Scholarlink

Aluminum alloys, especially the A356 alloy, containing aluminum, silicon and magnesium as its main elements, are the material of choice to manufacture lightweight automotive wheels, due to their good castability and mechanical behavior associated with its low density. However, manufacturers are constantly seeking new, improved alloys capable of minimizing weight while maintaining or enhancing the performance of wheels. For resource saving, the development of standardized procedures for laboratory testing of developed materials that can reliably replicate the material’s behavior in operation is highly interesting for the industry. Therefore, an ASTM-standardized mold was used to cast ingots of the A356 alloy at low pressure. Such mold is used to produce specimens for tensile testing. In this case, focus was given to the auxiliary distribution channels, which are considerably bulky and can be used to provide material for further characterization, such as impact testing, which is highly relevant, provided that toughness is a critical property for automotive wheels. Numerical simulations were carried out to define different pre-heating temperatures of the casting mold, so that typical thermal regimes of different wheel regions could be reproduced. Then, the solidified distribution channel was sectioned to have its microstructure analyzed in terms of secondary dendritic arm spacing (SDAS) and porosity. Based on these results, the most adequate position for placement of the V-notch of Charpy test specimens was defined, and specimens were subsequently machined. Impact test results showed that, although the chosen region is highly representative of different regions microstructurally speaking, as long as the thermal regime is correctly designed, toughness values obtained were well below those informed by manufacturers as the threshold for guaranteed safety upon wheel application. This means that laboratory casting practices might need refinement to avoid additional issues and make sure that results can be deemed representative and reliable.

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Permanent Mold Casting of A356 Alloy to Simulate Critical Parts of Lightweight Wheels in Laboratory Scale

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

查看全文
  • Bruna Callegari,
  • Luis Fernando Folle,
  • Leonardo Oliveira Passos da Silva,
  • Tiago Nunes Lima,
  • Rodrigo Santiago Coelho

摘要

Aluminum alloys, especially the A356 alloy, containing aluminum, silicon and magnesium as its main elements, are the material of choice to manufacture lightweight automotive wheels, due to their good castability and mechanical behavior associated with its low density. However, manufacturers are constantly seeking new, improved alloys capable of minimizing weight while maintaining or enhancing the performance of wheels. For resource saving, the development of standardized procedures for laboratory testing of developed materials that can reliably replicate the material’s behavior in operation is highly interesting for the industry. Therefore, an ASTM-standardized mold was used to cast ingots of the A356 alloy at low pressure. Such mold is used to produce specimens for tensile testing. In this case, focus was given to the auxiliary distribution channels, which are considerably bulky and can be used to provide material for further characterization, such as impact testing, which is highly relevant, provided that toughness is a critical property for automotive wheels. Numerical simulations were carried out to define different pre-heating temperatures of the casting mold, so that typical thermal regimes of different wheel regions could be reproduced. Then, the solidified distribution channel was sectioned to have its microstructure analyzed in terms of secondary dendritic arm spacing (SDAS) and porosity. Based on these results, the most adequate position for placement of the V-notch of Charpy test specimens was defined, and specimens were subsequently machined. Impact test results showed that, although the chosen region is highly representative of different regions microstructurally speaking, as long as the thermal regime is correctly designed, toughness values obtained were well below those informed by manufacturers as the threshold for guaranteed safety upon wheel application. This means that laboratory casting practices might need refinement to avoid additional issues and make sure that results can be deemed representative and reliable.