27 f(s)) gamma(-0.7), is built.