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Disc brake calipers for the automotive industry have traditionally been made from ductile iron, but more of the calipers are currently being converted to aluminum, with weight savings of nearly 40 percent. Amcast Automotive has been involved in the development and manufacture of aluminum caliper castings since 1984 when it first supplied service production aluminum caliper castings for the four-wheel disc brake Pontiac Fiero. Presently, Amcast is introducing several new high volume automotive calipers using heat-treated aluminum 354 and 357 alloys. The paper presents alloy optimization and mechanical property information of aluminum 354 and 357 alloys to aid brake engineers in the design of calipers. In addition to microstructure evaluation, mechanical properties obtained from test bars cut from actual heat-treated caliper castings are presented.

Knuckle castings for the automotive industry have traditionally been made from ductile iron, but engineers are now looking to aluminum castings as a lightweight alternative. Amcast Automotive has been involved in the development and manufacture of A206 aluminum knuckle castings since 1989 when it first supplied Aluminum castings for Ford Motor Co. (MN-12 platform). Recently, several new high volume automotive knuckle castings have been introduced using A356 aluminum alloy with T-6 temper. This paper presents mechanical property information on both A206 and A356 aluminum alloys to assist engineers in the design of knuckle castings in aluminum. In addition to microstructural evaluation, mechanical properties will be obtained from test bars cut from actual heat-treated knuckle castings.