A high-temperature acoustic field measurement and analysis system for determining cavitation intensity in ultrasonically solidified metallic alloys

A high-temperature acoustic field measurement and analysis system (HTAFS) was self-designed and developed to achieve real-time acoustic field analysis and quantitative cavitation characterization within high-temperature liquids. The acoustic signal was acquired by a high-temperature resistant waveguide and calibrated by separate compensation of line and continuous spectra to eliminate frequency offsets. Moreover, a new method was proposed to derive from the continuous-spectrum sound intensity and line-spectrum sound intensity in the frequency band above 1.5 times the fundamental frequency to characterize the intensity of transient cavitation and stable cavitation. The acoustic field characteristics within solidifying liquid Al-7 %Si alloy were successfully determined by this system. With the increase of ultrasound amplitude, the acoustic pressure in the alloy melt increased to be stable, the transient cavitation intensity first rose and then declined, and the stable cavitation intensity remained unchanged. Combined with the structural evolution of the primary α(Al) phase, the transient cavitation intensity was determined to be the dominant factor for the ultrasound-induced grain refinement effect.