Semi-solid metal processing is now a commercially successful manufacturing route producing lots of near net-shape parts. One member of such processing technologies is thixoforming which is based on the special behaviour of alloys with non-dendritic microstructure in the partially liquid state. The semi-solid processing design requires the use of faithful values of thermodynamic material properties. Thermodynamic modelling is a potential tool for predicting alloy compositions suitable for thixoforming. Thixoformable alloys must have a wide melting range with some additional feature. Namely, the slope of the curve of the liquid fraction versus the temperature should be low at the liquid fraction value of 40%. The data from thermodynamic calculations might be also applied in the industrial thixoforming processes design. It is very helpful to find different thermal properties of alloys in order to simulate precisely the temperature distribution inside the formed materials. The thermodynamic calculations allow one to find the heat transfer coefficient, the specific heat value and the latent heat value. The purpose of the present paper is to provide examples of the numerical modelling of the thermodynamic properties for commercial, industrial Al alloys. All the calculations in the present work are performed using JMatPro software. The determination of the phase composition for multi-component alloys is originally based on the Gibbs energy minimisation. Furthermore, the conditions of the non-equilibrium solidification are determined using the Scheil-Gulliver equation. An additional advantage of the software used is the possibility of calculation of the formation conditions for metastable phases which have also an influence on the mechanical properties of the alloys.

• Legal notice:
  

  Copyright (c) Pielaszek Research, all rights reserved.
  The above materials, including auxiliary resources, are subject to Publisher's copyright and the Author(s) intellectual rights. Without limiting Author(s) rights under respective Copyright Transfer Agreement, no part of the above documents may be reproduced without the express written permission of Pielaszek Research, the Publisher. Express permission from the Author(s) is required to use the above materials for academic purposes, such as lectures or scientific presentations.
  In every case, proper references including Author(s) name(s) and URL of this webpage: https://science24.com/paper/7937 must be provided.

1. Calculations of parameters of RHEED oscillations using different models of the scattering potential
2. Recrystallization and Grain Growth in Nano-structured Austenitic Stainless Steel under Electric Current Heating
3. New possibilities of achieving ultra - fine grained microstructure in metals and alloys employing MaxStrain technology