• Journal of Surface Science and Engineering
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.250-258
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• 2023

Ceramic oxide layer was formed on the surface of high silicon aluminum alloy by using PEO (plasma electrolytic oxidation) process. The microstructure of the oxide layer was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction patterns (XRD). The high silicon aluminum alloy prior to PEO process consists of Al, Si and Al₂Cu phases in XRD analysis, whereas Al₂Cu phase selectively disappeared after PEO treatment. Considerable decrease of relative intensity in most of peaks in XRD results of the high silicon aluminum alloy treated by PEO process was observed. It may be attributed to the formation of amorphous phases after PEO treatment. The corrosion behavior of the high silicon aluminum alloy treated by PEO process was investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and other electrochemical techniques (i.e., open circuit potential and polarization curve). Electroanalytical studies indicated that the high silicon aluminum alloy treated by PEO process shows greater corrosion resistance than that untreated by PEO process.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.109-115
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• 2022

The demand for metal 3D printing technology is increasing in various industries. The materials commonly used for metal 3D printing include aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, and stainless steel. In particular, for applications in the aviation and defense industry, aluminum alloy 3D printing parts are being produced. To improve the corrosion resistance in the 3D printed aluminum alloy outputs, a post-treatment process, such as chromate coating, should be applied. However, powdered materials, such as AlSi7Mg and AlSi10Mg, used for 3D printing, have a high silicon content; therefore, a suitable pretreatment is required for chromate coating. In the desmut step of the pretreatment process, the chromate coating can be formed only when a smut composed of silicon compounds or oxides is effectively removed. In this study, suitable desmut solutions for 3D printed AlSi7Mg and AlSi10Mg materials with high silicon contents were presented, and the chromate coating properties were studied accordingly. The smut removal effect was confirmed using an aqueous desmut solution composed of sulfuric, nitric, and hydrofluoric acids. Thus, a chromate coating was successfully formed. The surfaces of the aluminum alloys after desmut and chromate coating were analyzed using SEM and EDS.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.12
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• pp.907-911
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• 2012

High purity silicon can be obtained from Al-Si alloys by a combination of solvent refining and centrifugation. Silicon purification by crystallization of silicon from an Al-Si alloy melt was carried out using 2N and 4N purity aluminum and 2N purity silicon as raw materials. The effect of the purity of raw materials on the final silicon ingot purity by centrifugation was investigated for an Al-50 wt% Si alloy. Alloys were melted using an electrical resistance furnace, and then poured into a centrifuging apparatus. A silicon lump like foam was obtained after centrifugation and was leached by an acid in order to get pure silicon flakes. Then silicon flakes were melted to make a silicon ingot using an induction furnace. The purities of the silicon flakes and silicon ingot were enhanced significantly compared to those of the raw materials of silicon and aluminum. The silicon ingot made of 4N aluminum and 2N silicon showed the lowest impurities.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.8-12
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• 2013

Although aluminum-silicon based commercial casting alloys have been used in applications that demand high electrical or thermal conductivity, new aluminum casting alloys that possess higher conductivities are currently required for advanced applications. Therefore, there is much research into the development of new high conductivity aluminum casting alloys that contain lower amounts of or no silicon. In this research, the properties and casting characteristics of Al-Zn-Fe-Si alloys with various Fe and Si contents were investigated. Two types of AlFeSi phases were formed depending on the Fe and Si contents. As the silicon content increased, the tensile strength of the Al-Zn-Fe-Si alloy increased slightly, while the electrical conductivity decreased slightly. It was also observed that both the fluidity and hot cracking susceptibility of the investigated alloys were closely related to the formation of the AlFeSi phases.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.493-498
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• 2002

