Effects of Alloying Elements and Process Parameters on

Hot Tearing
during Direct Chill (DC) Casting of Aluminium Alloys
Anil Barik
Engg. Shops (Rourkela Steel Plant)
SAIL, Rourkela - 769 011.
Email : anil.sailrsp@gmail.com

Abstract
As much as 80% of primary aluminium produced is cast by the so-called Direct Chill (DC) casting process. This
results in long sheet ingots (more than 50%) or logs for extrusion due to their robust nature and relative simplicity.
Unfortunately the process can produce distortions in the ingot, and cracks can form owing to non-uniform, highrate heat removal due to direct contact of bottom block and cooling water with partially solidified ingot.
Further increase of thermal stresses in the solid state, accompanied by weaker mechanical properties of the
alloy in certain temperature ranges, may lead to crack propagation and catastrophic failure.
Variation of mechanical properties in different ingot sections, which is the result of high temperature gradients in
the billet upon solidification, can also cause different susceptibility of the material to cracking.
This paper examines/discusses the effect of Alloying Elements and Process Parameter on Hot Tearing during
Direct Chill casting of Aluminium alloys.
Key words : Direct Chill Casting, Hot Tearing, Cooling Rate, Casting Speed, Microstructure

Introduction
Crack formation in casting is caused by a combination
of tensile stress and metallurgical embrittlement.
Although solidifying metal is subject to embrittlement
due to a number of different mechanisms at different
temperature ranges, hot-tear cracks form near the solidus
temperature. Embrittlement is so severe near this
temperature that hot-tear cracks form at strains of the
order of only 1%, making them responsible for most of
the cracks observed in cast products. Hot-tear cracks
form because thin liquid films between the dendrites at
grain boundaries are susceptible to strain concentration,
causing separation of the dendrites and intergranular
cracks.4
The Direct Chill (DC) casting process is a semicontinuous vertical casting process shown schematically
in Figure 1. Molten aluminium alloy is poured in at the
top sometimes directly, but in case of ingots nozzles
and/or distribution bags are most often applied.5 At the
beginning, the bottom block is touching the mould,
making a closed pit. Both the bottom block and the mould
are water-cooled, ensuring good heat extraction from the
molten metal inside. When molten aluminium starts to
solidify in the region touching the mould and the bottom
block, the block is lowered at a constant speed the
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casting speed. Typical casting speeds are of the order

of 1 mm/s for rolling ingots.
The solid material at the surface of the ingot, which is
taken out underneath the mould, is cooled further by water
sprays. This is commonly referred to as secondary
cooling, to distinguish it from the primary cooling
performed by the water-cooled mould and bottom block.

The Paper and The Content

This presentation on Hot Tearing during DC Casting
of Aluminium alloys focuses mainly on production of
ingots for subsequent processing to produce
aluminium alloy sheets and/or extrusions. It has no
direct focus on aluminium alloy sandcasting or
diecasting.
Yet the explanations on metallurgical parameters
(casting cooling, effect of alloying elements. pouring
temperature, mould temperature, mushy zone during
solidification, embrittlement etc) will prove educative
to foundrymen/diecasters producing aluminium alloy
castings. Hence the paper is presented here. We
hope elite aluminium diecasters and other
foundrymen will find its content educative and useful.
Editor
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER, 2014

(a) Schematic Diagram of Direct Chill Casting

(c) Left : Direct chill

semi-continuous
casting of an aluminium
extrusion ingot, along
with calculated liquid
pressure in the mushy
zone.

