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Dependence of Liquid Supercooling on Liquid Overheating Levels of Al Small Particles
1Department of Materials Engineering, School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China. qsmei@whu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
The liquid thermal history effect on liquid supercooling behavior has been found in various metals and alloys; typically the degree of liquid supercooling (ΔT) increases with the increase of liquid overheating (ΔT⁺) up to several to tens of degrees above the equilibrium melting point (T₀). Here we report quantitative experimental measurements on the ΔT-ΔT⁺ relationship of Al small particles encapsulated in Al₂O₃ shells by using a differential scanning calorimeter. We find a remarkable dependence of ΔT on ΔT⁺ of Al small particles, extending to at least 340 °C above T₀ of Al (~1.36T₀), which indicates the existence of temperature-dependent crystallization centers in liquid Al up to very high liquid overheating levels. Our results demonstrate quantitatively the significant effect of liquid thermal history on the supercooling behavior of Al and its alloys, and raise new considerations about the dependence of ΔT on ΔT⁺ at very high ΔT⁺ levels.
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