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Metals
Special Issues
Microstructure and Properties of Aluminum Alloys
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Microstructure and Properties of Aluminum Alloys

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 5450

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Lenka Kuchariková

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Guest Editor
Associate Professor, Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Zilina, 010 26 Žilina, Slovakia
Interests: recycling aluminum alloys; metallography; quantitative analysis; studying the 3D morphology of microstructural components; fractography; intermetallic phases in aluminum alloys; mechanical, fatigue, and corrosion properties of aluminum alloys; heat treatment of aluminum alloys
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Mirosław Bonek

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland
Interests: metallic alloys; tool materials; biomaterials; heat treatment; laser surface engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global production of aluminum alloys has been increasing over the past few decades due to the increasing application of aluminum alloys in the automotive, aerospace, building, and other industries. These applications are possible thanks to the main properties of low density, good castability, low melting point, short casting cycles, relatively low susceptibility to hot cracking, good as-cast surface finish, chemical stability, and others when compared to other metallic and nonmetallic materials. The application of aluminum alloys in industry is also important in order to decrease weight and reduce fuel consumption, especially in the transport industry. The amount of aluminum used per car produced in Europe almost tripled between 1990 and 2012, increasing from 50 to 140 kg. This amount is predicted to rise to 180 kg after 2020. Research works show that a 10% reduction in the weight of a car leads to a 7% decrease in fuel use and that each 100 kg saved leads to a 9 g decrease in CO2 emission. The decrease in car weight is also very important for the production of modern electric cars (20% less weight creates a 20% increase in range for electric cars).

The great objective of the European Union for the year 2015 was that 85% of the car weight would be re-used or recycled, 10% would be used to recover energy, and 5% would be used for scrap. Nowadays, manufacturers currently use about 35% secondary aluminum and about 65% primary aluminum to meet their needs. Therefore, the future success of aluminum and its alloys depends not only on the further improvements of existing and secondary alloys but also on the development of novel aluminum alloys. Every change in casting, forming, modification, heat treatment, recycling, grain refinement, precipitation of secondary phases, and other processing steps affects the microstructure and thus changes the properties of aluminum alloys.

This Special Issue of Metals is focused on relationships between structure and properties of aluminum alloys. The papers presented in this Special Issue will give an account of the scientific and technological state of the art of aluminum alloys (see the Keywords/Topics below) in 2021. Your contribution to this account will be highly valued and appreciated. We invite you to contribute research work that relates to the effects of different production factors on the structure and properties of aluminum alloys.

Dr. Lenka Kuchariková
Prof. Dr. Mirosław Bonek
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Aluminum alloys
  • Recycling of aluminum alloys
  • New types of aluminum alloys
  • Microstructure change
  • Mechanical properties
  • Fatigue properties
  • Corrosion
  • Heat treatment
  • Casting process
  • Manufacturing

