Fundamentals of aluminium metallurgy – Production, processing and applicatins

Edtted by Roger Lumley (2010)

BRIEF CONTENTS

Introduction to aluminium metallurgy

Aluminium as an engineering material
The development of aluminium alloys
Cast aluminium alloys
Wrought aluminium alloys
Production of aluminium
Uses of aluminium
Conclusion

Part I – Production and casting of aluminium and its alloys

Production of alumina

Introduction to the aluminium oxides
Al minerals – mining and processing
Alumina production processes
The Bayer alumina refinery
Alumina microstructure
Impurities
Production of speciality aluminas
Alumina production trend

Production of primary aluminium

Introduction
Raw materials used in the aluminium production process
Energy efficiency in the utilisation of carbon anodes
The carbon anodes
Electrolyte materials
The cathode and cathode materials
Current efficiency
Cell amperage increase
Cell lines
Health, environment and safety (HES)
Inert anodes
The past, present and future of primary aluminium production

Production of secondary aluminium

History of secondary aluminium
Sources of raw materials
Processing
Cost drivers
Future trends
Further reading
Reference

Ingot casting and casthouse metallurgy of aluminium and its alloys

Direct chill casting
Heat flow and solidification
Macrosegregation
Typical surface defects
Gas pressurised extrusion billet casting
Rolling slab technology
Special variants of DC casting
DC casting safety
Chain conveyor casting
Melt treatment
Conclusion
Notes

Casting of aluminium alloys

Introduction
Aluminium casting alloys
Microstructure control in aluminium foundry alloys
Filling the casting
Feeding and porosity
Casting processes
Summary

Quality issues in aluminum castings

Introduction
Standard molds
Effect of solidification time
Theoretical basis for the quality index
Effect of inclusions and porosity on quality
Fatigue failure
Sources of casting defects
Effect of metal treatment and transfer on quality
Possible improvements in fatigue life
Conclusion

Case studies in aluminium casting alloys

Introduction
The effect of the alloy specification range onmicrostructure and properties
An impurity that reduces castability and increasescasting defects
The effect of grain refinement on defect formation
The effect of excess titanium on foundry alloys
Selecting the right master alloy for grain refinement
in terms of effectiveness and cost optimisation
Selecting the right master alloy for eutectic modification
in terms of effectiveness and cost optimisation
Summary

High pressure die casting of aluminium and its alloys

History of high pressure die casting
The die casting process
Aluminium alloys used in die casting
Defects in die casting
Conclusion

Progress on the heat treatment of high pressure die castings

Introduction
Role of alloying elements during solution treatment
Role of alloying elements during age hardening
Application to industrially produced parts and
commercial heat treatment facilities
Implications for redesign of high pressure die castings
Conclusion
Notes

Part II – Metallurgical properties of aluminium and its alloys

Work hardening in aluminium alloys

Introduction
Fundamentals of work hardening
Models of work hardening
Applications of work hardening models to industrial alloys
Commercial aspects of work hardening
Conclusion and future trends

environment and safety (HES)

Introduction
Al-Cu based alloys
Al-Cu-Mg based alloys
Al-Mg-Si based alloys
environment and safety (HES)
Precipitation in Al alloys under severe plastic deformation
Conclusion

Solute partitioning to enhance mechanical properties of aged aluminium alloys

Introduction
Solute partitioning through compositional change
Studies of underaged alloys
Secondary precipitation
Conclusion

Vacancies in aluminium and solute-vacancy interactions in aluminium alloys

Introduction
Experimental studies of vacancies and solute-vacancy interactions
Modelling
Conclusion

Modeling the kinetics of precipitation processes in aluminium alloys

Introduction
Physical processes controlling precipitation
Current approaches to modeling precipitation kinetics
Coupling precipitation and plastic deformation
Future trends and perspectives

environment and safety (HES), structural features and properties

Introduction
Severe plastic deformation techniques used in processing of Al alloys
Producing ultrafine-grained aluminium alloys by means of SPD techniques
Mechanical properties of UFG Al alloys at room temperature
Innovation potential of UFG Al alloys
Conclusion

Design for fatigue crack growth resistance in aluminum alloys

Introduction
Background and current state of knowledge
Materials, processing, mechanical properties and fatigue crack growth testing
Fatigue crack propagation in the near-threshold regime
Fatigue crack propagation mechanisms in Regions II and III of crack growth
K_max and stress ratio effects on fatigue crack growth
A dual parameter DK-K_max approach to fatigue crack growth
K_max sensitivity and data normalization for generating design curves
Conclusion

Fracture resistance in aluminium

Introduction
Fracture in uni-axial tension
environment and safety (HES)
Fracture in aluminium alloy castings
environment and safety (HES)
environment and safety (HES)
Fracture in aluminium particulate metal-matrix composites
environment and safety (HES)
environment and safety (HES)

Corrosion and corrosion protection of aluminium

Introduction
General, galvanic and pitting corrosion
environment and safety (HES)
Environmentally assisted cracking
Corrosion protection in the aircraft structure
environment and safety (HES)
trailing edge strip

Part III – Processing and applications of aluminium and its alloys

Joining of aluminium and its alloys

Introduction
Mechanical joining
Fusion welding
Solid state welding
Brazing
Adhesive bonding
Conclusion

Aluminium powder metallurgy

Introduction
The press and sinter powder metallurgy process
Sintering fundamentals
Sintering of aluminium
PM aluminium alloys and their applications
Future trends

Laser sintering and rapid prototyping of aluminium

Introduction
The skeleton
Infiltration
Dimensional changes
Conclusion

Aluminium sheet fabrication and processing

Introduction
Aluminium alloys and specifications
The aluminium sheet fabrication processing route and microstructure evolution
Parameters and metallurgical effects in Al alloy sheet processing
Integrated material and through-process modelling
Conclusion

Application of modern aluminium alloys to aircraft

Introduction
Drivers for materials selection and
aluminum alloy product development for aircraft
Performance criteria and property requirements
for primary structure of subsonic aircraft
Structure–property relationships
New products and recent manufacturing technologies
Conclusion

Materials selection and substitution using aluminium alloys

Introduction
Fundamental material selection strategies
Material selection for specific scenarios
Non-stationary fatigue-limited application
Multi-objective problems and numeric optimisation
Multiple objective material selection
Environmental consequence of material selection
Conclusion

PREVIEW

Some usuful figures from this book

Figure 3.1 – Flow sheet of the Hall-Hйroult process
[Figure 3.1 in Production of primary aluminium]

Schematic of phenomena taking place during fluxing with argon containing chlorine gas
[Figure 5.8 in Ingot casting and casthouse metallurgy of aluminium]

Schematic diagram of a cold chamber high-pressure die casting (HPDC) machine.
[Figure 3.1 in Casting of aluminium alloys]

Schematic illustration showing the principle of a vacuum-assisted die casting technique
[Figures 6.2 (a) and (b) in Casting of aluminium alloys]

Schematic showing the low pressure die casting (LPDC) process
[Figure 6.4 in Fundamentals of aluminium metallurgy]

Schematic showing the sand casting process
[Figure 6.5 in Casting of aluminium alloys]