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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Aluminum-fly ash metal matrix composites for automotive parts. [Reports for October 1 to December 31, 1999, and January 1 - to March 31, 2000]

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/761818· OSTI ID:761818
The highlights of this report are: (1) fly ash classified by less than 100 microns in size was mixed into a 300 lb melt of alloy 535 without the need of a magnesium additive; (2) a vibratory feeder fitted with a sieve was used as the means to minimize particle clustering while introducing fly ash into the aluminum alloy 535 melt; and (3) the industrial-size field test was successful in that sand mold castings and permanent mold castings of tensile bars, K mold bars, and ingots were made from aluminum alloy 535-fly ash mix. Use of aluminum alloy 535 containing 7% magnesium precluded the need to introduce additional magnesium into the melt. The third round of sand mold castings as well as permanent mold castings produced components and ingots of alloy 535 instead of alloy 356. The ingots will be remelted and cast into parts to assess the improvement of flyash distribution which occurs through reheating and the solidification wetting process. Microstructure analysis continues on sand and permanent mold castings to study particle distribution in the components. A prototype sand cast intake manifold casting was found to be pressure tight which is a major performance requirement for this part. Another heat of pressure die cast brackets of A380-classified fly ash will be made to examine their strength and fly ash distribution. Ingots of A356-fly ash have been made at Eck for remelting at Thompson Aluminum for squeeze casting into motor mounts.
Research Organization:
none (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
US Department of Energy (US)
DOE Contract Number:
FC05-97OR22545
OSTI ID:
761818
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English