This paper aims to investigate the anodising behaviour of Al-Si components produced by rheocasting, to understand the effect of the surface liquid segregation (SLS) on the anodising response. The material investigated was EN AC 42000 Al-alloy with an addition of 150 ppm Sr. The component was rheocast and conventionally liquid cast for benchmarking. The RheoMetalTM process was used to prepare slurry and subsequently cast using a vertical pressure die casting machine. Prior to anodising, mechanical grinding was used as pre-treatment method for selected samples as comparison with components in the as-cast state. Anodising was performed on the components using a constant controlled voltage at 25 V, in 1 M H2SO4, at room temperature. The duration of anodising was varied from 30 mins to 120 mins to examine the relationship between oxide layer thickness and the anodising time. The oxide layer was investigated and characterised. The results demonstrated that the presence of the SLS layer, which was enriched with alloying elements, had a significant influence on the anodising behaviour of the cast component. The oxide layer thickness of the components produced by rheocasting and fully liquid casting was measured and compared. The relations between the oxide layer thickness and anodising time, as well as the casting methods are presented and discussed in this paper.

When manufacturing tooling inserts for HPDC (High Pressure Die Casting), several manufacturing steps such as milling, heat treatment, electro discharge machining and finally surface treatment are involved. By instead manufacturing the insert by SLM (Selective laser melting), the process is expected to be quicker and with less material waste compared to the traditional manufacturing. Examples of other expected advantages is higher product variant flexibility and the possibility of making conform cooling channels, extending the die life. However, the insert is part of a die system involving many components. The insert cannot be designed and manufactured without considering the complete die system. This paper seeks how to integrate the insert design in the die assembly design. This is done via an example component and in cooperation with die manufacturing firms. The result is that the printing is a minor step of the total manufacturing process and that special design considerations needs to be taken for an SLM insert. New die concepts are needed that will minimise the amount of material, reduce the tolerance and surface demand and support the subdivision of the die into several printed parts.

The influence of cooling rate on the formation of iron-rich intermetallic phases during solidification of unmodified and strontium-modified Al-7Si-0.3Mg alloys has been investigated. The effect of strontium on the intermetallic phases was evaluated in unquenched and quenched samples. Samples were quenched before the start of the Al-Si eutectic reaction, along the Al-Si eutectic reaction and just after the end of solidification. The results show that the addition of strontium increased the size of both β-Al5FeSi and π-Al8FeMg3Si6 at low cooling rates. For unmodified and strontium-modified alloys, an increase of cooling rate resulted in a decrease in size of the intermetallic phases, particularly in the strontium modified alloy. In the strontium modified alloy quenched before the start of the Al-Si eutectic reaction, π-Al8FeMg3Si6 appeared as thin platelets at the eutectic cell boundaries. Chinese script-like π-Al8FeMg3Si6 and platelet-like β-Al5FeSi intermetallic phases were observed uniformly distributed in the eutectic regions in the unmodified alloy quenched before the start of the eutectic reaction. Strontium modified semi-solid Al-7Si-0.3Mg castings were produced and the type of intermetallic phase, morphology, size, area fraction and distribution were similar to that observed in the strontium modified alloy quenched before the start of the Al-Si eutectic reaction.

Uncertain and imprecise data are inherent to many domains, e.g. casting lightweight components. Fuzzy logic offers a way to handle such data, which makes it possible to create predictive models even with small and imprecise data sets. Modelling of cast components under fatigue load leads to understanding of material behaviour on component level. Such understanding is important for the design for minimum warranty risk and maximum weight reduction of lightweight cast components. This paper contributes with a fuzzy logic-based approach to model fatigue-related mechanical properties of as-cast components, which has not been fully addressed by the current research. Two fuzzy logic models are constructed to map yield strength to the chemical composition and the rate of solidification of castings for two A356 alloys. Artificial neural networks are created for the same data sets and then compared to the fuzzy logic approach. The comparison shows that although the neural networks yield similar prediction accuracy, they are less suitable for the domain because they are opaque models. The prediction errors exhibited by the fuzzy logic models are 3.53% for the model and 3.19% for the second, which is the same error level as reported in related work. An examination of prediction errors indicated that these are affected by parameters of the membership functions of the fuzzy logic model.

