Turbulent Coagulation of Solid Particles in Molten Aluminium—Kinetics of Cluster Formation

Removal of inclusions plays a key role in the process of aluminum recycling. Many research works focus on the behaviors of inclusions in molten metal, such as particle coagulation. To reveal its mechanism water model experiments have been performed by some researchers including the authors’ group. In the present research, experiments of particle coagulation were carried out with molten Al including SiC particles in a mechanically agitated system. Particle coagulation and formation of clusters were observed under turbulent flow of the molten Al. The number of clusters in the metal decreased with agitating time whilst the size increased. 3-D analysis of the clusters in solidified Al was implemented by X-ray micro CT in SPring-8. A 3-D image analysis was adopted to a number of sliced 2-D images, and the size and structure of the SiC cluster were analyzed.