2020 Virtual undergraduate Research symposium
Heat Treatment of Aluminum Die Castings
PROJECT NUMBER: 78
AUTHOR: Dawson Tong, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
MENTOR: Kester Clarke, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering | MENTOR: Stephen Midson, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
ABSTRACT
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The effects of aging heat treatments on aluminum die castings have not been well-documented in the literature. This project is a continuation of previous efforts and focuses on testing of different heat treatment parameters to attempt to improve mechanical properties such as hardness or ductility. The procedure includes a solution heat treatment at 490°C for 8 hours on two different aluminum die castings with an aging heat treatment proceeding for varying times. The chosen aging temperature of 190°C and times were based upon the hardening of aluminum-copper systems which are well document in literature. We also used ThermocalcTM thermodynamic calculation software to better understand phase stability at different temperatures to determine the heat treatment temperature that should produce better mechanical properties. Future research is planned to further characterize the hardening mechanism during the aging process via high resolution X-Ray Diffraction.
VISUAL PRESENTATION
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
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Dawson Tong is currently a Junior studying metallurgical and materials engineering. He is doing research with the Center for Advanced Non-Ferrous Structural Alloys on aluminum die castings and tracking liquid-solid interfaces. In the future he hopes to work more with non-ferrous material in industry.
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