Aluminum Alloys, Characterization and Processing: Alloy Development
Sponsored by: TMS Light Metals Division, TMS: Aluminum Committee
Program Organizers: Julie Levesque, Quebec Metallurgy Center; Stephan Broek, Kensington Technology Inc
Thursday 8:30 AM
March 23, 2023
Room: 32A
Location: SDCC
Session Chair: Alan Luo, Ohio State University
8:30 AM
AMAG CrossAlloy – A Unique Aluminum Alloy Concept for Lightweighting the Future: Florian Schmid1; Lukas Stemper1; Ramona Tosone1; 1AMAG rolling GmbH
Increasing requirements to reduce CO2 emissions by using high scrap rates while maintaining the same high material performance represent a major hurdle that modern aluminum alloys must overcome. Since classic aluminum alloy systems are limited to very specific alloying elements, material improvements to meet the requirements described above are limited.In this context crossover alloys – a new class of aluminum alloys that is capable of combining beneficial properties of already existing alloys and alloy classes by advanced alloy design – have recently gained increased attention in the scientific community. Industrial trials on 5xxx/7xxx crossover alloys performed at AMAG (CrossAlloyTM) additionally reveal an outstanding performance that is not limited to utilization in one specific industrial sector. This study provides an insight into the potential of CrossAlloysTM for the wide variety of potential fields of applications.
8:55 AM
A New Recycled Al-Si-Mg Alloy for Sustainable Structural Die Casting Applications: Michael Moodispaw1; Emre Cinkilic2; Jianyue Zhang1; Jiashi Miao1; Alan Luo1; 1The Ohio State University; 2Hakkari University
Using secondary aluminum for structural components in the automotive industry is limited by high Fe contents which forms β-Al5FeSi phase significantly reducing ductility. A new secondary Al-Si-Mg alloy with high Fe content (0.44 wt.%) was developed for die casting. A designed Fe-to-Mn ratio of 2 successfully suppressed formation of β-Al5FeSi, by forming α-Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2 phase with rounded or hexagonal morphology. A fine needle-like π-Al8FeMg3Si2 phase also formed within the eutectic regions. The new recycled alloy showed comparable mechanical properties in as-cast, T5, and T6 conditions to three major primary die cast alloys (≤ 0.2 wt.% Fe) with similar composition. High ductility from tensile elongation was achieved in as-cast condition. Tensile elongation improved after T6 treatment resulting from dissolution of π-Al8FeMg3Si2 phase, fragmentation of α-Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2 and the spheroidization of Si. This new alloy provides a promising path for increasing usage of recycled aluminum with high Fe content in structural die castings.
9:20 AM
Effect of Alloying Elements on Corrosion Resistance of Quench-free Al–Ca Alloys for HPDC: Dmitry Fokin1; Sergey Matveev1; Roman Vakhromov1; Dmitry Ryabov1; Aleksandr Alabin2; Dror Shaked3; 1Light Materials and Technologies Institute UC RUSAL; 2JSC RUSAL Management; 3Lmti Llc (Uc Rusal)
For various of products made of cast aluminum alloys, such as parts of household appliances contacting with a corrosive environment, the increased corrosion resistance is required. One of the ways to increase the corrosion resistance of aluminum alloys is anodizing. However, anodizing increases the cost of products and it cannot be applied to bimetallic castings. Al-Ca alloys demonstrate good corrosion resistance in as-cast state together with excellent castability allowing to produce parts of complex geometry. In the Al-Ca system alloys, various alloying elements are used to achieve good level of mechanical properties. In this paper, the Al-Ca compositions containing Zn, Si, Fe, Mg and Mn were analyzed in comparison with Al-Si alloys to investigate the effect of these elements on corrosion resistance. It is shown that Al-Ca alloys have a good potential for the applications where high corrosion resistance is a key characteristic.
