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Comparative Evaluation of Cast Aluminum Alloys for Automotive Cylinder Heads: Part II—Mechanical and Thermal Properties

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Abstract

The first part of this study documented the as-aged microstructure of five cast aluminum alloys namely, 206, 319, 356, A356, and A356+0.5Cu, that are used for manufacturing automotive cylinder heads (Roy et al. in Metall Mater Trans A, 2016). In the present part, we report the mechanical response of these alloys after they have been subjected to various levels of thermal exposure. In addition, the thermophysical properties of these alloys are also reported over a wide temperature range. The hardness variation due to extended thermal exposure is related to the evolution of the nano-scale strengthening precipitates for different alloy systems (Al-Cu, Al-Si-Cu, and Al-Si). The effect of strengthening precipitates (size and number density) on the mechanical response is most obvious in the as-aged condition, which is quantitatively demonstrated by implementing a strength model. Significant coarsening of precipitates from long-term heat treatment removes the strengthening efficiency of the nano-scale precipitates for all these alloys systems. Thermal conductivity of the alloys evolve in an inverse manner with precipitate coarsening compared to the strength, and the implications of the same for the durability of cylinder heads are noted.

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  4. Theta Dilatronic IX, Port Washington, NY, USA

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge Dana McClurg for the indentation experiments and Zach LaDouceur and Patrick Shower for image analysis. The research was sponsored by the Propulsion Materials Program, DOE Office of Vehicle Technologies. This research utilized some equipment purchased by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Temperature Materials Laboratory User Program which was sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technologies Program.

This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains, and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA

    Shibayan Roy, Lawrence F. Allard, Wallace D. Porter & Amit Shyam

  2. Nemak, S.A., 66000, García, N.L., Mexico

    Andres Rodriguez

  3. Materials Science Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, 721302, India

    Shibayan Roy

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Manuscript submitted May 18, 2016.

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Roy, S., Allard, L.F., Rodriguez, A. et al. Comparative Evaluation of Cast Aluminum Alloys for Automotive Cylinder Heads: Part II—Mechanical and Thermal Properties. Metall Mater Trans A 48, 2543–2562 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-017-3986-0

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