Method of manufacturing a crystalline aluminum-iron-silicon alloy

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10913992-B2
Application number	US-201815984883-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 21, 2018
Priority date	May 21, 2018
Publication date	Feb 9, 2021
Grant date	Feb 9, 2021

Abstract

Provided is a method of manufacturing a crystalline aluminum-iron-silicon alloy, and optionally an automotive component comprising the same, comprising forming a composite ingot including a plurality of crystalline phases by melting aluminum, iron, and silicon raw materials in an inert environment to form a substantially homogenous melt, subsequently solidifying the melt, and annealing the ingot under vacuum by heating at a temperature in the range of 850° C. to 1000° C. yield an annealed crystalline ingot wherein the predominant crystalline phase is FCC Al 3 Fe 2 Si. The raw materials can further include one or more additives such as zinc, zirconium, tin, and chromium. Melting can occur above the FCC Al 3 Fe 2 Si crystalline phase melting point, or at a temperature of about 1100° C. to about 1400° C. Annealing can occur under vacuum conditions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of manufacturing a crystalline aluminum-iron-silicon alloy, the method comprising:
forming a composite ingot comprising a plurality of crystalline phases by melting aluminum, iron, and silicon raw materials in an inert environment to form a substantially homogenous melt and subsequently solidifying the melt; and
annealing the ingot under vacuum by heating at a temperature in a range of 850° C. to 1000° C. to yield an annealed crystalline ingot wherein at least about 90 wt. % of the annealed crystalline ingot is a crystalline FCC Al 3 Fe 2 Si phase.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein melting comprises heating to temperature of about 1100° C. to about 1400° C.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein melting comprises heating to a temperature above the FCC Al 3 Fe 2 Si crystalline phase melting point.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substantially inert environment comprises an argon atmosphere.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein solidifying the melt comprises cooling the melt in the inert environment to at least about 1050° C.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein annealing occurs under a vacuum of pressures lower than about 60 mTorr.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composite ingot comprises less than about 0.01 wt. % FCC Al 3 Fe 2 Si crystalline phase.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the annealed crystalline ingot comprises less than about 1 wt. % triclinic Al—Fe—Si crystalline phases and less than about 5 wt. % hexagonal Al—Fe—Si crystalline phases.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the annealed ingot comprises less than about 1 wt. % amorphous phase material.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising grinding the composite ingot prior to annealing.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the melt comprises about 31 wt. % to about 35 wt. % aluminum, about 50 wt. % to about 55 wt. % iron, and about 11 wt. % to about 13 wt. % silicon.

12. A method of manufacturing an automotive component, the method comprising:
forming a composite ingot comprising a plurality of crystalline phases by melting aluminum, iron, and silicon raw materials in an inert environment at a temperature of about 1100° C. to about 1400° C. and subsequently solidifying the melt; and
annealing the ingot under a vacuum of pressures lower than about 60 mTorr by heating at a temperature in a range of 850° C. to 1000° C. and subsequently cooling to yield an annealed crystalline ingot wherein at least about 90 wt. % of the annealed crystalline ingot is a FCC Al 3 Fe 2 Si crystalline phase.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the composite ingot comprises less than about 0.01 wt. % FCC Al 3 Fe 2 Si crystalline phase.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the melt comprises about 31 wt. % to about 35 wt. % aluminum, about 50 wt. % to about 55 wt. % iron, and about 11 wt. % to about 13 wt. % silicon.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Liu Zhongyi
• Qi Tengjiao
• Salvador James R
• Kukreja Ratandeep S

Classifications

• C22C33/04 Primary

  by melting · CPC title

• C22C33/006

  compositions used for making ferrous alloys · CPC title

• C21D6/008 Primary

  containing Si · CPC title

• C22F1/04

  of aluminium or alloys based thereon · CPC title

• C22C38/06

  containing aluminium · CPC title