(b) DC Cast Ingot Macrostructure

Right (lower) : Two main mechanisms associated with

hot tearing in aluminium direct chill casting, namely
interdendritic melt flow caused by solidification shrinkage
(light colour winding arrows), and thermally induced
deformation (black arrows moving towards right/left).
Right (uppper) : Dendrite bridge in a network of
solidifying grains having sufficient strength to transmit
thermal Contractions

(d) Formation of a centre crack in

DC Cast Aluminium ingot

(Source : http://www.sintef.no)(SS

Fig. 1. Representation of the DC Casting Process

When the casting speed has been kept constant for a

while, the process enters a quasi-stationary phase. Being
chilled from the sides, the material solidifies from the
surface and inwards, and a liquid sump appears. Between
the fully liquid and solid regions in the sump, a mushy
zone exists (Fig.1-c). Here, the liquid and solid phases
co-exist due to the fact that alloys solidify over a finite
temperature interval, and not at a certain temperature,
as do pure substances. This is caused by the fact that
the solubility of the alloying element is different in the
solid and the liquid phases. When the ingot has reached
its full length, the casting speed is reduced to zero, and
pouring of molten metal on the top is stopped, and the
ingot is cooled down to room temperature by the mould,
water sprays, and the ambient air.
Although the DC casting process has been optimised
during last some decades, there are still some problems
left, which limit the productivity. First of all, the rapid
cooling, and thereby associated inhomogeneous
contraction of the material, causes the ingot to deform.
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This is commonly referred to as thermally induced

deformation, and is problematic for the aluminium
producers, since it means that the ingots have to be
scalped before use, thus increasing the amount of scrap
(up to 10% of the ingots weight is scalped away).
Sometimes the stresses associated with these
deformations become so immense that the material
cracks. When this happens in the mushy zone, it is
referred to as hot tearing (most common), whereas when
it appears in the fully solidified material, it is called cold
cracking (even at a temperature of 500 C).

Thermally Induced Deformations

In the DC casting process, the cooling is strongly
inhomogeneous; the cooling rate at the initial stage being
much higher on the surface than inside the ingot. An
inhomogeneous cooling rate leads to an inhomogeneous
rate of contractions; and stresses inevitably arise. These
stresses are so great as compared to the strength of the
material that not only elastic, but also permanent
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER, 2014

(viscoplastic) deformation of the ingot results. During

the starting phase, the ingot experiences a higher cooling
rate than during the steady state regime, since the butt
to begin with is chilled by both the bottom block and the
mould. After the solidification of a thin shell close to the
mould and the bottom block, the temperature of the metal
is higher in the bulk than at the surface. Since, during
subsequent cooling, the ingot butt has to be cooled to a
homogeneous temperature, the cooling rate after the
initial transient must be higher inside the shell than at
the lower surface. Hence, the rate of volumetric
contraction will also be the largest inside the shell, and
a curling of the solid part of the ingot will result by the
mechanism. Butt curl is the mechanism causing the
previously mentioned air gap to be formed between the
bottom block and the ingot. It is clear that the contraction
of the material in the centre is the one most crucial for
the total butt-curl formation. Therefore, bottom blocks
with a central cone are often applied. In such bottom
blocks, the material surrounding the cone will solidify
first, resulting in a solid frame which restricts the bowing
up of the shell when the central part solidifies.1
When an alloy solidifies in the DC casting process, solid
crystals nucleate at different positions in the melt more
or less simultaneously; and from these nuclei solid grains
(crystals) of aluminium grow. The solid and liquid phases
co-exist over a finite temperature interval even at
equilibrium conditions due to different solubility of the
alloying element in the two phases. Due to instability of
the solid-liquid interface, the originally formed spherical
shape of the grains develop into a dendritic pattern.
Where the concentration of the alloying elements is low
and the grain density is high, the grains are usually more
globular. In the very beginning of solidification, the solid
is in the form of grains floating freely in the melt. At a
certain point, the growing grains impinge, and the solid
grains form a continuous network, with liquid flowing in
the open channels. The solidification continues, and after
a while liquid exists only in closed pockets, until it
eventually disappears entirely, and the material is fully
solidified. The region in the casting where solid and liquid
co-exist is often referred to as the mushy zone, and when
the solid network starts developing strength, it is referred
to as coherency.13
When the material in the central region solidifies, it is
surrounded by an already solid shell. This shell, which
is much stronger than the central mushy zone, restricts
the mushy zone from contracting during solidification.
In this way, the mushy zone is subjected to tensile
deformation (Fig. 1-c). This effect is particularly
pronounced in case of casting of logs for extrusion with
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circular cross section since the pull-in is not so strong

for them. Research suggested that the straining of the
mushy zone is what directly leads to a hot tear. This
information about the vulnerable region suggested that
the accumulated viscoplastic strain in the vulnerable
region could be used as a hot-tearing criterion.14

