Manufacturing Technology 2025, 25(5):626-644 | DOI: 10.21062/mft.2025.065

The Influence of Solidification Route on As-cast Microstructures of Al-Cu-Li-Mg-Zr-Sc Alloy

Rostislav Králík ORCID..., Lucia Bajtošová ORCID..., Barbora Kihoulou ORCID..., Tomáš Krajňák ORCID..., Miroslav Cieslar ORCID...
Charles University, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Ke Karlovu 5, Prague, 121 16, Czechia

The influence of the casting method on the microstructures of Al-Cu-Li-Mg-Zr-Sc was examined. The techniques include mold casting, twin-roll casting, and melt spinning. Estimated solidification rates up to 107 K·s−1 produce dendritic solidification with eutectic cells ranging from 500 nm to 50 μm, decorated by primary phase particles with thicknesses from 200 nm to 3 μm. Exceeding this solidification rate results in near-diffusionless solidification, which traps more solutes in the matrix. This type of solidification yields a more supersaturated material with nearly 90% of the total Cu content in the matrix and a fine dispersion of nanoscale spherical precipitates below 100 nm in diameter. The small addition of Sc during casting primarily affects the material at low cooling rates, where primary Sc-containing particles modify the grain boundary shape.

Keywords: Al-Cu-Li-Mg-Zr-Sc, Mold casting, Twin-roll casting, Melt-spinning, Diffusionless solidification
Grants and funding:

The financial support of the Charles University Grant Agency project number 292522 are highly acknowledged

