Patent ID: 7469738

Claim:
An injection-molded article formed by a process comprising the steps of: heating an alloy to create a semi-solid slurry with a solids content ranging from about 60% to about 85%; injecting the slurry through a gate portion of a mold cavity at a gate velocity sufficient to i) configure an injection flow front in the mold cavity that is at least partially turbulent and ii) that is sufficient to substantially fill the mold cavity; and densifying the slurry after the slurry has been injected into the mold cavity, wherein the slurry is in a semi-solid state during densification; the molded article including a depleted surface zone extending in a layer from a surface of the molded article to about 400 μm to the interior of the molded article,said depleted surface zone having less primary solid than a constant level of the primary solid within a core of the molded article, wherein a microstructure of the article is predominantly comprised of globular particles of primary solid interconnected by solidified eutectic material, and wherein the microstructure is devoid of a dendritic phase.