• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.419-433
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• 2021

Al-Si-Cu alloys benefit from the addition of copper for better hardness and strength through precipitation hardening, which results in remarkably strong alloys. However, the addition of copper expands the solidification range of Al-Si-Cu alloys, and due to this, these alloys become more prone to hot tearing, which is one of the most common and serious fracture phenomena encountered during solidification. The conventional evaluation method of the hot tearing properties of an alloy is a relative and qualitative analysis approach that does not provide quantitative data about this phenomenon. In the present study, the mold itself part of a device developed in Instone et al. was partially modified to obtain more reliable quantitative data pertaining to the hot tearing properties of an Al-Si-Cu casting alloy. To assess the influence of Cu element, four levels of Cu contents were tested (0.5, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 wt.%) in the Al-Si-Cu system alloy and the hot tearing properties were evaluated in each case. As the Cu content was increased, the hot tearing strength decreased to 2.26, 1.53, 1.18, and 1.04 MPa, respectively. At the moment hot tearing occurred, the corresponding solid fraction and solidification rate decreased at the same temperature due to the increase in the solid-liquid coexistence range as the Cu content increased. The morphology of the fracture surfaces was changed from dendrites to dendrites covered with residual liquid, and CuAl₂ phases were observed in the vicinity of hot tearing.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2022

In this study, dissolution and melting phenomenon of the Al₂Cu was studied for the high-strength Al-Si-Cu aluminum alloy in automobile component. The Solution heat treatment was performed at 480℃ and 510℃ for 4hours. Microstructure analysis of the specimen was performed using the optical micrograph and scanning electron microscope for qualitative and quantitative analysis of various phases, the chemical composition of secondary phases was achieved by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and electron probe micro analysis (EPMA). As a result of the electron probe micro analysis, a plate like Al₂Cu phase was observed, and eutectic Si phase was observed of a coarsen plate shape. At a temperature of 510, necking phenomenon occurs in a specific part of plate like Al₂Cu, and it is segmented and dissolved in the Al matrix. When the temperature of the alloy exceeds the melting point of Al₂Cu, incipient melting occurs at the grain boundary of undissolved Cu particles

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.248-255
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• 2010

The effect of various alloying elements and melt treatment on the microstructural control of Al-Sn metallic bearing alloy was investigated. The thickness of tin film crystallized around primary aluminum decreased with the addition of 5% Cu in Al-Sn alloy, with tin particles being reduced in size by intervening the Ostwald ripening. With the addition of Si in Al-10%Sn alloy, the tin particles were crystallized with eutectic silicon, resulting in uniform distribution of tin particles. With the addition of Cu and Si in Al-Sn alloy, both the tensile strength and yield strength increased, with the increasing rate of yield strength being less than that of tensile strength. Although the Al-10%Sn-7%Si alloy has similar tensile strength compared with Al-10%Sn-5%Cu, the former showed superior abrasion resistance, resulting from preventing the tin particles from movement to the abrasion surface.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.223-227
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• 2009

The precipitates, hardness, and tensile properties of Al-6.2Si-2.9Cu AC2B alloy were investigated with respect to solution treatment time at $500^{\circ}C$. $Al(Cu)-Al_2Cu$ eutectic, Si, ${\theta}-(Al_2Cu)$, and $Q-(Al_5Cu_2Mg_8Si_6)$ phases were observed in the as-cast specimen. With increasing the solution treatment time at $500^{\circ}C$, the $Al(Cu)-Al_2Cu$ eutectic and ${\theta}-(Al_2Cu)$ phases were gradually reduced and finally almost disappeared in 5 h. The mechanical properties, such as hardness, tensile strength, and elongation, were improved with solution treatment time until about 5 h due to the dissolution of the $Al_2Cu$ particles. With further holding time, the mechanical properties did not change much. The solution treated specimens for over 5 h at $500^{\circ}C$ exhibit almost the same tensile properties even after aging at $250^{\circ}C$ for 3.5 h. Accordingly, the optimal solution treatment condition of the Al-Si-Cu AC2B alloy is considered to be 5 h at $500^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.249-257
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• 2006

