Aluminum Silicon Casting Alloys

This atlas provides an in-depth understanding of the metallurgy and fracture behavior of aluminum-silicon casting alloys, which are used in a wide variety of automotive, aerospace, and consumer product applications. The atlas includes over 300 high-definition microfractographs of fracture profiles and fracture surfaces, accompanied with detailed descriptions and analysis of the fracture features and their significance in the selection, processing, properties, and performance of the alloy. The microfractographs are described and classified according to criteria described in detail in the introductory chapters in the book. The factors determining the fracture mechanism in these alloys, on the basis of their physical and mechanical properties and fracture mechanics, are described and analyzed. The set of micrographs in this atlas include several unique features: classification according to the alloy and its processing history, detailed analysis of selected microregions of the fracture surface, reference of the fracture features to the phase constituents of the alloy, and high resolution and high microscopic magnification of the SEM images. This book will be of great value to anyone involved in the selection, processing, application, testing, or evaluation of aluminum-silicon castings. The target audience includes metallurgists, foundry personnel, failure analysts, purchasers of castings, researchers in physical and mechanical metallurgy, students, and educators.

Casting Aluminum Alloys, Second Edition, the follow up to the fall 2007 work on the structure, properties, thermal resistance, corrosion and fatigue of aluminum alloys in industrial manufacturing, discusses findings from the past decade, including sections on new casting alloys, novel casting technologies, and new methods of alloys design. The book also includes other hot topics, such as the implementation of computational technologies for the calculation of phase equilibria and thermodynamic properties of alloys, the development of software for calculation of diffusion processes in aluminum alloys, computational modeling of solidification microstructure and texture evolution of multi-component aluminum materials. In addition to changes in computational predictive abilities, there is a review of novel casting aluminum alloy compositions and properties, as well as descriptions of new casting technologies and updates to coverage on the mechanical properties of aluminum casting alloys. Presents a discussion of thermodynamic calculations used for assessing non-equilibrium solidifications of casting aluminum alloys Expands coverage of mathematical models for alloy mechanical properties, helping facilitate the selection of the best prospective candidate for new alloy development Contains a new section that describes the self-consistent evaluation of phase equilibria and thermodynamic properties of aluminum alloys

This book details aluminum alloys with special focus on the aluminum silicon (Al‐Si) systems – that are the most abundant alloys second only to steel. The authors include a description of the manufacturing principles, thermodynamics, and other main characteristics of Al‐Si alloys. Principles of processing, testing, and in particular applications in the Automotive, Aeronautical and Aerospace fields are addressed.

J. G. (Gil) Kaufman is currently president of his consulting company, Kaufman Associates.