Characterization of Solidification and Microstructure of an Al-Zn-Mg-Si Alloy

Abstract

Al-Zn-Mg-Si alloy coatings have been developed to inhibit corrosion of cold rolled steel sheets, and an understanding of the alloy system helps prevent coating defects. We used a Bridgman furnace to characterise the nature and formation mechanisms of the phases present in the quaternary system with 0.4 wt% Fe. In the directional solidification experiments we imposed steep temperature gradients and varied the pull rate. After the samples were quenched in the furnace, detailed characterization of the samples was carried out by electron microscopy (SEM/EDS). From the dT/dt vs T plots of the cooling curves of the alloys, the solidification path was determined to be Liquid --> 544-558 --> α-Al --> 453-459 --> Al/Mg2Si --> 371-374 --> Al/Zn --> 331-333 --> Zn/mgZn2. The formation mechanisms of the Mg and Zn containing phases and their morphology was discussed together with the effects of the cooling rate. Key findings include the lengthening of the mushy zone in directionally solidified samples remelted against a positive temperature gradient, as well as an enrichening of the α-Al phase by Zn through remelting. Mg2Si and other Si based phases were observed to adopt a much finer faceted microstructure in favour of a script-like microstructure when exposed to the higher cooling rate of coolant quenching.