Aluminum alloy powder formulations with silicon additions for mechanical property improvements
AssigneeGKN Sinter Metals, LLC
InventorsDonald Paul Bishop, Richard L. Hexemer, Ian W. Donaldson, Randy Williams Cooke
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Abstract
The mechanical properties and thermal resistance of a sintered component made from an Al—Cu—Mg—Sn alloy powder metal mixture can be improved by doping the Al—Cu—Mg—Sn alloy powder metal mixture with a silicon addition. Silicon is added as a constituent to the Al—Cu—Mg—Sn alloy powder metal mixture. The Al—Cu—Mg—Sn alloy powder metal mixture is compacted to form a preform and the preform is sintered to form the sintered component.
Claims15
A method of improving the mechanical properties of a sintered component made from an Al—Cu—Mg—Sn alloy powder metal mixture with a silicon addition, the method comprising:
- adding silicon as a constituent to the Al—Cu—Mg—Sn alloy powder metal mixture wherein the weight percent of silicon in the Al—Cu—Mg—Sn alloy powder metal mixture with the silicon addition is in a range of 0.05 to 0.8 weight percent;
- compacting the Al—Cu—Mg—Sn alloy powder metal mixture to form a preform;
- and
- sintering the preform to form the sintered component;
- wherein the silicon is provided as an Al-12Si master alloy powder metal having a eutectic temperature of approximately 577° C. at which the Al-12Si master alloy powder metal melts to form a liquid phase and wherein the sintering occurs at a sintering temperature above the eutectic temperature.
A method of improving the mechanical properties of a sintered component made from an Al—Cu—Mg—Sn alloy powder metal mixture with a silicon addition, the method comprising:
- adding silicon as a constituent to the Al—Cu—Mg—Sn alloy powder metal mixture wherein the weight percent of silicon in the Al—Cu—Mg—Sn alloy powder metal mixture with the silicon addition is in a range of 0.05 to 0.8 weight percent, wherein the Al—Cu—Mg—Sn alloy powder metal mixture comprises:
- an atomized aluminum powder metal in which the aluminum powder is prealloyed with a member selected from the group consisting of iron separately, nickel separately, and iron and nickel together;
- a first master alloy powder metal comprising aluminum and copper;
- a second master alloy powder metal comprising aluminum and silicon;
- a magnesium elemental powder metal;
- and
- a tin elemental powder metal;
- compacting the Al—Cu—Mg—Sn alloy powder metal mixture to form a preform;
- and
- sintering the preform to form the sintered component.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.