The seek for lightweight materials nowadays lies in the fact that it is required

in order to allow the reduction of greenhouse gases and of fuel consumption once
less work is required to accelerate and move a lighter object. Among structural metals,
aluminium has a low density (2,7 g/cm²) and a good Young modulus (70 GPa),
resulting in a good specific Young modulus. Another aspect that justifies the use of
aluminium alloys is that they are cheaper and present a better manufacturability than
other lightweight alloys, such as titanium and magnesium alloys. Furthermore,
magnesium forms a protective, insoluble, self-repairing and passivated layer of
oxide (Al2O3), due to high reactivity with oxygen, providing an excellent corrosion
resistance, even at high temperatures. That is why aluminium alloys own most of the
marketplace for lightweight alloys. However, aluminium alloys have issues related to
the weldability, due to high reactivity of aluminium with oxygen, even more at molten
state, which leads to the formation of slag, requiring a gas shield to protect the region
that is going to be welded.

Firstly, it is important to have an overview on the corrosion resistance of

aluminium and aluminium alloys. While pure aluminium forms a highly protective and
self-repairing layer of oxide that protects the structure, some commercial aluminium
alloys have the problem of the formation of micro galvanic cells due to the presence of
secondary particles, which can cause corrosion attacks at crack sites, requiring
sometimes a further heat treatment to enhance its corrosion resistance by forming a
thick protective layer.

There are two main categories of aluminium alloys, that are associated to their
manufacturing process: wrought alloys, that are submitted to hot deformation process,
that allows the obtention of the final shape of the desired product; and cast alloys, that
are submitted to casting process, that can provide the almost net shape product.

A strengthening mechanism that is executed both in wrought and in cast

aluminium alloys is achieved by heat treatment, that begins with the solid solute
addition of elements at high temperature (solution heat treatment), like magnesium, that
can be easily achieved at molten state and have a good solubility inside aluminium
crystal lattice, and it acts as a substitutional element, but also other elements can be
added, like silicon. Following the solution heat treatment, a quick water quenching is
performed avoid the formation of second phase (which would decrease the availability
of the alloying elements) and maintain the same microstructure achieved at high
temperature, in a metastable form, after which a precipitation heat treatment (aging
treatment) is realized to speed up the formation of fine second particles, that can stop
dislocations and so increase the strength. The graphic 1 illustrates the mentioned steps
of the heat treatment together with a qualitative variation of the temperature against the
time.

Talking about cast process of aluminium alloys, many selection criteria have to
be considered when selecting the proper process, such as casting metallurgy issues,
design considerations, physical and mechanical desired properties, further
manufacturing processes’ requirements and the economics associated. Starting from the
cheapest casting processes towards the most expensive one, but also owner of the best
quality, we have:

 Sand casting: uses a cheap and expendable mold made of green sand and dry
sand casting, that maintains its shape during the casting process and allows the
evacuation of gases incorporated during the pouring process. Their products
have a relatively low quality (tolerance and surface finishing) and low strength
due to the low solidification rates.
 Mold gravity feed casting: uses a more expensive and permanent mold made of
tool steel that is filled simply by gravity. Their quality is increased due to the
better quality of the mold (not porous like sand mold) and their increased
solidification rates result in finer grains in the microstructure, and so better
mechanical properties.
 Low-pressure die casting with permanent mold: still uses a metal mold, but
with an additional equipment, that pressurizes the molten alloy into the mold
after it has been introduced inside the equipment, which must have been
 properly sealed. Results in a better metallurgical quality, due to the better control
of process parameters, without requiring a high investment cost, which is the
case of the next process.
 High-pressure die casting with permanent mold: requires a more advanced
and complex equipment for pressurizing the molten alloy, that must be capable
of handling the high pressures employed. The rapid filling of the mold and rapid
solidification under such high pressures results in a fine microstructure
(excellent mechanical properties), a high quality surface and high production
rates, despite the higher costs related to the equipment.