Abstract
One of the most important routes for obtaining Al-Bi-x monotectic alloys is directional solidification. The control of the thermal solidification parameters under transient heat flow conditions can provide an optimized distribution of the Bismuth (Bi) soft minority phase embedded into an Al-rich matrix. In the present contribution, Al-Bi, Al-Bi-Zn, and Al-Bi-Cu alloys were manufactured through this route with their microstructures characterized and dimensioned based on the solidification cooling rates. The main purpose is to evaluate the influence of typical hardening elements in Al alloys (zinc and copper) in the microstructure, tensile properties, and wear of the monotectic Al-Bi alloy. These additions are welcome in the development of light and more resistant alloys due to the growing demands in new sliding bearing designs. It is demonstrated that the addition of 3.0 wt.% Cu promotes microstructural refining, doubles the wear resistance, and triples the tensile strength with some minor decrease in ductility in relation to the binary Al-3.2 wt.% Bi alloy. With the addition of 3.0 wt.% Zn, although there is some microstructural refining, little contribution can be seen in the application properties.
Highlights
Manufacture and metallurgical characteristics of immiscible Al-Bi binary alloys have been extensively investigated over the past 20 years [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
The present study aims at understanding the impact of discrete adding of 3 wt.% Cu and 3 wt.% Zn on the tensile properties and wear resistance of the monotectic Al-3.2 wt.%
Three monotectic alloys of interest were subjected to directional solidification experiments: Al-3.2 wt.% Bi, Al-3.2 wt.% Bi-3.0 wt.% Zn, and Al-3.2 wt.% Bi-3.0 wt.% Cu alloys
Summary
Manufacture and metallurgical characteristics of immiscible Al-Bi binary alloys have been extensively investigated over the past 20 years [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. The main one is the difficulty of obtaining a uniform dispersion of the soft phase, i.e., the Bi. Even in the face of this aspect, interest in the development of Al-Bi and. It is difficult to achieve, a dispersive distribution of the minority phase can be reached through some manufacturing routes. The major routes in this matter are directional solidification [9,10], rapid cooling from the melt [11,12], and high static magnetic field [13,14]
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