Abstract
Al–Si–Cu alloy (A319) castings are used in vehicle industry due to its better castability, high specific strength, corrosion resistance and low cost. Using this alloy, most of the automotive components are manufactured by gravity die casting or high-pressure die casting technique, but these castings contain higher porosity leading to rejections. Squeeze casting is an emerging casting technique in which solidification is done under high pressure which overcomes the drawbacks of the gravity and pressure die casting. It offers higher metal yield, minimum porosity and near-net-shaped products with enhanced mechanical properties. Typical Al–Si–Cu cast alloys are heat-treated for T6 condition for attaining tensile strength in the range of 250–300 MPa and elongation up to 3%. The mechanical properties of this alloy can be further improved by the addition of Mg and Sr modification and by subjecting to squeeze casting. The present study deals with the optimization of the heat treatment cycle of squeeze-cast alloy billets and compares squeeze-cast alloy with the gravity-cast alloy in terms of mechanical properties and wear behaviour.
Highlights
Al–Si–Cu (A319) alloy is widely used in the automotive industries due to their good castability, low thermal expansion coefficient and excellent mechanical properties due to the formation of Al2Cu precipitate during heat treatment [1]
Most of the automotive components are manufactured by gravity die casting or high-pressure die casting technique, but these castings contain higher porosity leading to rejections
Squeeze casting is an emerging casting technique in which solidification is done under high pressure which overcomes the drawbacks of the gravity and pressure die casting
Summary
Al–Si–Cu (A319) alloy is widely used in the automotive industries due to their good castability, low thermal expansion coefficient and excellent mechanical properties due to the formation of Al2Cu precipitate during heat treatment [1]. Squeeze casting (SC) is an advanced casting technique in which high pressure is employed during solidification of molten metal in the die cavity. Higher cooling rate caused by the improved thermal contact between the casting and the die results in the formation of fine grained microstructure. Mg addition to the existing A319 alloy improves the mechanical properties such as tensile strength and wear resistance due to the combined precipitation of CuAl2 and Mg2Si precipitates during heat treatment [3]. The morphology of eutectic silicon in A319 alloy has a considerable influence on the mechanical properties of the casting. Trans Indian Inst Met (2019) 72(5):1129–1132 by the addition of strontium to the melt which results in a fine and fibrous silicon structure during solidification thereby improving the ductility, fracture toughness and wear resistance [4, 5]
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