Experimental investigation of thixoforging process on microstructure and mechanical properties of the centrifugal pump flange

In this paper, a thixoforging method is studied as one of the semi-solid forming processes. At the first step, the influence of semi-solid temperature, holding time, and ram speed of the hydraulic press are investigated on microstructure and mechanical properties of thixoforged A356 aluminum alloy parts. For this purpose, the slope plate casted billets are heated up to semi-solid temperature of 580, 590, and 600A degrees C and holding time of 5, 10, and 15 minutes and then are deformed using the press with ram speeds of 1, 3 and 5 mm/s. Results show that the best mechanical properties are related to the thixoforged specimen with the finest microstructure which is thixoforged at semi-solid temperature of 600A degrees C, holding time of 5 minutes and ram speed of 5 mm/s. Afterwards, the T6 heat treatment is performed to improve mechanical properties of parts produced by thixoforging process. At the final step of experiments in order to investigate the effect of using slope plate prior to reheating on microstructure and mechanical properties, semi-solid forging is done by using the gravity casted billet.