Determination of liquidus temperature in Al–Si and Al–Si–Mg alloys using a single-pan scanning calorimeter

A single-pan scanning calorimeter has been used to measure the liquidus temperatures in Al–Si and Al–Si–Mg alloys. Problems with the conventional tangent method for determining the liquidus temperature from calorimetrical measurement are discussed when sample enthalpy change does not vary linearly with temperature. A new method is proposed to calculate the liquidus temperature from measured enthalpy data. The calculated liquidus temperatures using the new method are lower than those determined using the tangent method.