USES AND APPLICATIONS OF CAST

ALUMINIUM ALLOYS

Cast Aluminium Alloys :

​Cast Aluminium Alloys are the resulting products created after the molten
alloy in which aluminium is the predominant metal is poured into a mold.
These alloys exhibit different properties from one another and are really
cost-efficient. So they have a really wide range of practical applications in
our day-to-day lives.

Major Elements​:​ ​ ilicon (Si), Copper (Cu), Magnesium (Mg),etc.

S

Minor Elements​ :​ N
​ ickel (Ni)​,​Tin(Sn),etc.

Classification​ ​:
​Aluminum Association of the United States developed cast aluminum
alloys classification. Every cast alloy is designated by a four digit number
with a decimal point separated by 3rd and 4th digits.

According to the major alloying element the alloy group indicated by 1st
digit.The 2nd two digits indicates the purity of alloys and identify aluminum
alloy. Product form indicated by the last digit . Casting (designated by “0”)
or ingot (designated by “1” or “2” it depends on chemical composition
limits).
Characterization and Applications :

Aluminum-copper  cast  alloys 

(series 2xx.x) 
■ Heat-treatable
■ High strength
■ Less resistance to corrosion
(susceptible to stress-corrosion
cracking)
■ Less ductility
■ Less fluidity
■ Liable to be influenced​ to hot cracks

​Applications :
Its high toughness makes it particularly suitable for stressed
components in construction machine tools , in aircraft construction and
pressurized switchgear casting. It’s also used in pistons for diesel engines
and exhaust systems. Therefore chosen alloy needs less friction
coefficient and good wear resistance also adequate strength at elevated
temperatures.

Aluminium-Silicon-Copper/Magnesium cast alloys 

(series 3xx.x) 

■ Heat-treatable
■ High strength
 ■ Good fluidity
■ Good enough wear resistance
■ Decreased corrosion resistance (in copper containing alloys)
■ Low Ductility
■ Good machinability (specially in copper containing alloys)

Applications:

These castings are one of the most widely used because of the flexibility
provided by the high silicon contents and its contribution to fluidity plus their
response to heat treatment which provides a variety of high-strength
options.Moreover these castings may be cast by a variety of techniques
like relatively simple die or sand casting to very intricate permanent
mold,newer thixocasting and squeeze casting technologies and the lost
foam/lost wax type castings. The applications include automotive cylinder
heads and blocks, car wheels, casings and other parts of compressors and
pumps,aircraft fittings.

Aluminum-silicon cast alloys (series 4xx.x) 

■ Non-heat-treatable
■ Good Corrosion resistance
■ Good Wear Resistance
■ Moderate ductility
■ Moderate strength
■ And good cast properties

Applications:
Alloy 413.0/AlSi12 is specially good for its excellent weldability and very
good castability. which are because of its eutectic composition and low
melting point ie.570°C.It combines high elongation with moderate strength
before rupture and enough corrosion resistance.The alloy is particularly
suitable for thin walled ,intricate, fatigue resistant and leak-proof castings.
So its applications include thin wall castings ,pump casings and cookware.

Aluminum- magnesium cast alloys (series 5xx.x) 

■ Non-heat-treatable
■ Good machinability
■ High corrosion resistance
■ Appeared good when anodized
■ Average cast properties

​Applications :
These alloys have high corrosion resistance so they are often used for
window fittings and door, can be decoratively anodized and give a metallic
finish or in a wide range of colors.Their castability is inferior to that of the
Al-Si alloys because of its content of magnesium and consequently long
range of freezing.

Aluminum-zinc cast alloys (series 7xx.x) 

■ Heat-treatable
■ Good dimensional stability
■ bad cast properties
■ Good machinability ( specially in copper containing alloys)
■ Good corrosion resistance
 ​ Applications:

They tend to be used only where the excellent machinability and

finishing characteristics are important because of the high difficulty in
casting 7xx.x alloys.

Aluminum-tin cast alloys (series 8xx.x) 

■ Non-heat-treatable
■ Low strength
■ Very good wear resistance
■ Good machinability

Applications

Like the 7xx.x alloys, 8xx.x alloys are actually hard to cast and used only
where unique machining and bushing characteristics are required. Its
applications include ​monometal (solid) as well as bi-metal slide bearings
for slide bearings applications and internal combustion engines.

Recent Developments
Conventional die casting tends to yield parts with relatively low
elongation values, so they are not suitable for safety-critical components.In
recent years, higher pressure types casting ,for example squeeze casting
and thixocasting ,have been developed to commercial level. As a result,
elongation values over 10% are now attainable,together with higher
strengths.This considerably widens the range of application of aluminum
alloy castings​.

Reference
(ref : ​http://www.diecastingschina.com/cast-aluminum-supplier/​ )
(ref: ​https://www.substech.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=cast_aluminum_alloys
(​ref: ​http://www.calm-aluminium.com.au/Documents/Aluminium-Alloys.pdf​ )