Supercooling and structure of levitation melted Fe-Ni alloys
A study has been made of the effect of supercooling, quenching rate, growth inhibitors, and grain refiners on the structure of levitation-melted Fe- 25 pct Ni alloys. A combination of three morphologies, dendritic, spherical, and mixed dendritic and spherical, is observed in samples superheated or supercooled by less than 175 K. At larger supercooling, however, only the spherical morphology is observed. The grain size and the grain boundary shape are found to be strongly dependent on the subgrain morphology but not on the quenching temperature. Considerable grain growth is evident in samples with spherical and mixed morphologies but not in the dendriitic samples. The average cooling rates during solidification and the heat transfer coefficients at the metal-quenching medium boundary are calculated. For samples solidified in water, molten lead, and ceramic molds, the heat transfer coefficients are 0.41, 0.52, and 0.15 w/sq cm, respectively.