Grain size refinement through gas bubble stirring in AC4CH cast aluminium alloy

A comparison has been made of the mechanical properties of gravity and squeeze cast aluminium alloys that have been grain refined using gas bubbling and those that have not. To find the optimum gas bubbling conditions, the alloy melt temperature, the gas flow rate and the gas bubbling times were varied over wide ranges. The microstructure of the gas bubbled gravity and squeeze cast materials is fine, equiaxed and non-dendritic with an average primary α size of 52 μm and 163 μm respectively. However, gas bubbling has no effect on the morphology of the eutectic Si. There seems to be no noticeable difference between the measured mechanical properties of the gravity and squeeze cast materials with or without the gas bubbling. The lack of improvement in the mechanical properties of the gravity cast alloy is due to casting defects and porosity, which offset the effects of the grain refinement. The crystal separation and showering mechanisms are operative for the formation of equiaxed grains.     

Mechanical properties of Al–Si–Cu alloys produced by the continuous casting process with heating process

The mechanical properties of aluminium alloys produced by the continuous cast process and heating process (heat-cast-sample) were investigated, where the aluminium alloys are heated continuously to high temperatures for 1 h immediately following heated mould continuous casting (HMC) and sand gravity casting (SGC). The material strength and ductility of the aluminium alloys were irregularly altered depending on the heating temperature. The mechanical properties decreased when the heating temperature increased to 400 °C and were then recovered when the temperature increased to 520 °C. However, these properties decreased again when heated to more than 540 °C. The mechanical properties of the HMC-heat-cast-sample showed overall higher than those for the SGC-sample. In addition to high tensile strength, high ductility was obtained for the HMC-520 °C samples compared with those for the as-cast-sample. Such changes were found to be directly attributable to the different severity of precipitate; moreover the crystal orientation was unchanged even after the heating process.     

Squeeze casting of aluminium alloys for higher formability in cold forging

Abstract

This research project investigated the process conditions of using squeeze casting process to produce aluminium alloy preforms or billets for subsequent cold forging process. The comparative effects of heat treatments, their microstructures and mechanical properties were evaluated. Through these studies and experiments, the main emphasis is on the study of commercial material Al 6061, Al 2014 and Al 356 alloys. The formability of the alloys was carried out using forward and backward extrusion test at 50% area reduction at room temperature (cold extrusion). It was found that when wrought aluminium 6061, 2014 and 356 alloys were squeeze cast to form the preforms, the preform microstructures revealed very fine microstructures that are feasible to be cold extruded. In addition, after thermal annealing treatment of 6061 squeeze cast preforms, the samples showed a similar value of work hardening exponent value of 0˙20 as compared to the wrought aluminium alloy 6061, with a workhardening exponent value of 0˙21 obtained from the static compression test. Wrought aluminium alloys generally cost twice the amount as compared with casting ingots. The microstructures of the squeeze cast 6061 alloy showed no visible cracks or inclusions after the deformation by extrusion. The results of the studies showed that Al 6061 preforms via squeeze cast technique may be cold extruded or formed, which provide an alternative means for the production of billets for the cold extrusion or forging process.     

铝基复合材料镶嵌铸造工艺

研究了在铝合金铸件中镶嵌铝基复合材料的镶嵌铸造工艺，并通过镶嵌件表面处理（喷砂、镀锌、镀镍）和控制浇注工艺参数（铸模温度、镶嵌件预热温度、铝合金浇注温度和浇注操作时间）获得了复合材料镶嵌件和铸件本体铝合金之间良好的界面结合     

Optimization of squeeze cast parameters of LM6 aluminium alloy for surface roughness using Taguchi method

The ability to produce near net shape components with good surface finish is made possible by means of squeeze casting, a hybrid metal forming process combining features of both casting and forging in a single operation. The primary objective of this paper is to analyze the influence of the process parameters on surface roughness in squeeze casting of LM6 aluminium alloy using Taguchi method. In Taguchi method, a three level orthogonal array has been used to determine the S/N ratio. Analysis of variance and the ‘F’-test values are used to determine the most significant process parameters affecting the surface roughness. The results indicated that the squeeze pressure and the die preheating temperature are the recognized parameters to cause appreciable improvement in the surface finish of the squeeze cast components.     