The effects of alloying element and the condition of heat-treatment on the strength of squeeze-cast Al-3.0 wt%Si alloy were investigated. The strength of the alloy without grain refinement was increased with increase Cu content upto 3.0 wt% and rather decreased beyond that. The tensile strength of the alloy with grain refinement increased with Cu content upto 3.0 wt% and not changed beyond that. The strength of the alloy without grain refinement increased with the Mg content. The tensile strength with grain refinement increased with the Mg content upto 0.50 wt% and then decreased beyond that. The strength of the grain refined alloy increased by individual and simultaneous additions of Cu and Mg and the maximum strength was obtained with Al-3.0 wt%Si-4.5 wt%Cu-0.50 wt%Mg alloy. The optimum heat-treatment condition for this alloy was obtained.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.3-10
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• 2021

In the compound casting between the aluminum alloy and the cast iron, the iron component may be dissolved from the cast iron during the process and mixed into the aluminum melt, thereby forming various iron-containing intermetallic compounds and significantly deteriorating the tensile properties of the aluminum alloy. On the other hand, unlike Fe, which is added as an impurity, Cu is added to improve the mechanical properties of the aluminum alloy. In this study, the change in microstructure and tensile properties of aluminum alloys due to the addition of Fe and Cu was investigated. A large amount of iron-containing compounds such as coarse Al₅FeSi phases were formed when the iron content was 1% or more, and the tensile properties were significantly reduced. In the case of the aluminum alloy to which Cu was added, an Al₂Cu phase was additionally formed and the tensile strength was clearly improved.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.538-542
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• 2014

Microstructural and mechanical characteristics of Al-6Si-2Cu alloy for lightweight automotive parts were investigated. The test specimens were prepared by gravity casting process. Solution heat treatments were applied to as-cast alloys to improve mechanical properties. The microstructure of the gravity casting specimen presents a typical dendrite structure, having a secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) of $37{\mu}m$. In addition to the Al matrix, a large amount of coarsened eutectic Si, $Al_2Cu$ intermetallic phase, and Fe-rich phases were identified. After solution heat treatment, single-step solution heat treatments were found to considerably improve the spheroidization of the eutectic Si phase. Two-step solution treatments gave rise to a much improved spheroidization. The mechanical properties of the two-step solution heat treated alloy have been shown to lead to higher values of properties such as tensile strength and microhardness. Consequentially, the microstructural and mechanical characteristics of Al alloy have been successfully characterized and are available for use with other basic data for the development of lightweight automotive parts.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.281-287
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• 2014

Microstructural and mechanical characteristics of Al-6Si-2Cu alloy for engine mount bracket prepared by gravity casting (as-cast) and die-casting (as-diecast) process have been investigated. For the microstructural characterization, the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) analyses are conducted. For the intermetallic phases, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) are also conducted with quantitative and qualitative analysis. Micro Vickers hardness and static tensile test are achieved in order to measure mechanical properties of alloys. Secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) of as-cast and as-diecast show 37um and 18um, respectively. A large amount of coarsen eutectic Si, $Al_2Cu$ intermetallic phase and Fe-rich phases are identified in the Al-6Si-2Cu alloy. Mechanical properties of gravity casting alloy are much higher than those of die-casting alloy. Especially, yield strength and elongation of gravity casting alloy show 2 times higher than die-casting alloy. After shot peening, shot peening refined the surface grains and Si particles of the alloys by plastic deformation. The surface hardness value shows that shot peening alloy has higher value than unpeening alloy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.102-108
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• 2018

The objective of this study is to develop the mechanical properties of an AlSiCu aluminum alloy using the two-step solution heat treatment. The microstructure of the gravity casting specimen represents a typical dendrite structure with a secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) of 40 um. In addition to the Al matrix, a large amount of coarsen eutectic Si phase, $Al_2Cu$ intermetallic phase, and Fe-rich phases is generated. The eutectic Si phases are fragmented and globularized with the solution heat treatment. The $Al_2Cu$ intermetallic phase is also resolutionized into the Al matrix. The $2^{nd}$ solution temperature at $525^{\circ}C$ may be an optimal condition to enhance the mechanical properties of the AlSiCu aluminum alloy.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.528-534
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• 2021

To confirm effects of natural and artificial aging of precipitate on thermal diffusivity and hardness, the studied Al-Mg-Si alloy were manufactured by gravity casting method with 0.6 wt% and 1.0 wt% additional Cu element. The samples were used for measuring thermal diffusivity and hardness. The addition of Cu, promoted by intermediates such as Q'' and θ'' phases, contributing to the improvement of hardness and high-temperature thermal diffusivity. The natural aging decreased the hardness of the Al-Mg-Si-Cu alloys with increasing time, but did not affect the thermal diffusivity.