• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.147-154
• /
• 2015

The effects of Sc and Sr elements on the modification of the eutectic $Mg_2Si$ phase and the castability were investigated in the Al-4wt%Mg-0.9wt%Si-0.3wt%Mn-0.15wt%Fe alloy. Measurements of the cooling curve and microstructure observations were performed to analyze the additional effects of Sc and Sr minor elements during the solidification process. A prominent effect found on the modification of the eutectic $Mg_2Si$ phase with additions of the Sr and Sc elements. Here, a fine eutectic $Mg_2Si$ phase and a decrease in the growth temperature of the eutectic $Mg_2Si$ phase were evident with an addition of Sc element up to 0.2 wt%. The growth temperature of the eutectic $Mg_2Si$ phase decreased and the effect on the modification of the eutectic $Mg_2Si$ phase increased with the addition of Sr element up to 0.02 wt%. The addition of 0.02wt%Sr had the strongest effect on the modification of the eutectic $Mg_2Si$ phase, and the resulting microstructure of the eutectic $Mg_2Si$ phase was found to have a fibrous morphology with a decreased aspect ratio and an increased modification ratio. Fluidity and shrinkage tests were conducted to evaluate the castability of the alloy. The addition of 0.02wt%Sr effectively increased the fluidity of the alloy, while an addition of Sc did not show any effect compared to when nothing was added. The maximum filling length was recorded for 0.01wt%TiB-0.02wt%Sr owing to the effect of the fine ${\alpha}$-Al grains. The macro-shrinkage ratio decreased, while the micro-shrinkage ratio increased with the addition of various eutectic modifiers. The highest ratio of micro-shrinkage was recorded for the 0.02wt%Sr condition. However, the total shrinkage ratio was nearly identical regardless of the amounts added in this study.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
• /
• v.40 no.3
• /
• pp.66-75
• /
• 2020

The aim of this study was to optimize a solid solution treatment for a high pressure die casting Al-10Si-0.3Mg-0.6Mn alloy to avoid blistering and to improve the strength of the alloy. To achieve this goal, the number density of the blisters and the strength of the alloy under various solid solution treatment (SST) conditions were evaluated. The SST was performed at 470, 490, 510 and 530℃ for 20, 60, 120, 240 and 480 min on the alloy. The number density of the blisters increased with the increasing temperature and time of the SST and the defect area fraction. The yield strength of the alloy after the T6 heat treatment increased with the increasing SST temperature and time. Based on the results, it is suggested that SST should be performed at 510℃ within 60 min. or at 470 and 490℃ within 240 min. to avoid blistering and to improve the strength.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.120-127
• /
• 2015

The effects of Ti, B and Zr on grain refinement and castability were investigated in Al-4wt%Mg-0.9wt%Si-0.3wt%Mn-0.15wt%Fe alloy. Measurement of cooling curve and micro-structure observation were performed to analyze the effects of the addition of minor elements Ti, B and Zr during solidification. The prominence of effect on grain refinement was in increasing order for Ti, Zr and B element. Fine grain size and an increase of the crystallization temperature for ${\alpha}$-Al solution were evident as the amount of addition elements increased in this study. Addition of 0.15wt% Ti was most effective for grain refinement, and the resulting grain size of ${\alpha}$-Al solution for shell mold and steel mold were $72.3{\mu}m$ and $23.5{\mu}m$, respectively. Fluidity and shrinkage tests were perform to evaluate the castability of the alloy. Maximum fluidity length and minimum ratio of micro shrinkage were recorded for 0.15wt% Ti addition due to the effect of the finest grain size.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
• /
• 2004.10a
• /
• pp.234-237
• /
• 2004

As an automotive industry's demand for lighter materials gets bigger and bigger, a lot of new strength Al alloys have been developed recently. In the present study, Al 6xxx series alloys were designed to get the strength level of 350MPa with the elongation of $12\%$. For that purpose, three alloy systems were selected based on the thermodynamics calculation. The effect of both $Mg_{2}Si$ precipitate and excess Si amount on the newly designed alloys was investigated. Also, heat treatment procedure was studied to optimize the mechanical properties.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.138-144
• /
• 2004

Effects of alloying elements such as Si, Mn, Zn on the fluidity and mechanical properties of high ductility Al-Mg based alloys were investigated. The fluidity of alloys was evaluated using a vacuum suction fluidity test, and Si addition was observed to increase the fluidity of AI-Mg binary alloys substantially while Zn somewhat decreased the fluidity. However, both the strength and ductility were significantly deteriorated by the Si additions. It was observed that a small amount of Mn addition to Al-Mg alloy increased the tensile strength effectively without losing much ductility but the effect of Zn addition on the strength was relatively small.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.121-127
• /
• 2024

