INFILTRATION AND SOLIDIFICATION/REMELTING OF MOLTEN ALUMINUM IN A CENTRIFUGAL FORCE FIELD

The adiabatic infiltration and the solidification/remelting of molten aluminum through a porous preform in a centrifugal force field are modeled numerically. The temperature and solid volume fraction profiles are presented for representative parameters. The numerical results show that the transient solidification and remelting in the centrifugal force field depend greatly on the infiltration kinetics and thermodynamics of the composite. The regional extent of the eutectic solid metal and its solid volume fraction increase with the moving of the infiltration front. The speed of the moving infiltration and remelting fronts decrease with the decreasing of porosity and rotational speed, but the speed difference between the moving fronts and the regional extend of the eutectic solid metal increases with the decreasing of porosity and decreases with the decreasing of rotational speed.