Dimensional Stability of Al-Si-Cu Castings

The purpose of this study was to determine if artificial aging treatment can be used to dimensionally stabilize 319 aluminum alloy castings while maintaining acceptable levels of hardness. Previous studies have suggested that such castings are not fully stabilized following Thermal Sand Removal and natural aging procedures. The investigation revealed that artificial aging at 200 degrees centigrade, for a duration of 10 hours, stabilized cast components without compromising hardness. Higher temperature and longer duration artificial aging procedures made the castings unacceptably soft while those of shorter duration failed to ensure sufficient stability.