Dayalan R. Gunasegaram

Blister free heat treatment of high pressure die-casting alloys

Conventionally produced high pressure die-cast (HPDC) components are not considered to be heat treatable because gases entrapped during the die-casting process expand during solution treatment causing unacceptable surface blistering. Components may also become dimensionally unstable. Both these effects prevent the heat treatment of die-castings as these phenomena are detrimental to the visual appearance, mechanical properties and utilisation of the component. Recent work has revealed a process window in which HPDC aluminium alloys that are capable of responding to age hardening may be successfully heat treated without encountering these problems. As a result, improvements of greater than 100% in the tensile properties are possible, when compared with the as-cast condition. The new heat treatment schedules are described for HPDC parts of different size and shape, the role of chemistry on ageing is discussed and microstructural development during heat treatment examined†.

Towards multiscale modelling of localised corrosion

Abstract Localised corrosion is a cause of unanticipated and sometimes catastrophic failures of equipment, transport vessels and infrastructures. Therefore, the development of modern corrosion-resistant materials and inhibitors by design is both technically and economically attractive. In the coming decades, industrial components will be engineered from molecular structures. This prospect provides the designer with a truly enormous range of choices in design, which is a situation that demands predictive tools that can link molecular structures with the final component performance. In particular, the development of alloys and inhibitors can replace the use of toxic compounds in protecting metal surfaces. To execute a tailored design programme, it is necessary to understand how corrosion and the associated processes occur from the molecular level to the component level and how the overall system behaviour emerges because of the inherent links among different scales. Therefore, in the present work, the literature on theoretical modelling of localised corrosion and related experimentation are reviewed from a multiscale viewpoint. The review addresses (a) the challenges in the theoretical formulation of the important phenomena that influence localised corrosion and (b) the hurdles facing computational methods. It is shown that (i) the existing models lack the resolution to design effective corrosion-resistant systems, (ii) the numerical strategies for linking the scales are in a state of evolution and (iii) there are gaps in the experimental characterisation of the corrosion system, particularly at the lower end of the scales. Suggestions are provided towards the construction of a multiscale model (MSM) for localised corrosion.

Modeling Corrosion of a Metal under an Aerosol Droplet

On a metal surface covered with a moisture layer of variable thickness and shape, the dissolved oxygen may induce a spatial separation of the anodic and cathodic reactions on space-time scales characteristic of the roughness, droplet size and the local kinetics of the system. This leads to a spatio-temporal variations in species concentrations, current and potential over the metal surface and thus atmospheric corrosion. Here a fully three-dimensional transient model is developed that addresses the corrosion of a metal under an aerosol droplet. The effects of various parameters, such as exchange current densities, initial concentrations, shape and size of the droplet, and diffusivity of oxygen on ionic, potential and current distributions are investigated.

Influences of Material and Geometry in the Performance of Auxetic Composite Structure under Blast Loading

This paper aims at investigating the deformation and damage mechanisms of auxetic sandwich panels subjected to localised blast. The ability of self-densifying and adjusting to the loads, typical of auxetic structures, has been evaluated. A numerical model of the auxetic cellular composite panel has been developed to conduct statistical studies on different parameters (core geometry and material) using Taguchi design of experiment (DOE) method combined with general linear model (GLM) for analysis of variance (ANOVA). The optimisation has been conducted evaluating different parameters: energy absorption of the entire panel and deformation of the back facet were measured. The analysis of the numerical model of the core suggests the importance of the self-adapting mechanism of the auxetic structure under blast loading.

Effect of alloying elements on heat treatment response of aluminium high pressure die castings

AbstractHigh pressure die cast (HPDC) aluminium components that respond to age hardening cannot normally be solution treated at high temperatures because the presence of internal porosity and entrapped gases leads to the formation of surface blisters. Parts may also become dimensionally unstable due to swelling. These factors that prevent heat treatment present significant limitations to the utilisation of HPDC components. Now it has been found that blistering and dimensional change can be avoided by using much shorter solution treatment times and lower temperatures. Experiments with alloys 360 (Al–9·5Si–0·5Mg) and 380 (Al–8·5Si–3·5Cu) have shown that strong responses to age hardening are still possible following these modified solution treatments. In the current paper, the role of critical alloying elements is considered in both current specification Al–Si–Cu–(X) alloys, and also in newly developed alloy compositions. It is shown that 0·2% proof strengths over 400 MPa may be readily achieved by heat trea...

