Spray forming of Al-Fe-Cr-Ti and Al-Si-Li alloys

This work presents an investigation of the spray forming and downstream processing of Al alloys that are difficult to produce in bulk by conventional solidification processing: Al-Fe-Cr-Ti alloys for intermediate temperature applications and Al-Si-Li alloys for high stiffness, low density applications in fast moving machinery. For the Al-Fe-Cr-Ti alloys, spray forming is being investigated to allow the scale-up of alloy compositions previously explored only as ribbons or powders in traditional rapid solidification routes. For Al-Si-Li alloys, spray forming is used to provide globular primary AlLiSi in a fully divorced AlLiSi/alpha-Al eutectic structure. For both alloys, the as spray formed and downstream processed microstructure of 20kg billets has been investigated by scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, and X-ray diffractometry. Preliminary mechanical proper-ties have also been investigated