Comparative Study of the Metallurgical Quality of Primary and Secondary AlSi10MnMg Aluminium Alloys

The use of secondary aluminium is increasingly being promoted in the automotive industry for environmental reasons. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that it is possible to obtain a recycled AlSi10MnMg(Fe) aluminium alloy with equal metallurgical quality to that of a primary AlSi10MnMg alloy when an adequate melt treatment is applied. The melt treatment consisted of deoxidation, degassing and skimming in accordance with the detailed procedure described in this article. The metallurgical qualities of one primary and two secondary alloys were assessed using thermal analysis, the density index test, the macroinclusion test and the microinclusion level test before and after melt treatment. The thermal analysis allowed us to compare the variables of the solidification cooling curve (Al primary temperature and its undercooling; Al-Si eutectic temperature and its predictive modification rate). The density index test was used to evaluate the hydrogen gas content in the melt. The macroinclusion test was used to evaluate the melt cleanliness, while the microinclusion level test was used to perform the inclusion identification and quantification analyses. This study showed the feasibility of manufacturing structural components using 100% recycled secondary aluminium alloy through V-HPDC technology.

Funding: This research was partially supported by the Basque Government’s Elkartek Tipo2 Programme managed by Spri under grant agreement no. Elkartek2019 (KK-2019/00080) from Innproal. The Alu-Q® development was supported partially by funding received as part of the REVaMP project from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 869882.