The Structure and Properties of Squeeze-cast Eutectic Al-Si Plates

Abstract

Squeeze casting combines the merits of both casting and forging processes and produces near net shape components of forging quality at casting costs in metals, alloys and composites. This investigation is aimed at studying the effects of various processing parameters used during squeeze casting, such as melt treatments (fluxing, degassing, etc) pouring temperature (680 to 740°C) and squeeze pressure (0 to 75 MPa) on the density, mechanical properties and microstructure of a commercially-important eutectic Al-Si alloy. It was found that while density varied by only 1 to 1.5% with increasing pouring temperatures, an overall improvement of up to 3.4% in density was observed with increasing squeeze pressure, irrespective of melt treatments and pouring temperature. Similarly, little change in UTS and percentage elongation for increasing pouring temperature and 63% improvement in UTS, 2.6% increase in percentage elongation and 50% increase in hardness for increasing squeeze pressure were observed. These variations in properties are explained in terms of observed structural changes in the alloy, namely refined primary-alpha-phase and modification of eutectic Si resulting from pressurised solidification.     

Rendering wrought aluminium alloys castable by means of minimum composition adjustments

Wrought alloys have low fluidity and are prone to hot tearing, which make them difficult to cast. The presence of eutectic-forming elements in the alloy composition lessens these effects. For this reason, the constituents of casting alloys tend to include a eutectic portion. Typically, silicon is added to aluminium alloys to provide casting ability by forming the aluminium–silicon eutectic. However, the presence of silicon in aluminium alloys is associated with a number of issues that do not allow these alloys to reach their full potential. In this publication we report results of our investigation of three alternative eutectics: Al–6.1Ni, Al–1.8Fe, and Al–1.75Fe–1.25Ni. Our results indicate that these eutectics have satisfactory fluidity and resistance to hot tearing and higher strength than the aluminium–silicon eutectic. We also found that introducing these eutectic compositions into 7075 wrought alloy results in a castable composition with yield strength comparable to that of the wrought alloy.     

Valid mould and process design to cast tensile and fatigue test bars in tilt pour casting process

Abstract

Tilt pour gravity casting technology is increasingly being used for shape casting various components with aluminium alloys. The ASTM B108/B108M-08 standard exists for a metal mould to evaluate the mechanical properties of castings made by gravity permanent mould process, yet there is no standard mould for the tilt pour process. We have designed, developed, tested and validated a standard mould to cast tensile and fatigue test bars in a tilt pour casting process. The new mould has demonstrated abilities to cast sound castings of A356·2 aluminium alloy, and the uniaxial tensile properties were superior to those obtained from conventional direct pour gravity casting process.     

Section thickness-dependent tensile properties of squeeze cast magnesium alloy AM60

The development of alternative casting processes is essential for the high demand of light weight magnesium components to be used in the automotive industry,which often contain different section thickn...     

Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of Mg-12Zn-2Y alloy containing quasicrystal phase fabricated by different casting processes

Although icosahedral quasicrystal phase (denoted as I-phase) has been verified as an outstanding reinforcing phase, the mechanical properties of quasicrystal-reinforced Mg-Zn-Y alloys fabricated by traditional casting processes are still unsatisfactory due to the serious segregation of intermetallic compounds. In this study, the microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-12Zn-2Y alloy fabricated by different casting processes, including permanent mold casting, squeeze casting and rheo-squeeze casting with ultrasonic vibration, were systematically investigated and compared. The results show that massive, large-sized I-phase and Mg₇Zn₃ phase gather together in the permanent mold cast sample, while the squeeze casting process leads to the transformation of I-phase into fine lamellar morphology and the amount of Mg₇Zn₃ decreases. As to the rheo-squeeze casting process, when the ultrasonic vibration is exerted with power from 800 W to 1,600 W, the α-Mg grains are refined and spheroidized to a large extent, and the lamellar spacing of the eutectic structure is significantly reduced, accompanied by some tiny granular I-phase scattering in the α-Mg matrix. However, when the ultrasonic power continuously increases to 2,400 W, the eutectic structure becomes coarse. The best mechanical properties of the rheo-squeeze cast alloy are obtained when the ultrasonic power is 1,600 W. The microhardness, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and elongation are 79.9 HV, 140 MPa, 236 MPa, and 3.25%, which are 44.1%, 26.1%, 25.5%, 132.1% respectively higher than the corresponding values of the squeeze casting sample, and are 47.6%, 44.3%, 69.8%, and 253.3% respectively higher than the corresponding values of the permanent mold casting sample.