This study investigates the scratch load effect, from 100 to 2000 mN, on micro-mechanisms involved during scratching. A pearlitic and three ferritic Compacted Graphite Irons (CGI) solution strengthened through addition of 3.66, 4.09, and 4.59 Si wt% were investigated. Good correlation was observed between hardness measurements, tensile testing, and scratch results explaining the influence of matrix characteristics on scratch behaviour for investigated alloys. A significant matrix deformation, change in frictional force and scratch coefficient of friction was observed by increase in scratch load. In all cases, microscratch depth and width increased significantly with load increasing, however pearlitic CGI showed most profound deformation, while the maximum and minimum scratch resistances were observed for high-Si ferritic and pearlitic CGI alloys, respectively.

The mechanical properties of Al-Si alloys are affected by several microstructural features such as secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS), size and shape of eutectic Si-particles, presence of intermetallics as well as by porosity. In the current study, Al-Si-Cu alloy A380 was prepared by a unique directional solidification method to produce samples with two different SDAS of 9 μm and 27 μm. The lower solidification rate resulted in larger SDAS, larger grain size, larger eutectic Si and larger intermetallics including Fe-rich β phase. The microstructure with higher solidification rate was found to be finer and more homogeneous with smaller eutectic Si and intermetallics. The specimen with larger SDAS exhibited stronger texture than the one with smaller SDAS. The specimen with smaller SDAS showed improved mechanical properties including YS, UTS and ductility. 

Recent advances in rheocasting have resulted in significant expansion in the types of products currently in full commercial production. The current paper gives an overview of components in production in Europe and in China produced using the RheoMetal™ process, that has taken the lead in a strong drive towards new heavy-duty applications made from aluminium alloys. In China, the dominating applications are found in the telecom industry. The trend in Europe is more towards marine and automotive applications commonly in fatigue loaded applications. The reason for the choice of rheocasting for complicated shape thin-walled electronics components with requirements is dominated by process yield and by the ability to improve thermal conductivity. The heavy-duty truck chassis thick walled components target weight reduction through design and to sustain fatigue load normally requiring forged components. Common in all applications are seen in production yield, reduced tool wear and reduction of die soldering.

The growth mechanism of graphite nodules in ductile iron was experimentally investigated using high-resolution 3D tomography of an individual graphite nodule in a near-eutectic ductile iron. The dual beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) technique was used for this purpose. Iron particles elongated in the radial direction were observed inside a graphite nodule. Some micro-voids were detected inside the nodule, mostly located at the end of the iron particles. These observations were compared with established theories about the growth of graphite nodules and iron entrapment/engulfment in between the graphite sectors during solidification of ductile iron. 

In semi-solid casting, a slurry consisting of primary α-Al crystals and liquid is injected into the die cavity. The solidification in the die-cavity occurs by the growth of the primary α-Al crystals formed during slurry preparation and in the shot sleeve, nucleation and growth of in-cavity solidified crystals and ends with the eutectic reaction. During solidification in the die cavity, the cooling rate near the die wall is higher in comparison to the centre of the casting, particularly for thick-walled castings. The solidification conditions for the slurry α-Al crystals that are closer to the die wall can be very different compared to the slurry α-Al crystals located at the casting centre. This can result in different solute concentration in the interior of the α-Al globules in different regions of the semi-solid casting cross-section and consequently, different response to heat treatament. The RheoMetal™ process was used to produce thick-walled semi-solid castings. Semi-solid castings in the as-cast and T6 conditions were investigated. Indentation tests for hardness measurements in the nano-range were performed in the interior of α-Al globules near the surface and at the casting cross-section centre. The hardness variation across the casting cross-section was evaluated by low-force Vickers hardness. The castings in the as-cast condition showed more uniform properties in the cross-section compared to the T6 condition. Additionally, the results suggest that microsegregation in the interior of α-Al globules is very low in castings in the as-cast and T6 conditions.