Influence of pouring methods on filling process,microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ91 Mg alloy pipe by horizontal centrifugal casting

Pouring position as the input heat source has great infl uence on the temperature fi eld evolution. In this study, the Flow3 D simulation software was applied to investigate the infl uence of pouring methods(with fi xed or moving pouring channel) on AZ91 Mg alloy horizontal centrifugal casting(HCC) process. The simulation results show that the moving pouring channel method can effectively increase the cooling rate and formability of casting pipe. The casting experiment shows that an AZ91 Mg alloy casting pipe with homogeneous microstructure and clear contour was obtained by the moving pouring channel method, and the grain size of the casting pipe is signifi cantly decreased. Meanwhile, serious macro-segregation appeared in the AZ91 casting pipe by the fi xed pouring channel HCC process. Compared with the fi xed pouring channel, the moving pouring channel can remarkably improve the ultimate tensile strength and elongation of the AZ91 HCC pipe from 142.2 MPa to 201.5 MPa and 6.2% to 6.7%, respectively.