• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.170-179
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• 1997

A noble technique has been developed for fabricating in situ formed $TiC_p/Al$ composites. In this process, fairly stable TiC particles were in situ synthesized in liquid aluminum by the interfacial reaction between an Al-Ti melt and SiC, which is a comparatively unstable carbide from the view-point of thermodynamics. It is possible in the present process to generate TiC particles of nearly 1 ${\mu}m$ in diameter, even utilizing SiC of 14 ${\mu}m$ as raw material. However, the dispersion behavior of TiC particles in the matrix depends on the size of the raw material SiC. Decomposing finer SiC makes the dispersion of TiC particles more uniform and the mechanical properties of composites are improved accordingly. The structure of in situ composites and their mechanical properties are affected by the fabrication temperature and the stirring time. It has been found that the most suitable condition for fabrication should be applied depending on the size of the raw material, even if the same kinds of carbide are used. Furthermore, although Al-Ti-Si system intermetallic compounds are detected in a $TiC_p/Al-Si$ composite which is fabricated by conventional melt-stirrng method, these compounds can not be observed in a $TiC_p/Al-Si$ composite made by this in situ production method. Hence the mechanical properties of the in situ $TiC_p/Al-Si$ composite are superior to those of the conventional $TiC_p/Al-Si$ composites.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.347-353
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• 2011

There is thixo-extrusion to form high strength aluminum alloy. But, it is a problem that grains become grain coarsening during reheating process because the alloy was exposed at high temperature. In order to solve grain growth during reheating process, calcium was added in Al-Zn-Mg alloys. Primary a grain sizes of semi-solid Al-Zn-Mg-(0, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.9, wt.%)Ca were measured with image analyzer after reheating. Measured primary a grain sizes were applied to LSW(Lifshitz-Slyozov and Wagner) equation to check the effect of Ca on grain coarsening. Coarsening rate constant K values of semi-solid Al-Zn-Mg-(0, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.9, wt.%)Ca alloys were $371\;mm^3s^{-1}$, $247\;mm^3s^{-1}$, $198\;mm^3s^{-1}$ and $166 mm^3s^{-1}$, respectively. As increasing calcium content, K value decreased which means grains are refined. Also, grains of calcium addition were more spherical than that of calcium free.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.54-59
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• 2014

In this study, the extruded Al-6.3Zn-2.4Mg alloys were selected among the 7000 series aluminum alloys sensitive to hydrogen environment in order to examine the effects of both the aging conditions and the length of hydrogen charging period on the mechanical properties of the alloy. The specimens were aged for 24hours at $100^{\circ}C$ (under aging (UA)), $120^{\circ}C$ (peak aging (PA)), and $160^{\circ}C$ (over aging (OA)), respectively. Charging tests were performed at RT for 12, 24, 36 hours under potentiostatic conditions (-2000 mV vs (Ag/AgCl)) for 12, 24 and 36 hours in 1M $H_2SO_4$ and 0.1%$NH_4SCN$ solution. The fracture surface was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern in peak aged sample was obtained before and after hydrogen charging from extruded Al-6.3Zn-2.4Mg alloys. The decreasing rate of tensile strength and elongation is represented in order of over aging < under aging < peak aging, and it is believed that the hydrogen recharge is more sensitive to elongation than tensile strength. The formation of $AlH_3$ in hydrogen charged Al-6.3Zn-2.4Mg alloys has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction studies.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.165-174
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• 2004

The pore formation characteristic of Mg alloy during Lost Foam Casting(LFC) was investigated with reduced pressure test and real casting, which was compared with the results of previous work for Al alloy. Cast Mg alloys in LFC had much lower porosities in comparison with those of Al alloys. Also, the proper pouring temperature gave the minimum porosity like Al alloy although it was higher than that of Al alloys due to the worse fluidity of Mg alloy. The pore formation mechanism of Mg alloy in LFC was similar to that of AI alloy but the critical temperature showing the different mechanism is higher than that of Al alloy as much as $30{\sim}50^{\circ}C$. The result that Mg alloy in LFC had the lower porosity comparing with Al alloy was due to the extra solubility of hydrogen gas although the solubility of Al alloy was easily exceeded by the external sources like pyrolyzed polystyrene products. The mold evacuation gave the lower porosity due to the removal of polystyrene pyrolysis products, and reduced shrinkage defects. Also, there was a proper evacuation pressure that gave a porosity of almost 0vol%. But much higher vacuum degree than this proper pressure caused the severe entrapment of polymer pyrolysis products that gave the large porosity.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.62-70
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• 1993

