The effect of alloying additions on the structure and properties of Al-Mg-Si-Mn casting alloy – A review

The designing of new light-weight alloys for continuous replacement of cast iron and steel parts is now the mainstream regarding energy saving and improvement of fuel consumption in the transportation sector. Parallel with the remarkable advances in aluminium wrought alloys, the search for novel efficient casting alloys still attracts the attention of researchers and manufacturers of aluminium casting. The last decades have shown a growing interest in Al-Mg-Si-Mn casting alloys. Despite their active implementation into foundry practice, there is a lack of research regarding their structural formation after additional alloying by Cu, Zn, Sc, Zr, Ti, Li, and especially the effect of ‘natural hardening’ when an alloy undergoes aging from as-cast condition. In this paper the authors have summarised the existing information on the Al-Mg-Si-Mn casting alloys, including their structure and the effects of Mn, Cu, Zn, Sc, Sc+Zr and Li additions on the properties, along with their own results concerning this group of casting materials.

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