Semi-solid metal (SSM) processing, as a viable alternative manufacturing route to those of conventional casting and forging, has not yet been fully exploited despite nearly half a century since its introduction to the metal industry. The slow pace of adopting SSM routes may be due to various reasons, including capital costs, profit margins, and, most importantly, the lack of detailed analysis of various SSM processes in open literature to confidently establish their advantages over more conventional routes. Therefore, the SSM community must disseminate their findings more effectively to generate increased confidence in SSM processes in the eyes of our industrial leaders. As such, we have embarked on the task to invite the leaders in SSM research to share their findings in a Special Issue dedicated to semi-solid processing of metals and composites. SSM processing takes advantage of both forming and shaping characteristics usually employed for liquid and solid materials. In the absence of shear forces, the semi-solid metal has similar characteristics to solids, i.e., easily transferred and shaped; by applying a defined force, the viscosity is reduced and the material flows like a liquid. These unique dual characteristics have made SSM routes attractive alternatives to conventional casting on an industrial scale. With the intention of taking full advantage of SSM characteristics, it is crucial to understand SSM processing, including topics such as solidification and structural evolution, flow behavior through modelling and rheology, new processes and process control, alloy development, and properties in general. This Special Issue focuses on the recent research and findings in the field with the aim of filling the gap between industry and academia, and to shed light on some of the fundamentals of science and technology of semi-solid processing.

Selected, peer reviewed papers from the 13th International Conference on Semi-Solid Processing of Alloys and Composites (S2P 2014), September 15-17, 2014, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

Semisolid metallurgy (SSM) is now some 37-years-old in terms of time from its conception and ?rst reduction to practice in the laboratory. In the intervening years, there has been a steadily growing body of research on the subject and the beginning of signi?cant industrial applications. The overall ?eld of SSM comprises today a large number of speci?c process routes, almost all of which fall in the category of either “Rheocasting” or Thi- casting.” The former begins with liquid metal and involves agitation during partial solidi?cation followed by forming. The latter begins with solid metal of suitable structure and involves heating to the desired fraction solid and forming. Research over the past 37 years, and particularly over the last decade, has provided a detailed picture of process fundamentals and led to a wide range of speci?c SSM processes and process innovations. Industrial studies and actual p- duction experience are providing a growing picture of the process advantages and limitations. At this time, the conditions for eventual wide adoption of SSM appear favorable, both for nonferrous and ferrous alloys. It must, however, be recognized that major innovations, such as SSM become adopted only slowly by industries where capital costsarehigh,pro?tmarginsaremodest,andfailuretomeetcustomercommitments carries a high penalty.

This book describes in great detail the semi-solid processing of aluminum alloys. The authors examine the fundamentals of semi-solid metal processing, provide guidelines for research, illustrate the tools that are employed, and explain the measured parameters for semi-solid processing characterization.

This text seeks to provide a comprehensive technical foundation and practical examples for casting process modelling technology. It highlights fundamental theory for solidification and useful applications for industrial production. It also details shape and ingot castings, semi-solid metalworking, and spray forming.

Aluminium is a well established modern lightweight engineering and functional material with a unique combination of specific properties like strengh, formability, durability, conductivity, corrosion resistance, etc. It is present in many intelligent solutions in established markets like building, transport, packaging, printing, and many others, in our fast moving modern society. The various aluminium alloys can be processed quite efficiently in large quantities by conventional fabrication routes, as well as in special sophisticated forms and material combinations for highly innovative high–tec solutions and applications. This book contains latest information about all these aspects in form of the refereed papers of the II th International Conference on Aluminium Alloys "ICAA", where world–wide experts from academia and engineers from industry present latest results and new ideas in fundamental as well as applied research. Since 22 years the ICAA series provides scientists and engineers with a complete overview over the latest scientific and technological developments, featuring profound technology–based overviews and new innovative perspectives. This book is a reference for the scientific community as well as for the aluminium industry working on aluminium alloy development, processing and application issues. It gives a global perspective on the current focus of international research with emphasis on in–depth understanding of specific properties and applications of conventional and advanced aluminium alloys.

Offering a sound technological overview, while also including the fundamental aspects, this book provides the knowledge needed to master the highly challenging process characteristics for successful application in industrial production. It summarizes the first-hand experience gained from twelve years of collaborative research covering materials science, rheology, casting and forming, control and surface technology as well as the modeling of flow behavior, tool engineering and systems engineering, and thus treats all the vital aspects of this field. For materials scientists, physicists, engineers, and those working in the metal processing industry.

Special topic volume with invited peer-reviewed papers only

This book groups the main advances in material forming, considering different processes, both conventional and non-conventional. It focuses on polymers, composites and metals, which are analyzed from the state of the art. Special emphasis is devoted to the contributions of the European Scientific Association for Material Forming (ESAFORM) during the last decade and in particular the ones coming from its annual international conference.