Liquid AI -Si alloys are usually given special treatments before they are cast to obtain finer or modified matrix and eutectic structures, leading to improved proper ties. For many years, sodium additions to hypoeutectic and eutectic AI -Si melts have been recognized as the most effective method of modifying the eutectic morphology, although most of the group IA or IIA elements have significant effects on the eutectic s tructure. Unfortunately, many of these approaches also have associated several founding difficulties, such as fading, forming dross in presence of certain alloying elements, reduced fluidity, etc. ln recent years, antimony additions to AI -Si castings have attracted considerable attention as an alternative method of refining the eutectic structure. Such additions eliminate many of the difficulties listed above and provide permanent (i.e. non -fading) refining ability. In this paper, the authors summarize work on antimony treatment of Al -Si based alloys.
The paper deals with the problem of multiple remelting influence on AlSi6Cu4 alloy modified by antimony on chosen mechanical characteristics, microstructure and gas content. This foundry alloy is used mostly in automotive industry. Foundry Aluminum-Silicon alloys are also used in number of industrial weight sensitive applications because of their low weight and very good castability and good mechanical properties. Modifiers are usually added to molten aluminum-silicon alloys to refine the eutectic phase particle shape and improve the mechanical properties of the final cast products and Al-Si alloys cast properties.
Due to air pollution, global warming and energy shortage demands new clean energy conversion technologies. The conversion of industrial waste heat into useful electricity using thermoelectric (TE) technology is a promising method in recent decades. Still, its applications are limited by the low efficiency of TE materials in the operating range between 400-600 K. In this work, we have fabricated Cu0.005Bi0.5Sb1.495Te3 powder using a single step gas atomization process followed by spark plasma sintering at different temperatures (623, 673, 723, and 773 K), and their thermoelectric properties were investigated. The variation of sintering temperature showed a significant impact on the grain size. The Seebeck coefficient values at room temperature increased significantly from 127 μVK to 151 μV/K with increasing sintering temperature from 623 K to 723 K due to decreased carrier concentration. The maximum ZT values for the four samples were similar in the range between 1.15 to 1.18 at 450 K, which suggest these materials could be used for power generation in the mid-temperature range (400-600 K).