This study applies the Taguchi method to investigate the relationship between the ultimate tensile strength, hardness and process variables in a squeeze casting 2017 A wrought aluminium alloy. The effects of various casting parameters including squeeze pressure, melt temperature and die temperature were studied. Therefore, the objectives of the Taguchi method for the squeeze casting process are to establish the optimal combination of process parameters and to reduce the variation in quality between only a few experiments. The experimental results show that the squeeze pressure significantly affects the microstructure and the mechanical properties of 2017 A Al alloy.

In this paper, the influence of process parameters on the ductility during squeeze casting of 2017 A wrought aluminum alloy is studied. The Taguchi method of design of experiments was employed to optimize the process parameters and to increase the elongation percent. A 3-factor, 3-level casting experiment is conducted by Taguchi L 9 orthogonal array through the statistical design method. Then, the input parameters are considered here including squeeze pressure, melt temperature, and die preheating temperature with three levels. The optimum casting parameters to acquire higher ductility were predicted, and the individual importance of each parameter was evaluated by examining the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio and analysis of variance (ANOVA) results. The optimum levels of the squeeze pressure, melt temperature, and die preheating temperature were found to be 90 MPa, 700, and 200°C, respectively. The ANOVA results indicated that the squeeze pressure has the higher statistical effect on the elongation percent, followed by the melt temperature and die preheating temperature. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis were used to discuss the effect of pressure levels on the microstructure and the fracture characterization of the investigated alloy.

In this study, the effects of squeeze casting process and T6 heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 2017A aluminum alloy were investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and microhardness and tensile tests. The results showed that this alloy contained α matrix, θ-Al2Cu, and other phases. Furthermore, the applied pressure and heat treatment refines the microstructure and improve the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) to 296 MPa and the microhardness to 106 HV with the pressure 90 MPa after ageing at 180°C for 6 h. With ageing temperature increasing to 320°C for 6 h, the strength of the alloy declines slightly to 27 MPa. Then, the yield strength drops quickly when temperature reaches over 320°C. The high strength of the alloy in peak-aged condition is caused by a considerable amount of θ′ precipitates. The growth of θ′ precipitates and the generation of θ phase lead to a rapid drop of the strength when temperature is over 180°C.

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