About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Aluminum Alloys: Development and Manufacturing
|
| Presentation Title |
Microstructural heterogeneity in a high pressure die cast Al-7Si-0.5Mn-0.2Mg alloy containing elevated Fe impurities |
| Author(s) |
Nicholas A. Richter, Michael J Lance, Rakesh Kamath, Sunyong Kwon, Andrew Chuang, Jun-Sang Park, Dileep Singh, Ying Yang, James Allen Haynes, Amit Shyam, Alex Plotkowski, Sumit Bahl |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Nicholas A. Richter |
| Abstract Scope |
There is a growing trend to die cast structural automotive components from scrap aluminum sources to reduce embodied energy and cost. However, current industrial high pressure die cast (HPDC) Al alloys are highly sensitive to Fe impurities introduced during the recycling process. This study characterized the surface to centerline microstructural heterogeneity in HPDC plates of Al-7Si-0.5Mn-0.2Mg-xFe (x=0.17 and 1.0 wt%) alloys. It was shown using scanning electron microscopy and synchrotron x-ray diffraction that macrosegregation during HPDC enriches secondary phases including Si and (Fe, Mn)-rich intermetallics at the surface. The microstructure evolved with increased Fe impurity, but the evolution was non-uniform in the plate cross-section. Gulliver-Scheil solidification calculations using nominal alloy compositions predicted the experimentally observed phases, but as expected, those calculations could not capture microstructural heterogeneity. The increased fraction of secondary phases and finer microstructure due to faster cooling rates at the surface led to higher surface hardness compared to centerline. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: Light Metals |
| Keywords |
Aluminum, Sustainability, Solidification |