Received: August 29, 2025; Revised: October 30, 2025; Accepted: November 11, 2025; Prepublished online: November 27, 2025; Published: December 8, 2025  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Králík R, Bajtošová L, Kihoulou B, Krajňák T, Cieslar M. The Influence of Solidification Route on As-cast Microstructures of Al-Cu-Li-Mg-Zr-Sc Alloy. Manufacturing Technology. 2025;25(5):626-644. doi: 10.21062/mft.2025.065.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. LAVERNIA, E. J, GRANT, N. J. (1987) Aluminium-lithium alloys. In: Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 22, pp. 1521-1589. Go to original source...
    2. WANG, S. C., STARINK, M. J. (2005) Precipitates and intermetallic phases in precipitation hardening Al-Cu-Mg-(Li) based alloys. In: International Materials Reveiw, Vol. 50, pp. 193-215. Go to original source...
    3. SURESH, M., SHARMA, A., MORE, A. M., NAYAN, N., SUWAS, S. (2018) Effect of Scandium addition on evolution of microstructure, texture and mechanical properties of thermo-mechanically processed Al-Li alloy AA2195. In: Journal of Alloys and Compounds Vol. 740, pp. 264-374. Go to original source...
    4. FINK, D., HNATOWICZ, V., KVITEK, J., HAVRANEK, V. ZHOU, J. T. (1992) External oxidation of aluminium-lithium alloys. In: Surface and Coatings Technology Vol. 51 , pp. 57-64. Go to original source...
    5. DENG, S., LIU, Z., ZHENG, G., XIANG, H., MA, P., YIN, J., KANG, L., WEN, S., LI, J., LIU, D. (2024) In: Journal of Materials Science Technology Vol. 192, pp. 42-53. Go to original source...
    6. CASSADA, W. A., SHIFLET, G. J., STARKE, E. A. (1991) Mechanism of AI2CuLi (T1) Nucleation and Growth In: Metallurgical transactions: A Vol. 22, pp. 287-297. Go to original source...
    7. XU, P., JIANG, F., TANG, Z., YAN, N., JIANG, J., XU, X., PENG, Y. (2019) Coarsening of Al3Sc precipitates in Al-Mg-Sc alloys In: Journal of Alloys and Compounds Vol. 781, pp. 209-215. Go to original source...
    8. NADELLA, R., ESKIN, D. G., DU, Q., KATGERMAN, L. (2008) Macrosegregation in direct-chill casting of aluminium alloys In: Progress in Materials Science Vol. 53, pp. 421-480. Go to original source...
    9. HEKMAT-ARDAKAN, A. ELGALLAD, E. M., AJERSCH, F., CHEN, X.-G. (2012) Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of as-cast and T6-treated AA2195 DC cast alloy In: Materials Science and Engineering: A Vol. 558, pp. 76-81. Go to original source...
    10. ZHANG, F., SHEN, X., YAN, J., SUN, J., SUN, X., YANG, Y. (2014) Homogenization heat treatment of 2099 Al-Li alloy In: Rare Metals Vol. 33, pp. 28-36. Go to original source...
    11. CHEN, K., LI, Z., PAN, S. (2022) Effect of composition on microstructure and properties of as-cast 2196 Al-Cu-Li alloy In: Materials Science and Technology Series Vol. 38 , pp. 1168-1184. Go to original source...
    12. BAREKAR, N. S., DHINDAW, B. K. (2014) Twin-Roll Casting of Aluminum Alloys - An Overview In: Materials and Manufacturing Processes Vol. 29, pp. 651-661. Go to original source...
    13. SLAMOVA, M., KARLIK, M., ROBAUT, F., SLAMA, P., VERON, M. (2002) Differences in microstructure and texture of Al-Mg sheets produced by twin-roll continuous casting and by direct-chill casting In: Materials Characterization Vol. 49, pp. 231-230. Go to original source...
    14. LI, S., HE, C., FU, J., XU, J., XU, G., WANG, Z. (2020) Evolution of microstructure and properties of novel aluminum lithium alloy with different roll casting process parameters during twin-roll casting In: Materials Characterization Vol. 161, pp. 110145. Go to original source...
    15. KIHOULOU, B., KRALIK, R., BAJTOSOVA, L., GRYDIN, O., STOLBCHENKO, M., SCHAPER, M., CIESLAR, M. (2024) High-Temperature Phase Transformations in Al-Li-Cu-Mg-Zr-Sc Alloy Studied via In Situ Electron Microscopy In: Materials Vol. 17, pp. 644. Go to original source...
    16. DUWEZ, P., WILLIENS, R. H., KLEMENT, W. (1960) Continuous series of Metastable Solid Solutions in Silver-Copper Alloys In: Journal of Applied Physics Vol. 31, pp. 1136-1137. Go to original source...
