METALLOGRAPHIC INVESTIGATIONS OF AUTOMOTIVE Al-Si CAST COMPONENTS

The merit of the project consists in the interdisciplinary joining of the knowledge in the area of light metal alloys, including Al and/or Mg, in the area of materials processing connected with the entire scope of problems connected with manufacturing of products and their elements, in the area of the automated low-pressure die casting, and also in the methodology of structure and properties assessment of the engineering materials with, among others, the X-ray flaw detection and computer image analysis methods. Aluminium alloys have become popular in automotive industry owing to their low weight and some casting and mechanical qualities. The main component of aluminum alloy casting is Si. The eutectic structure in Al-Si casting alloys and Si concentration largely affect the porosity (pore volume). The alloy casting defects occurring during the technological process may be identified by various research methods including microscopy and defectoscopic methods such as X-ray method. The technological progress in material engineering causes the continuous need to develop product testing methods providing comprehensive quality evaluation. In material engineering it is the images obtained by various methods that have become the source of information about materials.