Hot Tearing
Hot tearing susceptibility of alloys is greatly influenced
by solidification behaviour of molten metal in the mushy
zone. Solidification can be divided into four stages :
(i)

Mass feeding where the liquid and solid are free to

move;

(ii) Inter-dendrtic feeding when the dendrites begin

to contact one another, and form a coherent solid
network;
(iii) Inter-dendritic separation : With increasing
fraction solid, the liquid network becomes
fragmented. If liquid feeding is not adequate, a
cavity may form. As thermal contraction occurs,
strains are developed, and if the strain imposed on
the network is greater than a critical value, a hot
tear will form and propagate.
(iv) Lastly Inter-dendritic bridging or solid feeding
(Fig. 1-c) occurs.
Simply stated, hot tearing occurs if the solidification
shrinkage and thermal deformation of the solid cannot
be compensated by liquid flow.3
However, it is important to note that hot tearing and hot
cracking are different in their definitions; hot tearing is
a fissure that develops during solidification when some
liquid is still present; whereas hot cracking is a fracture
occurring below the solidus temperature when the metal
has completely solidified.

Effect of Alloying Elements

The effect of alloy composition on hot tearing has been
established.10 For most binary alloys, the relationship
between hot tearing tendency and alloy composition is
considered as the so called lambda curve, as shown in
Figure 2. Generally, the larger the freezing range, the
more the alloy is prone to hot tearing since the solidifying
alloy spends a longer time in the vulnerable stage.
Study6 showed that hot tearing tendency is related to
the amount of eutectic liquid present during the latter
stages of solidification. The presence of a small amount
of eutectic was observed to aggravate hot tearing
tendency. However, when it is beyond a certain value,
hot tearing decreased with increasing eutectic content.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER, 2014

(a)

(b)

Fig. 2 (a) : Schematic illustration of hot tearing susceptibility

as a function of a binary alloy, shown as a lambda curve 22

Fig. 2 (b) : Hot tearing for Al-Cu alloys, showing a peak at

approximately 0.7%Cu from the conical ring die test

(Source: Campbell, J., 1991, Castings, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann)

When enough alloying elements were added to a pure

metal so that eutectic was present in amounts greater
than necessary to completely surround the primary grains
with a thin film, resistance to hot tearing increased due
to improved feeding.

Effect of Process Parameters

Hot tearing is identified as cracks, either on the surface
or inside the casting. Hot tears are usually large and
visible to the naked eye. Sometimes, they can also be

very small, and visible only under magnetic particle or

dye penetrant inspection. The main tear and its numerous
minor offshoots generally follow intergranular paths and
the failure surface usually reveals a dendritic morphology.
It is generally accepted that hot tears would form when
thermally induced stresses (strains), accumulated during
solidification contraction, exceed the strength of the
mushy zone and liquid feeding is insufficient to fill the
incipient cracks.7
(A) Melt Superheat (Pouring Temperature)
Studies relating to the effects of superheat on hot tearing
are limited and conflicting. Singer et al (1931)9 believed
that high pouring temperature would minimize hot tearing.
While Middleton et al (1951)8 showed that hot tearing
was likely to occur and was severer at high casting
temperatures than at low temperatures.

(a) 700 C

(b) 750 C

(c) 800 C

Pouring Temperature: (a) 700 C, (b) 750 C, (c) 800 C.

