Formation of Die Soldering and the Influence of Alloying Elements on the Intermetallic Interface

Die soldering of die castings is a serious problem in the aluminum casting industry. The precise mechanism, the influence of the alloy composition, and the options for prevention have not yet been fully elaborated. A well-established solution for alloys with low iron content is the addition of manganese. However, up to 0.8 wt.% is necessary, which increases the amount of brittle phases in the material and consequently reduces ductility. Immersion tests with 1.2343 tool steel and pure aluminum as well as a hypoeutectic AlSi-alloy with Mn, Mo, Co, and Cr additions were carried out to systematically investigate the formation of die soldering. Three different intermetallic layers and a scattered granular intermetallic phase formed at the interface between steel and Al-alloy after immersion into the melt for a duration of 6 min at 710 °C. The combined presence of the irregular, needle-shaped β-Al5FeSi phase and the surrounding alloy was responsible for the bond between the two components. Mn and Mo inhibited the formation of the β-phase, and instead promoted the αC-Al15(Fe,X)3Si2 phase. This led to an evenly running boundary to the AlSi-alloy and thus prevented bonding. Cr has proven to be the most efficient addition against die soldering, with 0.2 wt.% being sufficient. Contrary to the other elements investigated, Cr also reduced the thickness of the intermetallic interface.

Microstructural Characteristics of AlSi9Cu3(Fe) Alloy with High Melting Point Elements

The paper presents the results of microstructure tests of EN AC-46000 hypoeutectic Al–Si alloy with and without high-melting-point elements: chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, and tungsten. The above-mentioned elements were used individually or simultaneously in various combinations. The tested castings were made using two technologies: shell molding and high pressure die casting (HPDC). Using X-ray diffraction and microanalysis of the chemical composition an attempt to determine the phase structure of the tested alloy was made. It has been shown that the microstructure of the base alloy consists of dendrites of α(Al) solid solution and complex eutectic mixtures: ternary α(Al) + Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2 + β(Si) and quaternary α(Al) + Al2Cu + AlSiCuFeMgMnNi + β(Si). High-melting point elements, regardless of the combination used, attach mainly to intermetallic phases rich in Fe and form the Al15(Fe,Mn,M)3Si2 phase, where M is any high melting point element or a combination of such elements. It has been shown that the area fraction of the above-mentioned phase increases with increasing content of high melting point elements. A greater area fraction of the Al15(Fe,Mn,M)3Si2 phase in the casting from the shell mold in relation to the high pressure die casting has been also found.

Influence of cooling rate on microstructure development of AlSi9MgMn alloy

Aluminum alloys are widely applied in automotive, aircraft, food and building industries. Multicomponent technical AlSi9MgMn alloy is primarily intended for high cooling rate technology. Controlled addition of alloying elements such as iron and manganese as well as magnesium can improve mechanical and technological properties of final casting in dependence from cooling conditions during solidification. The aim of this investigation is characterization of AlSi9MgMn alloy microstructure and mechanical properties at lower cooling rates than those for which this alloy was primarily developed. Thermodynamic calculation and thermal analyses revealed solidification sequence in correlation to microstructure investigation as follows: development of primary dendrite network, precipitation of high temperature Al15(Mn,Fe)3Si2 and Al5FeSi phases, main eutectic reaction, precipitation of intermetallic Al8Mg3FeSi6 phase and Mg2Si as a final solidifying phase. Influence of microstructure features investigation and cooling rate reveals significant Al15(Mn,Fe)3Si2 morphology change from Chinese script morphology at low, irregular broken Chinese script morphology at medium and globular morphology at high cooling rate. High manganese content in AlSi9MgMn alloy together with high cooling rate enables increase of Fe+Mn total amount in intermetallic Al15(Mn,Fe)3Si2 phase and encourage favourable morphology development, all resulting in enhanced mechanical properties in as-cast state.

Effect of cooling rates on T6 Treatment of B390 Aluminium-Silicon Hypereutectic alloys

This research aimed to study an effect of cooling rates on T6 treatment process of B390 aluminium hypereutectic alloy. B390 casting samples were casted with pouring temperature of 710°C and solidified in three different cooling rates of 33.33, 28.60 and 22.22°C/s, respectively using three metal moulds. After that samples were subjected to T6 treatment: solution treated at 510°C for 30 min and aged at 200°C at various times. However, after ageing, hardness values of as-casted samples reduced with increasing cooling rate. It was found that the specimen cooled with the highest cooling rate exhibited the highest hardness. Peak hardness values of samples cooled with cooling rate of 33.33, 28.60 and 22.22°C/s after ageing obtained from ageing time of 3, 6 and 8 hour, respectively. Furthermore, the result showed that morphology of primary silicon, eutectic silicon and Ali5(Mn, Fe)3Si2 phase presented in the aged specimen cooled with the highest cooling rate exhibited more globular, finer and distributed more evenly compared with the slower cooled samples. It can be concluded that rapid cooling rate increases concentration of a-solid solution resulted in shorter aging time.

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Hypereutectic Al-Si Alloy with 2% Fe Prepared by Semi-Solid Process

The microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-17Si-2Fe-2Cu-1Ni (mass fraction, %) alloys with 0.4% or 0.8% Mn produced by semi-solid casting process were studied. The semi-solid slurry of the alloys was prepared by ultrasonic vibration (USV) process. With USV process, the average grain size of primary Si in the alloys could be refined to 21~24μm, whether with or without P modification. The P addition has no further refinement effect on the primary Si in the case of the combined use of USV with P addition. Without USV, the alloys contain a large amount of long needle-like β-Al5(Fe,Mn)Si phase and plate-like δ-Al4(Fe,Mn)Si2 phase. Besides, the alloy with 0.8% Mn contains a small amount of coarse dendritic α-Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2 phase. With USV treatment and semi-solid casting process, the Fe-containing compounds in the alloys are refined and exist mainly as δ-Al4(Fe,Mn)Si2 particles with average grain size of about 18μm, and only a small amount of β-Al5(Fe,Mn)Si phase is remained. With USV treatment and without P modification, the ultimate tensile strengths (UTS) of the alloys containing 0.4% and 0.8%Mn produced by semi-solid process are 260MPa and 270MPa respectively at room temperature, and the UTS are 127MPa and 132MPa at 350°C.