Investigation mechanical properties and microstructure of aluminium silicon alloy using sand casting / Wong Yin Ying

Project paper (Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with Manufacturing Engineering) -- Universiti Malaysia Pahang - 2010

Bibliography : p. 50

This project is to investigate mechanical properties and microstructure of aluminium silicon alloy using sand casting. In this project there were separated into two parts which are foundry laboratory and inspection parameter. In foundry laboratory, a sand casting process was performed by using a diesel furnace to melt the raw material. Then, determinate an optimization of mass degassing agent added in the casting aluminium silicon alloy is to remove the hydrogen element in the casting product. After the casting process, an inspection parameter was performed to investigate the mechanical properties (tensile strength and hardness) and microstructure changed of the aluminium silicon alloys. From the observation of the result, a modified alloys exits slightly higher hardness values than non-modified. Since the coarseness of porosity is proportional to grain size, porosity in fine grained casting is finer and less harmful in fine-grained casting. In additional, shrinkage and hot cracking are usually associated with coarse-grained structure. So, a finer grain size minimizes shrinkage and the mechanical properties, such as tensile is better for fine grained casting than coarse-grained casting. The modified of the casting product by adding the degassing agent inside the casting will give better result mechanical properties in hardness test and tensile strength until an optimization point achieved where there is improvement of mechanical properties.