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In the present study, a design of experiment (DOE) technique, the Taguchi method, was used to develop as-cast high strength aluminum alloys with element additions of Si, Cu, Ni and Sr. The Taguchi method uses a special design of orthogonal arrays to study all the designed factors with a minimum of experiments at a relatively low cost. The element factors chosen for this study were Si, Cu, Ni and Sr content in the designed aluminum-based alloys. For each factor, three different levels of weight percentages were selected (Si: 6, 9, 12%, Cu: 3, 5, 7%, Ni: 0.5, 1, 1.5% and Sr: 0.01, 0.02, 0.03%). Tensile properties such as ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and elongation at failure were selected as three individual responses to evaluate the engineering performance of the designed alloys. The results of the factor response analysis were used to derive the optimal level combinations.

Recently, joining of cast aluminum components with wrought and/or cast similar metals becomes an urgent task for the auto industry to develop light-weight complex and large-scale chassis and body structures for further reduction in vehicle weight. In this study, fusion-joining of vacuum high pressure die cast (VHPDC) alloy A356 subjected to T5 heat treatment and wrought alloy 6061 with the Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW-MIG) process was experimented in an effort to understand the effect of the MIG process on the microstructure development and tensile behaviors of the base alloys (T5 A356 and 6061), Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) and Fusion Zone (filler metal ER4043). The results of tensile testing indicated that the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS) and elongation (Ef) of VHPDC T5 A356 were relatively high, compared to both wrought alloy 6061 and the filler metal (ER 4043).

Powertrain applications of alloy AJ62 arose from its comparative resistance to high temperature deformation among magnesium alloys. In this research, AJ62 permanent-mould cast in different section thicknesses was subjected to immersion corrosion in commercially-available engine coolant. The objective was to determine corrosion behaviour variation among casting thicknesses. Corrosion product accumulation suggests passive film formation, and unlike in other media, the film exhibits certain stability. Extreme thicknesses were used to generate polarization curves for their respective microstructures in engine coolant. Variation with casting section thickness was observed in the curves. These preliminary results indicate coarsened microstructures reduce corrosion resistance of the permanent mold cast AJ62 alloy.