Processing of immiscible alloys by a twin-screw rheomixing process

Abstract

Immiscible alloys with a microstructure in which a soft phase dispersed homogeneously in a hard matrix have great potential applications in advanced bearing systems, especially for automotive industry. Though the melt of an immiscible alloy is miscible at the temperature above the miscibility gap, it decomposes into two liquids when it passes through the liquid miscibility gap. Despite great efforts made worldwide, including extensive space experiments, no casting techniques so far can produce the desirable microstructure. Based on the extensive experience in mixing the immiscible organic liquids offered by the polymer processing community, a rheomixing process for immiscible alloys has been successfully developed at Brunel University using a twin-crew extruder. This paper presents the twin-screw rheomixing process and the experimental results on rheomixing of the immiscible Zn-Pb alloys.