Aiming for Modeling-Assisted Tailored Designs for Additive Manufacturing

It is well recognized that there are gaps in knowledge on the strongly intertwined process–microstructure–property–performance relationships inherent in the metallic additive manufacturing processes. Computational modeling can assist with filling in some of these gaps by increasing in-depth understanding of these relationships and highlighting cause-and-effect. Additionally, it can capture the knowledge of materials scientists and engineers and apply established physics-based rules to simulate the processes and thus predict the final outcomes. Modeling can also help optimize processes. Some even predict that future generations of additive manufacturing machines will employ ‘model-assisted feed forward algorithms’ that would leapfrog feedback control methods. In the current article the authors describe the several computational efforts sponsored by CSIRO’s ‘Lab 22—Australia’s Centre for Additive Innovation’ aimed at modeling-assisted tailored design. The models in development, e.g. microstructure prediction (both fundamental and empirical), powder bed raking, and residual stress predictions, are described in some detail, and representative results are presented.

Thermal Microstructural Multiscale Simulation of Solidification and Eutectoid Transformation of Hypereutectic Gray Cast Iron

Although the gray cast iron solidification process has been the subject of several modeling studies, almost all available models appear to deal with only the more widely used hypoeutectic compositions. Models related to hypereutectic gray iron compositions with lamellar (or flake) graphite, and in particular for the proeutectic and eutectoid zones, are hard to find in the open literature. Hence, in the present work, a thermal microstructural multiscale model is proposed to describe the solidification and eutectoid transformation of a slightly hypereutectic composition leading to lamellar graphite gray iron morphology. The main predictions were: (a) temperature evolutions; (b) fractions of graphite, ferrite, and pearlite; (c) density; and (d) size of ferrite, pearlite, and gray eutectic grains; (e) average interlamellar graphite spacing; and (f) its thickness. The predicted cooling curves and fractions for castings with two different compositions and two different pouring temperatures were validated using experimental data. The differences between this model and existing models for hypoeutectic compositions are discussed.

Alloy Design for Heat Treatment of High Pressure Diecastings

Recently, heat treatment technologies have been developed by the CSIRO Light Metals Flagship in Australia that allow the yield stress in conventional aluminium HPDC’s to be more than doubled without encountering problems with blistering or dimensional instability. These procedures involve a severely truncated solution treatment step conducted at lower than normal temperatures followed by quenching and artificial ageing. Typically, heat treated HPDC’s may display increases to the yield stress of around 80 to 100%, but a range of other properties may also be improved such as fatigue resistance, thermal conductivity and fracture resistance for some tempers. However, the HPDC alloys currently used worldwide have not been developed specifically for heat treatment or the optimization of specific properties. In particular, recent work in Al-Si-Cu HPDC alloys has identified ranges of alloys specifically for achieving yield strengths exceeding 400 MPa, or for high strength combined with elevated ductility levels. The role of alloying elements, composition limits and effects on microstructure development are discussed.

Die Casting Improvements through Melt Shear

Melt flow and solidification within a die casting cavity is a complex process dependent in part on melt pressure (with or without intensification), melt velocity, melt flow path, thermal gradients within the die, die lubrication and melt viscosity. Casting defects such as short shots, cold shuts and shrinkage porosity can readily occur if casting conditions are not optimised. Shrinkage porosity in particular is difficult to eradicate from castings that comprise thick sections, since these sections will usually solidify late in the casting cycle and may be starved of melt supply during the critical solidification (and contraction) stage. The current work seeks to elucidate the influence of the melt shearing on the die casting process and demonstrates that the modifications made to the melt through introduction of a local constriction in the melt path can generate improvements in casting microstructure and reduce shrinkage porosity.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Attributable to High Pressure Die Casting

In spite of die castings being amongst the highest volume items manufactured by the metalworking industry, the influence of high pressure die casting (HPDC) process parameters on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remains largely unreported. In this article, the authors discuss the effect of some HPDC process parameters on GHG emissions using cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) for both aluminium and magnesium alloys. Although the impacts reduced with increasing yields in both cases, it was determined that the GHG impact of magnesium alloy HPDC was more sensitive to HPDC yield irrespective of the ratio of primary/secondary alloys in the melt charge. The reasons for this include a greater dependence of magnesium alloy HPDC on high-emitting primary processing and the use of the highly potent GHG SF6 for melting. For magnesium alloy HPDC, a decrease in quality assurance (QA) rejects and cycle times also reduced GHG emissions, although their influences were found to be an order lower than that of yield.