We investigate the effect of T6 heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AA365 (Al-10.3Si-0.37Mg-0.6Mn-0.11Fe, wt.%) alloy fabricated by vacuum-assisted high pressure die casting by means of thermodynamic calculation, X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and tensile tests. The as-cast alloy consists of primary Al (with dendrite arm spacing of 10~15 ㎛), needle-like eutectic Si, and blocky α-AlFeMnSi phases. The solution treatment at 490 ℃ induces the spheroidization of eutectic Si and increase in the fraction of eutectic Si and α-AlFeMnSi phases. While as-cast alloy does not contain nano-sized precipitates, the T6-treated alloy contains fine β' and β' precipitates less than 20 nm that formed during aging at 190℃. T6 heat treatment improves the yield strength from 165 to 186 MPa due to the strengthening effect of β' and β' precipitates. However, the β' and β' precipitates reduce the strain hardening rate and accelerate the necking phenomenon, degrading the tensile strength (from 290 to 244 MPa) and fracture elongation (from 6.6 to 5.0%). Fractography reveals that the coarse α-AlFeMnSi and eutectic Si phases act as crack sites in both the as-cast and T6 treated alloys.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.785-792
• /
• 2011

Equal channel angular(ECA) pressing is the established processing technique in which a polycrystalline metal is pressed through the die to achieve a very high plastic strain. Therefore, the capability to produce an ultra-fine grain size in the materials is provided. To investigate that mechanical properties at elevated temperature have the ultrafine grain ECA pressing, experiments were conducted on an Al-4.8% Mg-0.07% Mn-O.06% Si alloy. After having been solution treated at 773K for 2hrs, the billet for ECA pressing was inserted into the die. And it was pressed through two channel of equal to cross section intersecting at a 90 degree angle. The billet can be extrude repeatedly because of 1:1 extrusion ratio. Since the billet is passed through the cannel for 2 times, a large strain is accumulated in the alloy. The tensile tests on elevated temperature were carried out with initial strain rate of $10^{-3}s^{-1}$ at eight temperature distributed from 293K to 673K.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.196-203
• /
• 2008

The densification behavior of Al-20Si-5.5Fe-1.2Mg-0.5Mn powders was investigated through micro-structure analysis of sintered specimens. The specimens sintered in vacuum or in high purity (99.999%) nitrogen showed porous near-surface microstructures. The densification of near-surface part was enhanced by means of ultra-high purity (99.9999%) nitrogen atmosphere. The relationship between slow densification and oxide surfaces of Al alloy powders was discussed. And the effects of Mg addition, nitrogen gas, and humidity on densification were discussed. In addition, the rapid growth of primary Si crystals above the critical temperature was reported.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.339-346
• /
• 2018

This study investigated the microstructure and wear properties of extruded hyper-eutectic Al-Si (15wt.%) alloy in an engine oil environment. The wear mechanism of the material was also analyzed and compared to conventional gray cast iron. In microstructural observation results of Al-15wt.%Si alloy, primary Si phase ($45.3{\mu}m$) and eutectic Si phase ($3.1{\mu}m$) were found in the matrix, and the precipitations of $Mg_2Si({\beta}^{\prime})$, $Al_2Cu({\theta}^{\prime})$ and $Al_6(Mn,Fe)$ were also detected. In the case of gray cast iron, ferrite and pearlite were observed. It was also observed that flake graphite ($20-130{\mu}m$) were randomly distributed. Wear rates were lower in the Al-Si alloy as compared to those of gray cast iron in all load conditions, confirming the outstanding wear resistance of Al-15wt.%Si alloy in engine oil environment. In the $4kg_f$ condition, the wear rate of gray cast iron was $6.0{\times}10^{-5}$ and that of Al-Si measured $0.8{\times}10^{-5}$. The microstructures after wear of the two materials were analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The primary Si and eutectic Si of Al-Si alloy effectively mitigated the abrasive wear, and the Al matrix effectively endured to accept a significant amount of plastic deformation caused by wear.

• Archives of Metallurgy and Materials
• /
• v.65 no.4
• /
• pp.1255-1259
• /
• 2020

This paper aims to investigate the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of hot-deformed AlMg4 alloys with Mn, Fe, and Si as the main impurities. For this purpose, solidification behavior and microstructural evolution during hot-rolling and heat-treatment processes are investigated by using theoretical calculations and experimental characterization. The crystallization and morphological transformation of intermetallic Al₃Fe, Al₆Mn, and Mg₂Si phases are revealed and discussed in terms of the variation in chemical composition. Following a homogenization heat-treatment, the effect of heat treatment on the intermetallic compounds is also investigated after hot-rolling. It was revealed that the Mg₂Si phase can be broken into small particles and spherodized more easily than the Al₃Fe intermetallic phase during the hot-rolling process. For the Mn containing alloys, both yield and ultimate tensile strength of the hot-rolled alloys increased from 270 to 296 MPa while elongation decreased from 17 to 13%, which can be attributed to Mn-containing intermetallic as well as dispersoid.