    17. DUTKIEWICZ, J., KABISCH, O., GILLE, W., SIMMICH, O., SCHOLZ, R., KROL, J. (2022) Structure Changes and Precipitation Kinetics in Melt Spun and Aged Al-Li-Cu Alloy In: International Journal of Materials Research Vol. 92, pp. 0229.
    18. KIM, D. H., CANTOR, B., LEE, H. I. (1988) Structure and decomposition behaviour of rapidly solidified AI-Cu-Li-Mg-Zr alloys In: Journal of Materials Science Vol. 23, pp. 1695-1708. Go to original source...
    19. QI, Y., ZHANG, H., NIE, X., HU, Z., ZHU, H., ZENG, X. (2020) A high strength Al-Li alloy produced by laser powder bed fusion: Densification, microstructure, and mechanical properties In: Additive Manufacturing Vol. 35, pp. 101346. Go to original source...
    20. PU, Q., JIA, Z., KONG, Y., ZHANG, Z., YANG, Q., FAN, X., ZHANG, H., LIN, L., LIU,Q. (2020) Microstructure and mechanical properties of 2195 alloys prepared by traditional casting and spray forming In: Materials Science and Engineering: A Vol. 784, pp. 139337. Go to original source...
    21. LY, P., WANG, R., PENG, C., CAI, Z. (2023) Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of 2195 Al-Li alloy processed by rapid solidification and thermo-mechanical processing In: Journal of Alloys and Compounds Vol. 948, pp. 169794. Go to original source...
    22. GIANOGLIO, D., CITFCI, N., ARMSTRONG, S., UHLENWINKEL, V., BATTEZZATI, L. (2021) On the Cooling Rate-Microstructure Relationship in Molten Metal Gas Atomization In: Mettalurgical and Materials Transactions: A Vol. 52, pp. 3750-3758. Go to original source...
    23. YANG, X., ZHANG, L., SOBOLEV, S., DU, Y. (2017) Kinetic Phase Diagrams of Ternary Al-Cu-Li System during Rapid Solidification: A Phase-Field Study In: Materials Vol. 11, pp. 260. Go to original source...
    24. GUSAKOVA, O., SHEPELEVICH, V., ALEXANDROV, D. V., STARODUMOV, I. O. (2020) Formation of the microstructure of rapidly solidified hypoeutectic Al-Si alloy In: The European Physical Journal Special Topics Vol. 229, pp. 417-425. Go to original source...
    25. GUSAKOVA, O. (2023) Chemically partitionless crystallization in near-eutectic rapidly solidified Al-12, 6Si-0, 8Mg-0, 4Mn-0, 7Fe-0, 9Ni-1, 8Cu alloy In: The European Physical Journal Special Topics Vol. 232, pp. 1281-1291. Go to original source...
    26. GRYDIN, O., GARTHE, K-U., YUAN, X., BROER, J., KESSLER, O., KRALIK, R., CIESLAR, M., SCHAPER, M. (2023) Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Twin-Roll Casting of Aluminum-Lithium Strips In: Light Metals, pp. 1031-1037. Go to original source...
    27. ESKIN, D., DU, Q., RUVALCABA, D., KATGERMAN, L. (2005) Experimental study of structure formation in binary Al-Cu alloys at different cooling rates In: Materials Science and Engineering: A Vol. 405, pp. 1-10. Go to original source...
    28. CLYNE, D. W., KURZ, W. (1981) Solute redistribution during solidification with rapid solid state diffusion In: Metallurgical Transactions Vol. 12, pp. 965-971. Go to original source...
    29. FLEMINGS, M. C. (1974) Solidification processing. In: Metallurgical Transactions Vol. 5, pp. 2121-2134. Go to original source...
    30. HADADZADEH, A., WELLS, M. A. (2013) Thermal fluid mathematical modelling of twin roll casting (TRC) process for AZ31 magnesium alloy In: International Journal of Cast Metals Research Vol. 26, pp. 228-238. Go to original source...
    31. GRYDIN, O., STOLBCHENKO, M., SCHAPER, M., BELEJOVA, S., KRALIK, R., BAJTOSOVA, L., KRIVSKA, B., HAJEK, M., CIESLAR, M. (2020) New Twin-Roll Cast Al-Li Based Alloys for High-Strength Applications In: Metals Vol. 10, pp. 987. Go to original source...
    32. WILLIS, D. J., LAKE, J. S. (1987) Measurement of grain size using the circle intercept method In: Scripta Metallurgica Materialia Vol. 21, pp. 1733-1736. Go to original source...
    33. DE POTTEY, A., JIANG, L., DORIN, T., WOOD, T., LANGAN, T., SANDERS, P. (2023) Effect of Cooling Rate on W-Phase Formation in Al-Cu-Sc Alloys In: Light Metals pp. 1238-1246. Go to original source...
    34. CIESLAR, M., KRIVSKA, B., KRALIK, R., BAJTOSOVA, L., GRYDIN, O., STOLBCHENKO, M., SCHAPER, M. (2022) HOMOGENIZATION OF TWIN-ROLL CAST AL-LI-BASED ALLOY STUDIED BY IN-SITU ELECTRON MICROSCOPY In: Proceedings 31st International Conference on Metallurgy and Materials, Brno, Czechia, May 18-19. Go to original source...
