New trends in aluminum die casting alloys for automotive applications

Abstract

In order to provide ecological balance, new technologies are being developed to reduce fuel consumption. Within these new technologies, usage of light alloys such as aluminum and magnesium has gained great importance in the automotive applications. The advantages of aluminum alloys in terms of light weight, recycling, machinability and corrosion resistance led to increase application area of these alloys. Due to these characteristics of aluminum alloys, fuel-saving light-weight material selection plays an important role for automotive parts. Aluminum applications increase not only in automotive, but also in aerospace, space shuttle, marine, and defense applications. According to the production methods, aluminum alloys are generally classified as casting, sheet, forging and extrusion. Aluminum die casting alloys are generally used the production of suspension systems, engines and gears parts. However, with the developing aluminum casting technologies, the aluminum die casting method makes it possible to manufacture multiple body parts in one piece. It is predicted that number of aluminum die casting parts will increase, especially in electric vehicles. In this study, the importance of the use of aluminum die casting alloys in the automotive industry is emphasized. Research and trends so far of the development of aluminum die casting alloys are also summarized.