Porosity formation studies in high pressure die castings of Al-9Si-3Cu alloy based on Taguchi method

PurposeNowadays, ample industries are fascinated to look for high strength and light weight materials for the development of robust parts. Because of light weight and high stiffness to weight ratio; usage of aluminum parts is growing rapidly, especially in automotive engineering. Process improvement of Al alloys and their grain structure refinement is the current area of interest in casting companies. In this research work, an investigation has been carried out to enhance the process improvement of die casting by optimization of various significant parameters and their refinement of grains by the effect of Nb-C novel grain refiner.Design/methodology/approachL27 orthogonal array (OA) has been considered to optimize the preferred casting input parameters such as molten metal temperature (°C), die temperature (°C), injection pressure (bar), Al-3.5Nb-1.5 C novel grain refiner and Ni alloying additions as key process parameters in order to increase the quality and efficiency of Al-9Si-3Cu aluminum alloy die casting by reducing the porosity formation.FindingsIt was observed that the porosity values have significantly decreased from 0.88% to 0.25% particularly at 0.1 wt.% of new grain refiner and 0.5 wt. % of Al-6Ni master alloy. As per the ANOVA results, it was observed that Al-3.5FeNb-1.5 C grain refiner (F value 2609.22), Al-6Ni alloying addition (F value 1329.13), molten metal temperature (F value 1002.43) and, injection pressure (F value 448.06) are the factors that significantly affects the porosity, whereas die temperature was found to be insignificant. The results show that new grain refiner is one the most significant factor among the other selected parameters. The contribution of the new grain refiner to the variation of mean casting porosity is around 57.74%. confidence interval (CI) has also been estimated as 0.013 for 95% consistency level to validate the predicted range of optimum casting porosity of aforesaid alloy.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, no study has been conducted in the past to investigate the combined effect of these die casting parameters and composition factors for the development of Al-Si robust cast parts. The paper represents original research and provides new information for the fabrication of die casting parts.

Effects of Melt Ultrasonic Treatment and Forming Processes on Thermo- Physical Properties of SiCp/Mg and (SiCp+Mg2Si)/Mg Composites

The 10 vol% SiCp/Mg composites were prepared by external addition and stirring-casting method, and the hybrid reinforced (10 vol% SiCp+10 vol% Mg2Si)/Mg composites were prepared by combining in-situ method. The effects of melt ultrasonic treatment (UT) and forming processes on the thermophysical properties of the two composites were studied. The results show that UT can effectively disperse SiC particles in molten magnesium and reduce the casting porosity, while squeeze casting can significantly reduce the porosity of the composites, which can also significantly improve the thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity (λ) of 10 vol.% SiCp/Mg composites squeeze casted after UT is 135.3 W/(mK) and the average coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is 19.95×10-6 K-1 at 293-373 K. Compared with gravity casting, the λ is increased by 17% and the CTE is reduced by 0.8%. The λ of (SiCp+Mg2Si)/Mg composite squeeze casted after UT is 132.4 W/(mK), and the CTE is 18.95×10-6 K-1, which is 27% lower than the CTE of pure magnesium.

Aluminum Foams as Permanent Cores in Casting

Their low density and high specific stiffness and impact energy/vibration absorption ability make Al-based metal foams promising materials in applications for which a light weight and energy/vibration absorption abilities are crucial. In view of these properties, Al-based foams can be extremely interesting as cores in cast components in order to improve their performances and simplify their whole technological process. However, both in the scientific literature and in technological application, this topic is still poorly explored. In the present work, Al-based metal foams (Cymat foams and Havel metal foams in the form of rectangular bars) are used in a gravity casting experiment of an Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloy (EN AB-46400). The foams were fully characterized before and after insertion in casting. Porosity, cell wall and external skin thickness, microstructure, infiltration degree, and the quality of the interface between the foam core and the dense cast shell, have been investigated by means of optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The analyses evidenced that a continuous and thick external skin protect the foam from infiltration by molten metal, preserving the initial porosity and insert shape. A detailed analysis of the foam’s external skin highlights that the composition of this external skin is crucial for the obtaining of a good joining between the molten metal and the Al foam core. In fact, the presence of Mg oxides on the foam surface prevents bonding, and maintains a gap between the core and the shell. This point opens up the opportunity to design innovative surface modifications for this external skin as promising strategies for the optimization of cast components with a foam core.

The effect of holding time before solidification on the properties of aluminium castings

SYNOPSIS The properties of aluminium castings are strongly affected by their inclusion content, particularly double oxide film defects, or bifilms. Such defects have been reported not only to decrease the tensile and fatigue properties of Al casting, but also to increase their variability, making the properties of such alloys unreliable and unreproducible. Earlier research suggested that the bifilm atmosphere might be consumed by reaction with the surrounding melt, which could improve the mechanical properties of the castings. In this work, the effect of holding an Al casting in the liquid state for up to 20 minutes before solidification was studied using a three-level general factorial design of experiments. Two responses were considered, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and elongation of the resulting castings. The results showed that the holding treatment had a significant effect on the elongation of the castings produced. In addition, the UTS and elongation peaked at a holding time of 10 minutes. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigation detected many oxide fragments inside pores on the fracture surfaces, reflecting the role of entrained defects in the formation of porosity. The results suggest that two opposing phenomena may take place during the holding treatment. Thus, the consumption of air inside the entrained defects due to reaction with the surrounding molten metal may lead to improvements in mechanical properties, but this may be accompanied by hydrogen passing into the defects, which has a deleterious effect on properties. Keywords: oxide film, aluminium casting, porosity, defects, hydrogen, design of experiments.

External Field Assisted Freeze Casting

Freeze casting under external fields (magnetic, electric, or acoustic) produces porous materials having local, regional, and global microstructural order in specific directions. In freeze casting, porosity is typically formed by the directional solidification of a liquid colloidal suspension. Adding external fields to the process allows for structured nucleation of ice and manipulation of particles during solidification. External control over the distribution of particles is governed by a competition of forces between constitutional supercooling and electromagnetism or acoustic radiation. Here, we review studies that apply external fields to create porous ceramics with different microstructural patterns, gradients, and anisotropic alignments. The resulting materials possess distinct gradient, core–shell, ring, helical, or long-range alignment and enhanced anisotropic mechanical properties.