    35. CZERWINSKI, F. (2020) Thermal Stability of Aluminum Alloys In: Materials Vol. 13, pp. 3441. Go to original source...
    36. VANDERSLUIS, E., RAVINDRAN, C. (2017) Comparison of Measurement Methods for Secondary Dendrite Arm Spacing In: Metallography, Microstructure and Analysis Vol. 6, pp. 89-94. Go to original source...
    37. YANG, Q., SHI, W., WANG, M., JIA, L., WANG, W., ZHANG, H. (2023) Influence of cooling rate on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Cu-Li-Mg-Zn alloy In: Journal of Materials Research and Technology Vol. 25, pp. 3151-3166. Go to original source...
    38. TOMKEIEFF, S. I. (1945) Linear Intercepts, Areas and Volumes In: Nature Vol. 24, pp. 155. Go to original source...
    39. KRALIK, R., BAJTOSOVA, L., KIHOULOU, B., PREISLER, D., CIESLAR, M. (2024) High-Temperature Phase Transformations in Al-Li-Cu-Mg-Zr-Sc Alloy Studied via In Situ Electron Microscopy In: Crystals Vol. 14, pp. 136. Go to original source...
    40. DANG, J., HUANG, Y., CHENG, J. (2009) Effect of Sc and Zr on microstructures and mechanical properties of as-cast Al-Mg-Si-Mn alloys In: Transactions of the Nonferrous Metals Society of China Vol. 19, pp. 540-544. Go to original source...
    41. QIN, J., TAN, P., QUAN, X., LIU, Z., YI, D., WANG, B. (2022) The effect of sc addition on microstructure and mechanical properties of as-cast Zr-containing Al-Cu alloys In: Journal of Alloys and Compounds Vol. 909, pp. 164686. Go to original source...
    42. XU, C., XIAO, W., ZHENG, R., HANADA, S., YAMAGATA, H., MA, C. (2015) The synergic effects of Sc and Zr on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Si-Mg alloy In: Materials and Design Vol. 88, pp. 485-492. Go to original source...
    43. PRACH, O., TRUDONOSHYN, O., RANDELZHOFER, P., KORNER, C., DURST, K. (2020) Multi-alloying effect of Sc, Zr, Cr on the Al-Mg-Si-Mn high-pressure die casting alloys In: Materials Characterization Vol. 168, pp. 110537. Go to original source...
    44. GRYDIN, O., NEUSER, M., SCHAPER, M. (2023) Influence of Shell Material on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Twin-Roll Cast Al-Si-Mg Alloy In: Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on the Technology of Plasticity - Current Trends in the Technology of Plasticity Mandelieu - La Napoule, France, September 24-29. Go to original source...
    45. PEET, M. J., HASAN, H. S., BHADESHIA, H. K. D. H. (2011) Prediction of thermal conductivity of steel In: Internatiounal Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer Vol. 54, pp. 2602-2608. Go to original source...
    46. GUO, S., LIU, Y. (2012) Estimation of critical cooling rates for formation of amorphous alloys from critical size In: Journal of Non-crystalline Solids Vol. 358, pp. 2753-2758. Go to original source...
    47. VICTORIA-HERNANDEZ, J., KURZ, G., BOHLEN, J., YI, S., LETZIG, D. (2021) Influence of Twin-Roll Casting Speed on Microstructural Homogeneity, Centerline Segregation, and Surface Quality of Three Different Mg Alloys In: Developments in the Production of Magnesium Alloy Flat Products Vol. 73, pp. 76-81. Go to original source...
    48. ROYSET, J., RYUM, N. (2005) Scandium in Aluminum Alloys In: International Materials Reviews Vol. 50, pp. 19-44. Go to original source...
    49. LEI, Z., WEN, S., HUANG, H., WEI, W., NIE, Z. (2023) Grain Refinement of Aluminum and Aluminum Alloys by Sc and Zr In: Metals Vol. 13, pp. 751. Go to original source...
    50. WANG, L. (2018) Influence of Homogenization on Microstructural Response and Mechanical Property of Al-Cu-Mn Alloy In: Materials Vol. 11, pp. 914. Go to original source...
    51. STEFANESCU, D. M., RUXANDA, R. (2004) ASM Handbook vol. 9 - Metallography and Microstructures, pp. 107-115. ASM International, Detroit, MI, USA. Go to original source...
    52. SARREAL, J. A., ABBASCHIAN, G. J. (1986) The Effect of Solidification Rate on Microsegregation In: Metallurgical Transactions: A Vol. 17, pp. 2064-2073. Go to original source...

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits non-comercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content