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Alloy Development & Technologies
The Semi-Solid Process
Cost and Benefits of SSM
Alloy Development & Technologies at WorkNorthwest Aluminum, a sister company to HMM and principal supplier of Semi-Solid Thermal Transfer (SSTT) billets is actively pursuing alloy development and modification to produce improved mechanical properties with optimized tensile and fatigue properties of semi-solid components.

 

Relevant Publications:

 1) Semi-Solid Thermal Transformations in Al-Si Alloys: Part II, The Optimized Tensile and Fatigue Properties of Semi-Solid 357 and Modified 319 Aluminum Alloys

X. Li,1 S.C. Bergsma,2 and M.E. Kassner 1
1Department of Mechanical engineering, Oregon State university, Corvallis, OR 97331 USA
2Northwest Aluminum Company, The Dalles, OR 97058 USA

Abstract

The mechanical properties of 357 and modified 319 semi-solid formed (SSM) aluminum alloys are reported. The alloys were formed from ingot that was not stirred during solidification but had undergone a semi-solid thermal transformation (SSTT) during heating to produce a spherical microstructure suitable for semi-solid forming. The T4, T5 and T6 tensile properties were also optimized for both 357 and modified 319 using various solutionizing and aging studies of formed parts. The T6 fatigue properties of both alloys were also investigated. The tensile and fatigue properties were superior to conventionally cast alloys and the properties of SSTT appear at least comparable to SSM prepared by electromagnetic stirring (EM). This work is an extension of earlier work reported in this journal.

 

 2) Semi-Solid Thermal Transformations of Al-Si alloys and the Resulting Mechanical Properties

S.C. Bergsma a, M.C. Tolle 1,b, M.E. Kassner c,*, X. Li c, E. Evangelista b
aNorthwest Aluminum Company, The Dalles, OR 97058, USA
bDepartment of Mechanics, University of Ancona, Ancona, I-60131, Italy
cDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Oregon state University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Received 21 February 1997; received in revised form 7 April 1997

Abstract

This study demonstrated that 356/357 type Al-Si alloys cast with high solidification rates resulting in a fine grain structure could be rapidly thermally transformed into a structure suitable for semi-solid forming. The mechanical properties of these alloys were comparable to those of electromagnetically stirred semi-solid as well as the as-cast properties. Copyright 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.

Keywords: Al-Si alloys; Semi-solid thermal transformations

 

Patent Numbers

United States Patent [19] [11]     Patent Number: 5,968,292
Bergsma [45] Date of Patent: Oct. 19, 1999
[54] CASTING THERMAL TRANSFORMING AND SEMI-SOLID FORMING ALUMINUM ALLOYS    
[75] Inventor: S. Craig Bergsma, The Dalles, OR    
[73] Assignee: Northwest Aluminum, The Dalles, OR    

 

United States Patent [19] [11]     Patent Number: 5,571,346
Bergsma [45] Date of Patent: Nov. 5, 1996
[54] CASTING THERMAL TRANSFORMING AND SEMI-SOLID FORMING ALUMINUM ALLOYS    
[75] Inventor: S. Craig Bergsma, The Dalles, OR    
[73] Assignee: Northwest Aluminum, The Dalles, OR    

 

Typical Microstructure

Typical Microstructure
For a close up view click on images.

Typical Microstructure

Typical microstructure of formed SSTT 357-T6, top, and SSTT DF53 (modified 319)-T6 at the bottom (from Fig.1).

 

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