Effect of Ce on solute redistribution in liquid ahead of solid–liquid interface during solidification of Fe–4 wt.%Si alloy

Journal of Iron and Steel Research International (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

The high efficiency of Ce addition in grain refinement of δ-ferrite in a cast Fe–4 wt.%Si alloy was verified. In order to further understand the solute effect of Ce on the grain refinement of δ-ferrite, the conventional directional solidification technique, which enabled to freeze the solid–liquid interface to room temperature, was used to investigate the interfacial morphology and solute redistribution in the liquid at the front of the interface, together with thermodynamic calculation of the equilibrium partition coefficients of Ce and Si in Fe–4 wt.%Si–Ce system using the Equilib module and the FsStel database in FactSage software system. Metallographic examination using a laser scanning confocal microscope showed a transition of the solid–liquid interface from planar to cellular in the Fe–4 wt.%Si alloy after adding 0.0260 wt.% Ce during the directional solidification experiment. Further, electron probe microanalysis revealed an enhanced segregation of Si solute in the liquid at the front of the solid–liquid interface due to the Ce addition. This solute segregation is considered as the cause of planar to cellular interface transition, which resulted from the creation of constitutional supercooling zone. Thermodynamic calculation indicated that Ce also segregated at the solid–liquid interface and the Ce addition had negligible effect on the equilibrium partition coefficient of Si. It is reasonable to consider that the contribution of Ce to the grain refinement of δ-ferrite in the cast Fe–4 wt.%Si alloy as a solute was marginal.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are very grateful to the funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51761034 and 51261018) and the Natural Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia in China (Grant Nos. 2017MS0512 and 2020BS05018).

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Affiliations

  1. School of Material and Metallurgy, Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, Baotou, 014010, Inner Mongolia, China

    Yun-ping Ji & Hui-ping Ren

  2. Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Key Laboratory of Advanced Metal Materials, Baotou, 014010, Inner Mongolia, China

    Yun-ping Ji, Yi-ming Li & Hui-ping Ren

  3. School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Ming-xing Zhang

  4. Testing Center, Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, Baotou, 014010, Inner Mongolia, China

    Yuan Hou & Yi-ming Li

  5. Analytical Applications Center SHIMADZU (China) Co., Ltd., Shanghai, 200233, China

    Tong-xin Zhao

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  1. Yun-ping Ji
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Correspondence to Ming-xing Zhang or Hui-ping Ren.

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Ji, Yp., Zhang, Mx., Hou, Y. et al. Effect of Ce on solute redistribution in liquid ahead of solid–liquid interface during solidification of Fe–4 wt.%Si alloy. J. Iron Steel Res. Int. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42243-020-00552-4

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Keywords

  • Ce
  • Fe–4 wt.%Si alloy
  • Solute redistribution
  • Directional solidification
  • Electron probe microanalysis
  • Thermodynamic calculation