Experimental Evidence of Density and Mechanical Properties Enhancement of Binary Alloys by Solidification Subject to Vibrations

Preliminary evidence of density and mechanical properties enhancement of binary alloys by solidification subject to vibrations is presented. The frequency of vibrations was increased from 0 to 100 Hz by using sound waves as the vibration source. The latter shows that the solidified microstructure, the ultimate tensile strength, and the hardness improve as the frequency increases. The chosen alloy for this study was Pb-Sb 4.4% (lead antimony 4.4%) and was selected because of its low melting temperature. The cast chosen was of a rod shape having a diameter of 10mm and a length 500mm. This choice is consistent with assuming an infinite length and therefore ignoring boundary effects in a planned theoretical follow-up analysis. Also due to the geometry of the mould it can be assumed that the cast was cooled due to conduction alone.