East Midlands Materials Society (EMMS)

Loughborough University and virtual through MS Teams

A talk by Dr Enzo Liotti, Departmental Lecturer in Processing of Advanced Materials. Department of Materials, University of Oxford.
X-ray imaging techniques using synchrotron sources have emerged as a powerful tool to study the dynamics of crystal growth and are increasingly used to investigate solidification phenomena in technologically important materials such as steel, Ni and Al alloys.
In this talk I will present three examples of how synchrotron X-ray radiography can be used to study the dynamic of solidification and advance our scientific understanding of the underlaying phenomena taking place during the liquid to solid transformation. The first case study is about the influence of Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Fields (PEMF) on the stability of dendritic grains in Al-Cu alloys. The fragmentation rate and spatio-temporal distribution of the fragments in the mushy zone were measured under a wide range of solidification conditions and the data analysed and used to develop a comprehensive fragmentation qualitative model.
In the second case study, I will present the results of a large investigation on the wave nature of nucleation of equiaxed Al grains and intermetallic compounds when solidifying under a thermal gradient in aluminium alloys. Machine learning was employed to automatically count the crystals forming and extract quantified information of many solidification parameters. The study, which could have not been carried out without automatic analysis due to the very large amount of data, comprised more than 100 experiments. The resulting thousands of grain formation and growth rate measurements represent the largest data set of this type. Key insights from the results, such as effect of cooling rate on grain formation, as well as the machine learning approach, will be described.
In the final case study I will show the results of a series of experiments aimed at investigating fluid flow effects on mass transport and formation of defects within the mushy zone.

Venue Information: Venue: Room S.2.031, Department of Materials (Building S on the university map at maps.lboro.ac.uk) Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU.
If travelling by car, enter the University at the West Park entrance (the one nearest the M1 off Ashby Road) and inform security that you are attending an East Midlands Materials Society event. You will receive a permit for the multi-storey car park (Car Park 1).
AGM commences at 6.45 followed by the talk at 7.15 approximately
2023 AGM agenda and 2022 AGM minutes attached
Non-members welcome, light refreshments provided.
Meeting will be available online (Microsoft Teams)
Register to attend with Eventbrite at bit.ly/EMMSEvent
and to access Teams meeting


 

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