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Title: Casting of Ashalloy metal matrix composites: 1994. Interim report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:251385
 [1]
  1. Wisconsin Univ., Milwaukee, WI (United States)

Research carried out so far has demonstrated that aluminum-fly ash composites, ``Ashalloy,`` containing up to 20 vol% fly ash may be synthesized by stir casting techniques. Composites containing still higher volume percent fly ash, up to 60 vol%, can be produced by pressure infiltration. A variety of shapes were cast from the slurry of molten aluminum alloy containing fly ash particles and it is now possible to explore application of Ashalloy composites in various industries. The potential advantages of Ashalloy composites lie in (a) a high value added use of coal fly ash, (b) saving energy by replacing metal with fly ash, (c) improving certain properties of the base alloy at a reduced cost, and (d) solving the disposal problem of fly ash. Fabrication of Ashalloy components may require both casting and deformation processing techniques, since Ashalloy can find applications in wrought components as well as in castings. In addition, machining will be frequently required to produce final dimensions, except in net shaped processing. The presence of hard and abrasive fly ash particles may cause serious problem of abrasive wear. Research efforts carried out to demonstrate abrasive wear behavior, machinability, and forgeability of Ashalloy composites are reported here.

Research Organization:
Electric Power Research Inst. (EPRI), Palo Alto, CA (United States); Wisconsin Univ., Milwaukee, WI (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States)
OSTI ID:
251385
Report Number(s):
EPRI-TR-106168; TRN: AHC29614%%113
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: May 1996
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English