Study of Microstructural and Machining Characteristics of Hypereutectic Al-Si Alloys Using Wire-EDM for Photovoltaic Application

Abstract

Aluminum-Silicon (Al-Si) alloys are extensively used in aerospace, automotive, thermal storage, and other engineering sectors because of their enhanced mechanical properties. Recently, Al-Si alloys are proved to be an efficient material for thermal storage during high and medium temperature storage applications. Hypereutectic Al-Si alloys are proved to be promising alloys due to their low coefficient of thermal expansion, low density, high wear, and corrosion resistance. In the present manuscript, an attempt is made to study the microstructural and machining characteristics of Al-Si alloys with a varying percentage of Silicon (16%, 20%, and 24%) in the alloy systems. Microstructural analysis was carried out on both the as-cast and heat-treated conditions through FESEM analysis. Further, the machinability studies of the alloy systems are studied by machining them using wire electric discharge machining (WEDM). It was observed that as cast Al-Si alloy has shown better machining characteristics than that of the heat-treated alloy. With the enhanced machining properties, the Al-Si alloy is well suited for the fabrication of structural parts of photovoltaic solar cells.