Study of process parameters on aluminium foam formation in the Al-6Si-3Mg alloy

Abstract

The aim of this research was to study the process parameters that promote foam formation by injecting N2 into Al-6Si-3Mg wt % molten alloy with silicon carbide particles additions (SiC). An experimental design was proposed, in which the contents of SiC particles were 0, 10, 30 and 50 wt %, and the overheating was defined as ΔT= TF - TL , where TL is the liquidus temperature and was determined by the cooling curve method and the foaming temperatures were selected as TF at 630, 610, 580 and 570 °C. Flow and pressure of air blow were constant, 2,0 lt/min and 4,0 atm, respectively. The foam formation was possible only under two experimental conditions, 10 wt % SiC at ΔT > 12 °C and 30 wt % SiC at ΔT > 10 °C. The foams obtained under these conditions were stable, while with other conditions of experiments, bubble coallesence occurred. Finally, it was concluded that the foam formation occurred by SiC contents lower than 30 wt % SiC and temperatures slightly above the liquidus.

Keywords

• Al-Si alloys
• injecting N₂
• Aluminium foam
• solidification