A New Heat Treatment Process for Aluminum High Pressure Die Castings and its Application to Industrially Produced Components

摘要

The solution heat treatment of conventional aluminum high pressure die casting (HPDC) parts has not previously been possible because the high temperatures involved cause surface blistering and dimensional instability. A new heat treatment procedure has been developed which alleviates this problem and can significantly improve mechanical properties, in many cases doubling the yield strength after artificial (T6) ageing. Where the major design criterion is 0.2 percent proof strength, the heat treatment process enables current HPDC parts to use less metal to achieve the required performance requirements. The cost of heat treatment can be easily offset by the reduction in metal content and productivity improvements which result in an overall lower cost of the part. The new heat treatment process also creates opportunities to substitute for some other cast or wrought products with aluminum HPDC parts of lower weight and lower cost. This paper discusses application of this heat treatment technology to a range of industrially produced HPDC components.