Refinement of fe-intermetallic compounds by caliber rolling process of AL-MG-SI-FE alloys

Abstract

The recycling process of aluminum scraps commonly contains high amount of impurities, especially Fe content which results in degraded properties compared with the primary aluminum production. The refinement of Fe-intermetallic compounds becomes increasingly important to extend the utilization of recycled aluminum. In this study, a thermo-mechanical process of Al-(2.2-2.3)mass%Si-0.9mass%Mg-(1.0-2.0)mass%Fe alloys by caliber rolling process was performed to investigate the refinement of Fe-intermetallic compounds and the mechanical properties. Fine fragmented Fe-intermetallic particles from around 200nm were achieved after 95% caliber rolling. The caliber rolling can effectively improve mechanical properties with good ultimate strength of 345-360MPa and high elongation of 15-25% in comparison with the as-cast l%Fe specimen with low ultimate strength of 269MPa and low elongation of 1.5%.