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 7092 KiB  
Article
Influence of Build Orientation on Surface Roughness and Fatigue Life of the Al2024-RAM2 Alloy Produced by Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF)
by Radomila Konecna, Tibor Varmus, Gianni Nicoletto and Michal Jambor
Metals 2023, 13(9), 1615; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/met13091615 - 19 Sep 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 953
Abstract
Additive manufacturing of high strength Al alloys brings problems with hot cracking during rapid solidification. One of the ways to solve this challenge is technology developed by the Elementum 3D company. The way consists of inoculation by ceramic nanoparticles using RAM technology. When [...] Read more.
Additive manufacturing of high strength Al alloys brings problems with hot cracking during rapid solidification. One of the ways to solve this challenge is technology developed by the Elementum 3D company. The way consists of inoculation by ceramic nanoparticles using RAM technology. When applying the L-PBF method, a very fine equiaxed microstructure with exceptional properties and without cracks is created. This paper offers the results and discussion of the microstructure, surface roughness and fatigue life of the high-strength Al2024-RAM2 alloy made from a gas atomized powder with an additive of 2 wt.% ceramic nanoparticles on the base of Ti. The specimens for fatigue tests were produced in different orientations relative to the building platform and left in the as-built conditions with different surface quality (roughness). The specimens were T6 heat-treated. The treatment caused a coarsening of a part of the fine grains. After T6 heat treatment, the hardness increased significantly, which occurred by precipitation hardening. Fatigue tests of specimens with different build orientation were performed in plane bending and the experimentally determined fatigue life was discussed in terms of surface roughness and material microstructure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microstructure and Properties of Aluminum Alloys)
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22 pages, 9815 KiB  
Article
Effect of Input Parameters on the Structure and Properties of Castings Obtained via Crystallization under Pressure
by Richard Pastirčák, Marek Brůna, Marek Matejka and Dana Bolibruchová
Metals 2023, 13(8), 1424; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/met13081424 - 9 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 900
Abstract
The technology of casting with crystallization under pressure-squeeze casting belongs to unconventional pressure-casting methods. The melt or material in a semi-solid state is pressed under pressure until the casting solidifies completely. The input parameter, whose influence was mainly observed in this paper, is [...] Read more.
The technology of casting with crystallization under pressure-squeeze casting belongs to unconventional pressure-casting methods. The melt or material in a semi-solid state is pressed under pressure until the casting solidifies completely. The input parameter, whose influence was mainly observed in this paper, is the state of the material entering the filling process. The alloys were in a molten and semi-solid state. The influence of casting thickness from 3.15 mm to 8 mm was also observed. Alloy AlSi7Mg0.3 was used because of the wide solidification interval and the significant influence of pressure during solidification. Consequently, alloy AlSi12 was subjected to experimental work because processing in the semi-solid state is not sufficiently examined for this material. A significant influence of the cooling rate in different cross-sections on the structure and mechanical properties of castings made using squeeze casting technology was confirmed. The difference in mechanical properties was approximately 35% for both eutectic and hypoeutectic alloys. When processed in a semi-solid state, it was confirmed that the network of dendrites has a significant influence on the filling of the mold cavity. The paper also focuses on the effect of input material morphology on the final product properties. The change in morphology was achieved by metallurgical intervention, thermal and technological processing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microstructure and Properties of Aluminum Alloys)
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20 pages, 5918 KiB  
Article
The Influence of a Corrosive Environment on Fatigue and Mechanical Properties of An Al-Cast Alloy with Higher Fe Content
by Lenka Kuchariková, Lucia Pastierovičová, Eva Tillová, Milan Uhríčik, Viera Zatkalíková and Michal Šajgalík
Metals 2023, 13(6), 1019; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/met13061019 - 25 May 2023
Viewed by 1142
Abstract
Al has very good corrosion resistance and corrosion properties. The corrosion resistance of Al-cast alloys is different because these alloys contain a lot of elements, especially in secondary alloys, which contain more impurity elements, of which Fe is the most common. This study [...] Read more.
Al has very good corrosion resistance and corrosion properties. The corrosion resistance of Al-cast alloys is different because these alloys contain a lot of elements, especially in secondary alloys, which contain more impurity elements, of which Fe is the most common. This study deals with secondary AlSi7Mg0.3 cast alloys, which contain more Fe and are affected by a chloride corrosive environment. This environment was selected based on the application of castings in the automotive industry. The main object was to research the effect of such an environment on basic mechanical properties and fatigue properties. The results show that a higher Fe content does not lead to a significant reduction in the properties of the casting, and the chloride environment is not so harmful. Therefore, it can be stated that the investigated secondary sand-cast experimental materials can replace primary alloys without losing the required corrosion and mechanical properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microstructure and Properties of Aluminum Alloys)
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19 pages, 7257 KiB  
Article
Strain-Rate Effect on Anisotropic Deformation Characterization and Material Modeling of High-Strength Aluminum Alloy Sheet
by Feifei Zhang, Kai He, Zheng Li and Bo Huang
Metals 2022, 12(9), 1430; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/met12091430 - 29 Aug 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1323
Abstract
Aluminum alloy sheets are widely applied as structure components in automotive, aircraft and other industries to realize lightweight. Nowadays, many high strain rate forming techniques have been developed to improve their formability and widen their application. To ensure the reliability of the aluminum [...] Read more.
Aluminum alloy sheets are widely applied as structure components in automotive, aircraft and other industries to realize lightweight. Nowadays, many high strain rate forming techniques have been developed to improve their formability and widen their application. To ensure the reliability of the aluminum alloy structure components under high strain rate conditions, it is imperative to develop a thorough understanding of the alloy’s mechanical properties. In this paper, taking high-strength 6XXX aluminum alloy sheet as an example, the anisotropic deformation characterization and corresponding material models at various strain-rate conditions are investigated systematically. The material hardening curves and anisotropic plastic yielding stresses were achieved based on the quasi-static uniaxial tensile test and the split Hopkinson tensile bar tests. In this study, the Johnson–Cook hardening model and two anisotropic yield functions are applied to well describe the strain-rate-dependent anisotropic plastic deformation behavior. In addition, the fractographic characterization of the fractured samples at various strain-rate conditions are measured and compared. The study systematically investigates the influence of strain rate on the anisotropic deformation behavior of the high-strength aluminum alloy sheets and gives the basic experimental data for their application in engineering fields in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microstructure and Properties of Aluminum Alloys)
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