[0001] The subject of this invention is hypo-eutectic silumin with additive of wolfram and
vanadium designed for pressure die casting.
[0002] Hypo-eutectic silumin alloys, mostly used for pressure die casting, contain following
chemical elements in weight percentage: 8,0-11,0% Si; 0,60-1,3% Fe; 2,0- 4,0% Cu;
0,10-0,55% Mn; 0,05-0,55% Mg; 0,00-0,15 % Cr; 0,30-0,55 % Ni; ~1,2 % Zn; 0,15-0,25
% Ti.
[0003] Silumin of composition indicated above is characterized by a microstructure consists
of: solid solution of alloy addition in aluminium (α) and complex eutectic mixture.
Eutectic mixture composition may also include, besides phase α, solid solution of
alloy addition in silicon (β) and intermetallic phases: Al
2Cu, Al
9Fe
3Si
2, Mg
2Si and AlSiCuFeMnMgNiCrSnTi.
[0004] Mechanical properties of described pressure die casting silumin are following: tensile
strength R
m ≥ 240 MPa; yield strength R
p0,2 ≥ 140 MPa; unit elongation A < 1 %, hardness HBW ≥ 80. Development of silumin
with thickness comparable to the alloy described above and higher strength properties,
enables getting pressure castings with lower wall thickness and the same strength
parameters.
[0005] Silumin which includes W and V,
in accordance with the invention contains in weight percentage: 7,5-8,7%, Si; 0,7-1,2% Fe; 2,0- 3,0% Cu; 0,10-0,50%
Mn; 0,05-0,50% Mg; 0,00-0,15 % Cr; 0,05-0,40 % Ni; 0,9-1,1 % Zn; 0,00-0,10 % Ti; 0,10-0,30
% W and 0,10-0,30 % V.
[0006] Into hypo-eutectic silumin, wolfram and vanadium were introduced in the form of master
alloy AlW8 and AlV10. Application of master alloys allows dissolution of W and V in
silumin. Both wolfram and vanadium does not dissolve, in solid state aluminium, however
they form with aluminium many varieties of intermetallic phases. Release of significant
quantity of intermetallic phases in silumin, especially in the form of releases of
relatively big sizes and complex morphology, results in increasing brittleness and
decreasing its tensile strength R
m. Silumin crystallization process inside pressure casting die arises very intensively,
which causes the possibility of supersaturation with wolfram and vanadium phase α.
Phase α supersaturated with wolfram and vanadium may be characterized by higher mechanical
properties in relation to solid solution α present in hypo-eutectic silumin without
additive of W and V. Introduction of W and V additive into hypo-eutectic silumin for
pressure die casting allows to obtain alloy with better mechanical properties in relation
to commonly used in the range of this technology hypo-eutectic silumin alloys. Condition
of obtaining hypo-eutectic silumin with additive of W and V of increased mechanical
properties is supersaturation of solid solution α with wolfram and vanadium and avoidance
of intermetallic phases release of relatively big sizes and complex morphology from
equilibrium systems Al-W and Al-V.
[0007] Pressure casting made from silumin in accordance with the invention presents high
tensile strength R
m and high unit elongation A.
[0008] The subject of the invention is illustrated with the example below, with reference
to the fig. 1 a-c, where microstructure of examined silumin alloys is presented.
Example I.
[0009] Initial silumin was melted in the melting furnace heated with gas, with maximum charge
capacity of 1,5 tons. The chemical composition of silumin was following:
| % in weight |
| Si |
Fe |
Cu |
Mn |
Mg |
Cr |
Ni |
Zn |
Ti |
Al |
| 8,66 |
0,86 |
2,36 |
0,23 |
0,33 |
0,04 |
0,11 |
0,93 |
0,05 |
rest |
[0010] After melting silumin was refined inside the furnace. Ecosal Al - 113S was used for
refining in the amount of ca. 0,25 kg per 500 kg bath content. After tapping silumin
from the furnace to the ladle of 300 kg Al alloy capacity, it was slagged with slag
trap Ecremal N44. Into 300 kg of silumin poured off to the ladle, 1 (one) hand shank
ZUDX-5501 0,20 kg of slag trap was added. After slagging silumin was transported to
heating resistant furnace at the cold-chamber pressure die-casting machine with horizontal
stamping chamber - Idra OL700S. Inside heating furnace composition of silumin was
completed with master alloys containing vanadium and wolfram, and these were accordingly
AlV10 and AlW8. Temperature of silumin inside heating furnace was 750 °C. In this
temperature the alloy with master alloys was kept for 20 minutes. During this time
period master alloy AlV10 and AlW8 were totally dissolved. Pressure castings were
produced from 3 (three) silumin variants with additive of W and V. The amount of initial
silumin and master alloys AlV10 and AlW8 was taken in such manner so the following
chemical composition of three silumin variants with additive of W and V was obtained:
| Silumin |
% in weight |
| variant |
Si |
Fe |
Cu |
Mn |
Mg |
Cr |
Ni |
Zn |
Ti |
W |
V |
Al |
| 1 |
8,66 |
0,81 |
2,52 ; |
0,20 |
0,35 |
0,04 |
0,12 |
0,95 |
0,04 |
0,10 |
0,10 |
rest |
| 2 |
8,40 |
0,87 |
2,32 |
0,22 |
0,33 |
0,03 |
0,11 |
0,91 |
0,04 |
0,20 |
0,20 |
rest |
| 3 |
7,99 |
0,85 |
2,37 |
0,21 |
0,33 |
0,03 |
0,10 |
0,90 |
0,04 |
0,30 |
0,30 |
rest |
[0011] The most of produced pressure casting were characterized by 2 mm wall thickness.
From these castings samples for tensile strength testing were taken. These were flat
samples with rectangular section dim. 2 mm / 10 mm. Tensile test was performed on
testing machine
[0012] Instron 3382. Applied tension velocity was 1 mm/min. During this test following factors
were determined: tensile strength R
m, yield strength R
p0,2 and unit elongation A. Hardness was determined by Brinell method. For silumin alloys
with additive of W and V the following values of mechanical properties were achieved:
| Silumin |
Mechanical properties |
| variant |
Rm, MPa |
Rp0,2, MPa |
A, % |
HB |
| 1 |
275 |
119 |
4,4 |
114 |
| 2 |
299 |
119 |
6,3 |
114 |
| 3 |
299 |
117 |
5,7 |
113 |
[0013] The microstructure of silumin with additive of W and V is presented on fig. 1 (a-c).
It is composed of solid solution of alloy addition in aluminium (α), ternary eutectic
α+Al
9Fe
3Si
2+β and quaternary eutectic α+Al
2Cu+AlSiCuFeMgMnNiVW+β.
1. Hypo-eutectic silumin for pressure die casting in accordance with the invention is
characterized by its content of wolfram 0,1-0,3 % and vanadium 0,1-0,3 % in weight percentage.
2. Hypo-eutectic silumin for pressure die casting is non-characterized by its content of 7,5-8,7% Si; 0,7-1,2% Fe; 2,0- 3,0% Cu; 0,10-0,50% Mn; 0,05-0,50%
Mg; 0,00-0,15 % Cr; 0,05-0,40 % Ni; 0,9-1,1 % Zn; 0,20-0,35 % Pb; 0,10-0,15 % Sn;
0,00-0,10 % Ti; 0,1-0,3 % W and 0,1-0,3 % V in weight percentage.