Mould Temperature: 300 C.11
Fig. 3 : (Above) Mosaic optical micrographs showing Hot
Tears in neck region of M206.
(Below) Microstructure of M206 showing grain and dendritic
morphology at the center

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Pumphrey et al (1948)12 studied six Aluminium binary

alloy systems and their experiments showed that at any
given alloying element level the cracking susceptibility
decreased with decreasing superheat. Generally, the
alloys with columnar structure have higher hot tearing
tendency than the alloys with equiaxed structures in
normal situations. Several studies also showed that the
effects of superheat changed with different test methods
and were dependent on factors such as cooling rate,
presence of grain refiners, and healing phenomena etc.
Figure 3 shows typical micrographs of neck region (hot
spot) of the restrained rods for M206 alloy cast at different
mould temperatures. It suggests that hot tearing
susceptibility slightly increased with increasing pouring
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER, 2014

temperature. Grain morphology are columnar at the

surface layer, and equiaxed dendritic at the center, for
all three castings cast under different pouring
temperatures.
The results showed that the severity of hot tearing in
alloy M206 increased with increasing pouring
temperature. The effect is not as significant as that of
mould temperature. Two factors might contribute this
increasing. First, the ability of the structure to
accommodate the stress build-up due to thermal
contraction decreases since the grain size becomes
larger with increasing pouring temperature (a lower
cooling rate). On the other hand, the liquid film thickness
between grains increases, which would tend to increase
hot tearing susceptibility.
(B) Mould Temperature
Mould temperature directly affects the casting cooling
rate, and thus the casting microstructure and
performance, including hot tearing. In fact, most studies
on hot tearing, which involve mould temperature, were
using it to control cooing rate or the solidification pattern.
Research5 reveals the effects of mould temperature in
the range of 250 to 500 C for binary Mg-Al alloys. It was
found that increasing the mould temperature decreased
hot tearing susceptibility, and the higher mould
temperature led to higher crack onset temperature and
longer propagation time. The mechanism they gave was
that cracks were initiated under all mould temperatures,
but at higher mould temperature the cracks could be refilled by the remaining liquid and healed. This was
because higher mould temperature led to lower cooling
rate, and thus a coarser microstructure. The coarser
structure led to thicker and more continuous remaining
liquid. This, coupled with higher onset temperature, made
the re-filling easier.
Another study 2 mentioned the effect of mould
temperature when studying the role of grain refinement.
it was quite surprising to find that cracking was severer
in lower mould temperature experiments, e.g. 220 C
(compared with 250 C). However, looking at the entire
data presented, the cracking was severe only in two
conditions in lower mould temperature, but all seven other
cases did not support their finding.
Recent Research11 reveals that mould temperature has
a significant effect on hot tearing susceptibility of M206
alloys. Figure 4 shows typical micrographs of neck region
(hot spot) of the restrained rods for M206 alloy cast at
different mould temperatures.
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(a) 200 C

(b) 300 C

(c) 370 C

Mould Temperature: (a) 200 C, (b) 300 C, (c) 370 C

Pouring Temperature: 750 C
Fig. 4 : (Above) Mosaic optical micrographs showing Hot
Tears in neck region of M206.
(Below) Microstructure of M206 showing grain and dendritic
morphology at center

The hot tearing susceptibility decreases with increasing

mould temperature. In the early stage, the liquid and solid
are free to move, so the contraction can be
accommodated by liquid flow and hot tearing should not
occur. However, this mass feeding stage should be
relatively short, considering a solid shell would form
rapidly after pouring due to the high cooling rate in this
test. After the solid shell forms (dendrite coherency
reaches), the strains and stresses due to thermal
contraction will build up and impose on the shell and
concentrated in the weak area of the casting. If it is larger
than a value, it may tear apart the dendrites and cause
hot tearing. But these tears can be filled by liquid refilling, considering there is still a large amount of liquid
around. From the first derivative curves, a short unstable
(variation) stage after the mass feeding stage was
observed. This would represent the process of tearing
and filling described. The filled minor cracks are evident
in the micrographs of the hot spot area of M206 castings
(Figure 4). After this unstable stage, the load starts
increasing very fast when a coalesced solid networking
forms and can transfer tensile force.16
The severity of hot tearing and linear contraction
decreases significantly when the mould temperature is
increased. On the other hand, the thermal gradient
influences grain morphology during solidification. Lower
mould temperature results in higher thermal gradient,
which promotes columnar structure. The columnar
structure is detrimental when it stands tensile force
vertical to the growth direction, which favours hot tearing
formation.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER, 2014

