Effect of T6 heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of large-weight aluminum alloy flywheel housing parts formed by local-loading squeeze casting

Aluminium castings have been widely used in many industries, including automotive, aerospace, telecommunication, construction, consumer products, etc., due to their lightweight, good electric and thermal conductivity, and electromagnetic interference/radio frequency interference (EMI/RFI) shielding properties. The main applications of aluminium castings are in automotive industry. For lighweighting purposes, more and more aluminium castings are used in the automotive vehicle structures to reduce weight, improve fuel efficiency, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, due to the features of cast aluminium, such as porosity, poor surface quality, a tendency toward hot cracking, and low ductility, joining these materials is problematic. In this paper, the joining technologies for aluminium castings and the related issues, mainly cracking and porosity, are reviewed. The current state-of-the-art of joining technologies is summarized, and areas for future research are recommended.

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“…Local-loading squeeze casting [26] Can be loading-local feeding, dense microstructures, less shrinkage porosity…”

Section: Gravity Castingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Joining Technologies for Aluminium Castings—A Review

Slater

Cai

et al. 2023

Coatings

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“…In this work, a novel technology called local pressurization was adopted. Chen et al [ 15 ] used a local-loading squeeze casting process to form ZL104 aluminum alloy flywheel housing with a large wall thickness difference and a complex shape. The ultimate tensile strength and yield strength of the ZL204 aluminum alloy flywheel housing after T6 heat treatment reached 312 MPa and 251 MPa, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Local Pressurization on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Alloy Flywheel Housing with Complex Shape

Chen,

Ge,

Jiang

et al. 2023

Materials

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In this work, squeeze casting experiments of flywheel housing components with a large wall thickness difference and a complex shape were carried out with AlSi9Mg aluminum alloy. The defects, microstructures, and mechanical properties under different process parameters were investigated. Furthermore, the local pressurization process was applied to the thick-walled positions to force-feed the cast defects. The mechanical properties and microstructures at these positions were analyzed. The results showed that the surface quality of formed components was good and that local pressurization could effectively reduce the shrinkage cavity and shrinkage porosity in thick walls, but the scope and effect of forced feeding were limited. The optimum process parameters were a pouring temperature of 650 °C, a specific pressure of 48 MPa, a mold temperature of 220 °C, a local pressurization of 800 MPa, and pressure delay times of 15 s (side A) and 17 s (side B). The ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation of the formed component under validation experiments of the optimum process parameters were 201 MPa, 103 MPa, and 5.1%. Meanwhile, the fine grains of primary α-Al were mainly rosette and equiaxed grains, and the average grain size was about 40 μm. The microstructure of the eutectic silicon was acicular and was prone to segregation under pressure. According to profile morphology, the positions after pressurization were divided into a deformation zone, a direct action zone, and an indirect action zone. The coexistence of as-cast and plastic deformation microstructures was observed. The effect of local pressurization mainly involved a change in the solidification process, plastic deformation, and forced feeding.

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