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a relatively new solid-state joining process which can homogenize the heterogeneous microstructure by intensely plastic deformation arising from the rotation of the welding tool. The present study applied the FSW to an A356 aluminum (AI) alloy with the as-cast heterogeneous microstructure in the T6 temper condition, and examined an effect of microstructure on mechanical properties in the weld. The base material consisted of Al matrix with a high density of strengthening precipitates, large eutectic silicon and a lot of porosities. The FSW led to fragment of the eutectic silicon, extinction of the porosities and dissolution of the strengthening precipitates in the Al alloy. The dissolution of strengthening precipitates reduced the hardness of the weld around the weld center and the transverse ultimate tensile strength of the weld. Longitudinal tensile specimen containing only the stir zone showed the roughly same strength as the base material and a much larger elongation. Moreover, Charpy impact tests indicated that the stir zone had remarkably the higher absorbed energy than the base material. The higher mechanical properties of the stir zone were attributed to a homogenization of the as-cast heterogeneous microstructure by FSW.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.242-247
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• 2013

The most widely utilized commercial, aluminum-casting alloys are based on an aluminum-silicon system due to its excellent casting, and good mechanical, properties. Unfortunately, these Al-Si based alloys are inherently poor energy conductors; compared to pure aluminum, because of their high silicon content. This means that they are not suitable for applications demanding high eletrical or thermal conductivity. Therefore, efforts are currently being made to develop new, highly-conductive aluminum-casting alloys containing no silicon. In this research, a number of properties; including potential for castability, were investigated for a number of Al-Fe-Zn-Cu alloys with varying Cu content. As the copper content was increased, the tensile strength of Al-Fe-Zn-Cu alloy tended to increase gradually, while the electrical conductivity was slightly reduced. Fluidity was found to be lower in high-Cu alloys, and susceptibility to hot-cracking was generally high in all the alloys investigated.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.205-210
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• 2006

The structural control of Al-Si alloy, which was not studied among various electromagnetic processing of materials, was considered applying the alternating current and direct current magnetic flux density. The main aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of electromagnetic vibration on the macro and microstructure of Al-Si alloy in order to develop a new process of structural control in Al-Si alloy. When the electromagnetic vibration is conducted for changing the shape of primary aluminum, at low frequency(>60Hz), the shape of dendrite is changed speroidal shape. When the electromagnetic vibration is conducted for changing the shape of eutectic silicon, the fact that a morphological change of the eutectic silicon from coarse platelet flakes to fine fiber shape is observed and the improvement of the mechanical properties is achieved with EMV (Electro Magnetic Vibration) process at high frequency(>500Hz).

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.339-345
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• 2023

This study investigates the melting point and brazing properties of the aluminum (Al)-copper (Cu)-silicon (Si)-tin (Sn) alloy fabricated for low-temperature brazing based on the alloy design. Specifically, the Al-20Cu-10Si-Sn alloy is examined and confirmed to possess a melting point of approximately 520℃. Analysis of the melting point of the alloy based on composition reveals that the melting temperature tends to decrease with increasing Cu and Si content, along with a corresponding decrease as the Sn content rises. This study verifies that the Al-20Cu-10Si-5Sn alloy exhibits high liquidity and favorable mechanical properties for brazing through the joint gap filling test and Vickers hardness measurements. Additionally, a powder fabricated using the Al-20Cu-10Si-5Sn alloy demonstrates a melting point of around 515℃ following melting point analysis. Consequently, it is deemed highly suitable for use as a low-temperature Al brazing material.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.2279-2286
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• 1992

A hypereutectic Aluminum-Silicon Alloy is widely used in the parts of autombile because of high-resistance and good strength. In this study, the cutting of a hypereutectic Al-Si alloy (A390) for extraction of Si particle was experimentally investigated. By proper selection of cutting tool materials and optimization of cutting conditions, economical machining of this alloy is achieved. The surface roughness relates closely with the feed rate and cutting speed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1096-1105
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• 1994

A hypereutectic Aluminum-Silicon Alloy is widely used in the parts of automobile because of high-resistance and good strength. In this study, the cutting of hypereutectic A1-Si alloy for economical production was investigated by simulation. Tool life and the extraction rate of Si particles is inversely proportional to the depth of cut. When decreasing the depth of cut, the reduction of single crystal diamond tool cost and tool change time is achieved.