Concluding Remarks
Recently, several mechanical and non-mechanical hot
tearing criteria were evaluated by Researchers. The
criteria show different results in predicting the hot tearing
susceptibility like (i) hot tearing increases with casting
speed, (ii) more hot tears in the billet center, (iii) ramping
casting speed during start-up of the casting reduces hot
tearing etc.
There are two main challenges in this endeavour.
1. We lack the knowledge of the actual causes of crack
nucleation. That is to say, we do not know exactly
what defects or structure defects can act as crack
initiators under particular temperature-stress
conditions.

3. D. G. Eskin, K. L. Suyitno (2004), Progress in Materials

Science, Vol. 49, 2004
4. D. U. Furrer and S. L. Semiatin Eds. (2009), ASM
Handbook; (Volume 22A: Fundamentals of Modeling for
Metals), Pp 362-374
5. E. E. Emley (1976), Continuous Casting of Aluminium,
International Metals Reviews, pages 75115, June
1976. Review 206.
6. Fortier, M., Lahaine, D. J., Bounchard, M., Langlais, J.
(2001) Mould Surface Roughness Effects on the
Microstructure and the Hot Tearing Strength for an Al4.5% Wt Cu Alloy, Light Metals, 2001
7. J. Campbell (1991), Castings, Oxford: ButterworthHeinemann
8. J. M. Middleton and H. T. Protheroe (1951): Journal of
the Iron and Steel Institute, 1951, vol. 168, Pp 384-397

2. There is a possibility that different mechanisms of

crack propagation and final failure act independently
on the fraction of solid at which the fracture occurs
and on the alloy structure.

9. K. Singer and H. Benek (1931) : Stahl and Sisen, 1931,

vol. 51, 61-65.

The application of multiphase mechanics and, eventually,

fracture mechanics to the phenomenon of hot cracking
looks quite promising. The quest for a new hot tearing
model and a corresponding hot tearing criterion should
focus on these two research areas.

11. Shimin Li (2010), Hot Tearing in Cast Aluminium Alloys:

Measures and Effects of Process Variables, Doctoral
thesis, Deptt. of Materials Science and Engineering,
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, April 2010

Acknowledgement: Support for preparing this article

from the Employer is duly acknowledged by
the Author.

References
1. B. Janin (1986), Simulation of Thermal Stresses in
Continuous Casting of Al Alloys Billets, E-MRS meeting,
page 305, Strasbourg, 1986
2. C. Limmaneevichitr, A. Saisiang, and S. Chanpum
(2002) : Proceedings of the 65th World Foundry
Congress, 2002

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10. Rosenberg, R. A., Flemings, M. C., and Taylor, H. F.,

(1960) Non-ferrous Binary Alloys Hot Tearing, AFS
Trans, 1960, Vol. 69, pp. 518-528

12. W. I. Pumphrey and J. V. Lyons (1948), J. Inst. Met.,

1948, vol. 118, P439-455
13. W. Kurz and D. J. Fisher (1992), Fundamentals of
Solidification, Trans Tech Publications
14. W. S. Pellini (1952), Strain Theory of Hot Tearing,
Foundry, Pp 125133, 192199,1952
15. Z. Zhen, N. Hort, O. Utke, Y. Huang, N. Petri, and K. U.
Kainer (2009): Magnesium Technology, 2009
Query to the Author : Details of references after no.15, if
any, not received. Reference no. 22 appears in Fig. 2.
Details not known.

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