9:45 AM
Influence of Increased Cu and Fe Concentrations on the Mechanical Properties of the EN AB-42100 (AlSi7Mg0.3) Aluminum Alloy: Tobias Beyer1; David Ebereonwu2; Alexander Koch2; Peer Decker1; Anna-Lena Kauws1; Marcel Rosefort1; Frank Walther2; 1TRIMET Aluminium SE; 2TU Dortmund
Production of Al alloys from end-of-life (EoL) scrap is accompanied by increased Cu and Fe contents, as these cannot be economically removed from the melt. Within the scope of this investigation, based on CALPHAD simulations, Cu- and Fe-containing alloy variants of AlSi7Mg0.3 were produced at laboratory scale using gravity die casting. Microstructural analyses and tensile tests were carried out in the as-cast state. The alloys were examined, characteristics quantified, and interactions revealed and compared with the base alloy. It is shown that Fe and Cu contents above the known limits of the common delivery specifications can result in good mechanical properties. Hardness, yield strength and tensile strength can correspond to the level of the base alloy and cause only minor losses in elongation.
10:10 AM Break
10:25 AM
How Cerium and Lanthanum as Coproducts Promote Stable Rare Earth Production and New Alloys: Zachary Sims1; Michael Kesler2; Hunter Henderson1; Emilio Castillo3; Tomer Fishman4; David Weiss5; Prentice Singleton6; Roderick Eggert7; Scott McCall1; Orlando Rios8; 1CMI, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; 2CMI, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; 3University of Chile Santiago; 4Univesity of Leiden; 5Eck Industries; 6Borg Warner Turbo Systems; 7CMI, Colorado School of Mines; 8CMI, University of Tennessee Knoxville
The largest outputs of rare earth mines are byproducts cerium and lanthanum. The need to separate them from more valuable elements burdens supply chains. Promoting cerium and lanthanum demand can diversify the economics of rare earth mining improving rare earth supply chain stability. One avenue for increasing byproduct rare earth element demand is use in aluminum alloys, an application for cerium and lanthanum offering benefits to manufacturing such as energy reduction and improved throughput. Experimental materials science and economic implications of Al-rare earth element alloys will be discussed. We show that Al-La/Ce alloys have good mechanical strength, in some formulations can be used without heat treatment, and are castable. This report presents the use of cerium and lanthanum in aluminum alloys as an example of supply chain focused approaches to technological development benefiting stakeholders at all production steps.Prepared by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 and ORNL under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725
10:50 AM
Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of an Al-Mn-Si Alloy Microalloyed with Post Transition Metals: Amir Farkoosh1; David Dunand1; David Seidman1; 1Northwestern University
We demonstrate that a small addition of a low-melting point element such as Sn (0.02 at.%), within the impurity tolerances of commercial aluminum alloys, to an Al-0.5Mn-0.3Si (at.%) model alloy, turns this non-heat-treatable (i.e., with negligible precipitation strengthening) alloy into a heat treatable (i.e., precipitation strengthened) alloy with high strength, creep, and coarsening resistance. The small Sn additions refine the α-Al(Mn,Fe)Si-precipitate distribution significantly, which is related primarily to the formation of Sn-rich nanoprecipitates at intermediate temperatures (~200 oC). These nanoprecipitates, which exhibit an unanticipated superheating phenomenon at temperatures above their melting point, act as heterogeneous nucleation sites for Mn-Si-rich nanoprecipitates – the quasi-crystalline precursors of the α-precipitate. We demonstrate that dispersion hardening by these Sn-modified α-precipitates is a highly efficient approach to designing creep-resistant aluminum alloys
11:15 AM
Innovative Approaches in Development of Aluminium Alloys for Packaging Industry: Stanislav Kores1; Simon Strmsek1; Maja Voncina2; Jozef Medved2; 1Talum D.D.; 22 University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering
Sustainable trends in the packaging industry market are leading us to development of new aluminium alloys, that enable to achieve higher mechanical properties. Use of circular materials and post-consumer recycled materials are the approaches to reduce the carbon footprint of products. Several aluminium alloys were developed for aluminium narrow strips, cast with a rotary strip caster, to produce slugs for aerosol cans. The newly developed alloys provide constant mechanical properties during the manufacturing of aerosol cans, a good transformation and high deformable and burst pressures of the aerosol cans. With increasing of mechanical properties of aerosol-can materials it is possible to have a significant impact on lightweight of the final aerosol cans. Innovative approaches were used with use of a post-consumer recycled material in different proportions in the casting and heat treatment process of aluminium alloys to reduce carbon footprint of products in the packaging industry.