Study on the microstructural evolution of AZ31 magnesium alloy in a vertical twin-roll casting process

Finite element method was employed to calculate the macroflow velocity and temperature distribution of the pool domain’s biting zone in twin-roll casting. Macroanalysis results were inducted as boundary conditions into microanalysis. Phase field method (PFM) was adopted to investigate the microstructure evolution. Based on the Kim–Kim–Suzuki model, the effect of metal flow velocity was coupled on the solute gradient item, and the real physical parameters of AZ31 were inducted into the numerical calculation. We used the marker and cell method in the discrete element solution of microstructural pattern prediction of AZ31 magnesium alloys. The different flow velocity values that predicted the columnar dendrite evolution were discussed in detail. Numerical simulation results were also compared with the experiment analysis. The microstructure obtained by PFM agrees with the actual pattern observed via optical microscopy.