Nonferrous Alloys

Structural metals and alloys are often divided into two major categories,
ferrous and nonferrous materials.
• Ferrous alloys are those based on iron as the principal metal and include
steels, stainless steels, cast iron, etc, as discussed in our last lecture.
• Approximately 90% of the world’s production of metals/alloys are ferrous
because of their good strength, toughness, ductility and relatively low
cost.

Nonferrous alloys are those based on other metals with particular emphasis
on Al, Cu, Ti, Zn, Zr, and Mg.
Aluminum is an extremely useful engineering material as:
• they are light weight and strong; Al has a density of 2700 kg/m3, which is
about 1/3 that of steel.
• their strength to weight ratio is excellent.
• Al is non-toxic.
• Al is one of the best metal electrical conductors
• Al has good corrosion resistance due to its natural oxide layer, which is
thin and passive once formed.
 Aluminum
(cont’d)
Aluminum is an extremely useful engineering material as:
• Al stays ductile at low temperatures
• Al has a relatively low price
• It is the third most plentiful element on earth (next to oxygen and
silicon).
• Al is easily alloyed and many of its alloys are stronger than pure Al.
• Al alloys are non-magnetic.
• Al alloys have a stable or predictable microstructure.
• Al alloys have an excellent machining, forming, and forging
characteristics.
• Al alloys have a relatively high thermal expansion.
• Al alloys have a relatively high thermal conduction.
- Al’s FCC crystal structure retains its strength, ductility and
toughness at cryogenic temperatures. This is why we see many
cryogenic tanks made from Al.
 Aluminum
(cont’d)
Disadvantages of Aluminum include:
• Al has a low melting temperature so can’t be used at high
temperatures (above ~ 400 C)
• Al has low hardness so it is not good for wear resistance.
• Al’s FCC structure work hardens so it may become brittle after
plastic deform and fracture easily.
• Al’s high thermal expansion sometimes causes problems with its
use as an interconnect for electronic devices
 Aluminium
Boat Hulls Body XJ6 Aluminium Chassis

Aluminium Engine Audi A2 engine block

Aluminium Bumper Beams Blocks (Lupo)
Forged Aluminium Wheels Aluminium Roofing

Al heat transfer
components
 Aluminum Alloys
Aluminum alloys can be subdivided into two major groups based on their
method of fabrication:

•Wrought alloys
•Cast alloys

Wrought alloys are shaped by plastic deformation and have microstructures

and compositions different from the casting alloys because of the differences
in manufacturing requirements.

Within each of these two major groups, they are further subdivided into two
subgroups:

•Heat treatable alloys

•Non-heat treatable alloys

Heat treatable alloys are strengthened by “age hardening”, whereas nonheat

treatable alloys are strengthened by strain hardening.
 Age Hardening
There are three steps to age harden materials such as Aluminum.

1. Solution Treatment – the alloy is heated above the solvus temperature

into a single phase region of the phase diagram to dissolve any
secondary phases such as precipitates. The material is held at this
temperature until a homogeneous solid solution is produced. Al is
usually solution-treated between 500 oC and 548 oC.

2. Quench – the alloy is rapidly cooled so the atoms do not have enough
time to diffuse to potential nucleation sites. The alloy remains as a
single phase material that is supersaturated with alloying elements. If
the material is work hardened, the increase in dislocations density can
be used as nucleation sites during aging.

3. Aged – The alloy is heated to a temperature below the solvus so the

atoms can diffuse to numerous nucleation sites to produce precipitates.
Nucleation of precipitates is enhanced by the presence of dislocations.
Ideally, uniformly highly dispersed, ultrafine precipitates give the best
effect in age hardening or precipitate strengthening.
 Cathodic Cleaning of Oxides from Aluminum Surface by
Variable-Polarity Arc
BY R. SARRAFI AND R. KOVACEVIC
SUPPLEMENT TO THE WELDING JOURNAL, JANUARY 2010

Removal of surface oxides

very important element -when high quality welds of aluminum alloys
GTAW
The melting temperature of aluminum oxide (2050°C
AC current can be used
DCEP
DCEN with helium shielding gas. (success and popularity of these
methods are far less as compared to DCEP)

Defects :
fusion defects,
Inclusions
porosities.
Mechanism of Cathodic Cleaning during Aluminum Welding
1. the positive ions that are accelerated toward the aluminum cathode are
assumed to “sputter” the surface oxide layer. Sputtering is the ejection of
substrate atoms by the effect of the high-energy bombarding particles.

2. the surface oxides are assumed to be destructed because of the

dielectric breakdown phenomenon. When the electric field exceeds a
critical value, the materials that are considered dielectric can conduct
electricity.
3. the evaporation of the oxide layers at the cathode spots of
nonthermionic cathodes
However, there is no paper in literature dedicated to the experimental
investigation !!!
Sputtering is the ejection of substrate atoms from their
lattice under the effect of high-energy bombarding
particles.

The energetic positive ions striking the surface are

responsible for the removal of atoms from the substrate

Some of the energetic incident ions can penetrate into

the interatomic space of the substrate material lattice
which accelerate multiple collisions themselves.
The arc in DCEN polarity is much brighter than the arc
in DCEP polarity

The low intensity of arc emission during DCEP polarity

makes the viewing through the DCEP arc easier than
through the DCEN arc.

the temperature of the arc column is lower in the DCEP

polarity than in the DCEN polarity.