A thixotropic model for solving the flow of the semi-solid metal slurry

Thixoforming has already been used in the field of electronic packaging. The main problem in the production is the lack of the mathematic models which describe the thixotropy of the semi-solid metal and alloy. In this paper the effects of thixotropy to the flow characteristics and material properties are researched. The paper uses the Herschel-Bulkey model to describe the constitutive equation. The MacCormack method is adopted for solving the highly non-linear problem. The results show that the semi-solid slurry is strongly influenced by the time and the flow can be significantly different by changing the thixotropic constant. The paper contributes to a better understanding of thixotropy in semi-solid slurry.