Effects of ultrasonic irradiation and cooling rate on the solidification microstructure of Sn–3.0Ag–0.5Cu alloy

A comparative study on the microstructures of Sn–Ag–Cu alloy ingots grown by ultrasound-assisted solidification was carried out with a specific focus on the limits on the ultrasonic processing depth and time imposed by the cooling rate during the melt solidification. During air-cooling, increasing the ultrasonic power reduced the undercooling temperature and increased the solidification time, leading to β-Sn phase fragmentation from a dendritic shape into a circular equiaxed shape. The grain size was decreased from approximately 300 μm to 20 μm. When the cooling rate was increased from 4 °C/s in air to 20 °C/s in water, the macro-undercooling temperature was more greatly reduced by an increase in ultrasonic power, but the solidification time seemed to change only slightly because only a limited period for ultrasonic processing was permitted in the melt. Under both cooling rates, the microstructures were inhomogeneous along the processing depth. The functional depth and period for ultrasonic cavitation and acoustic steaming contributed to the differences in the solidification microstructures.