This study presents the effect of applied pressure on the preform deformation during squeeze casting of $Al_2O_3$ short fiber reinforced aluminum alloy (AC8A) metal matrix composites. A preliminary model based on the general beam theory is suggested for the prediction of the preform deformation. Two different commercially available $Al_2O_3$ short fiber (Saffil, Kaowool) were used to study the influence of the fibers on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the squeeze cast $Al/Al_2O_3$ composites. The composites were fabricated with the applied pressure of 75 MPa which was found to be the optimum condition for the squeeze casting of the composites in this study. For the amorphous Kaowool fiber, hard crystalline Mullite phase was formed with heat treatment. Both of amorphous and the crystallized Kaowool fibers were used to fabricate $Al/Al_2O_3$ composites. Microhardness of crystallized Kaowool fiber revealed higher than that of the amorphous Kaowool fiber in the squeeze cast composites. It was also found that the wear resistance of Kaowool fiber reinforced composites increased with the amount of Mullite.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.202-207
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• 2016

The effects of Fe and Si additions on the microstructures and mechanical properties of aluminum bronze have been investigated. In a bar-type specimen cast in a die mold, the addition of Fe promoted the dendritic solidification of the ${\alpha}$ phase. The hardness values increased slightly in the Fe-added specimen with heat treatment, while these values was increased significantly in the specimens with Si or with combined additions of Fe and Si. When a centrifugal casting bush with combined addition of Fe and Si was heat treated, the FeSi compound within the matrix was finely dispersed, and was observed to be the origin of cup-cone type conical dimple failure in the tensile fracture surface. The mechanical properties of the heat treated centrifugal casting bushes, whose nominal alloy compositions were (Cu-7.0Al-0.8Fe-3.0Si)wt%, exhibited tensile strength of $703-781N/mm^2$, elongation of 6.6-11.7% and hardness of Hv 222.6-249.2. These high values of strength and elongation were attributed to the strengthening of the matrix due to the combined addition of Fe and Si, and to precipitation of fine the FeSi compound.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.67-74
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• 2016

The effects of scrap content on the hot tearing property and tensile property were investigated in AC2BS alloy. The hot tearing strengths were $16.4kgf/cm^2$, $15.2kgf/cm^2$, $14.9kgf/cm^2$ and $13.3kgf/cm^2$, respectively, under the constant solid fraction of 29.3% when the scrap contents of the specimens were 0%, 20%, 35% and 50%. In the same way, tensile strengths of the as-cast condition were $24.5kgf/mm^2$, $23.7kgf/mm^2$, $17.3kgf/mm^2$ and $16.0kgf/mm^2$, respectively, and the corresponding tensile strengths of the T6 heat treatment condition were $27.2kgf/mm^2$, $26.7kgf/mm^2$, $24.2kgf/mm^2$ and $23.9kgf/mm^2$. Hot tearing strength and tensile strength decreased as scrap content of the specimen increased. According to the evaluation of the quantitative hot tearing and tensile test results, the decrease of these strengths is due to the presence of oxide films which act as crack initiation site of the specimens. Therefore, elimination of oxide films of aluminum melt to maintain melt cleanliness is required.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.338-346
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• 1997

Mechanical properties of ($10%Al_2O_3{\cdot}SiO_2+5%Ni$)/Al hybrid composites fabricated by the reaction squeeze casting were compared with those of ($15%Al_2O_3{\cdot}SiO_2$)/Ai composites. Al-Ni intermetallic compounds ($10{\sim}20 {\mu}m$) formed by the reaction between nickel powder and molten aluminum were uniformly distributed in the Al matrix. These intermetallic compounds were identified as $Al_3Ni$ using X-ray diffraction analysis and they resulted in beneficial effects on room and high temperature strength and wear resistance. Microhardness values of ($10%Al_2O_3{\cdot}SiO_2+5%Ni$)/Al hybrid composite were greater by about 100Hv than those of ($15%Al_2O_3{\cdot}SiO_2$)/Al composite. Wear resistance of ($10%Al_2O_3{\cdot}SiO_2+5%Ni$)/Al hybrid composites was superior to that of ($15%Al_2O_3{\cdot}SiO_2$)/Al composites regardless of the applied load. While tensile and yield strength of ($10%Al_2O_3{\cdot}SiO_2+5%Ni$)/Al hybrid composites were greater at room temperature and $300^{\circ}C$, strength drop at high temperature was much smaller in hybrid composites.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.286-293
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• 2023

In this study, we investigated the microstructural evolution of Al-Mg-Zn aluminum alloy billet during homogenization treatment using OM, SEM, EDS and DSC. There were numerous phases found, such as; AlMgZn, AlMgFe, and AlMgZnSi phases, in the grain of the cast billet. After 6 hours homogenization treatment, Zn was mostly dissolved, whereas, Mg and Si were only partly dissolved. Accordingly, only AlMgFe and AlMgSi remained. After 18 hours, all of the leftover Mg and Si were dissolved, leaving only AlMgFe, which was also found after 24 hours. The results of the alloy design program, JMatPro showed that Mg dissloved more rapidly than Zn. According to the homogenization kinetic equation, Mg and Zn are completely dissolved within 1.9 and 3.5 hours, respectively.

• 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.