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Advances in Al/Mg/Cu Alloys and Their Composites: Welding, Additive Manufacturing, Heterogeneous Microstructures, and Mechanical Properties

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Metals and Alloys".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2025 | Viewed by 2492

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Shuncun Luo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
High-Performance Metal Structural Materials Research Institute, School of Iron and Steel, Soochow University, Suzhou 215131, China
Interests: Al/Mg/Cu Alloys; welding; additive manufacturing；microstructures; mechanical properties

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on the latest research findings on advances in Al/Mg/Cu alloys and their composites, including the same/dissimilar welding and additive manufacturing based on heat sources such as arcs, lasers, and electron beams, heterogeneous microstructures, mechanical properties, and strengthening mechanisms.

This collection of work aims to explore new manufacturing technologies, such as welding and additive manufacturing, basic principles of heterogeneous microstructure regulation, the relationship between microstructure and properties, defect formation mechanisms and control strategies, and strengthening mechanisms.

We welcome the submission of original research articles and reviews to this Special Issue. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: advanced same/dissimilar welding and the additive manufacturing of Al/Mg/Cu alloys and their composites, heterogeneous microstructure evolution and regulation, microstructure simulation, defect simulation and real-time control strategies, process optimization, and performance improvement.

I/We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Shuncun Luo
Guest Editor

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Al/Mg/Cu alloys
  • welding
  • additive manufacturing
  • microstructures
  • mechanical properties

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 10152 KiB  
Article
Effect of Melt Treatment and Heat Treatment on the Performance of Aluminum Cylinder Heads
by Herbert W. Doty, Ehab Samuel, Agnes M. Samuel, Victor Songmene and Fawzy H. Samuel
Materials 2025, 18(5), 1024; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18051024 - 26 Feb 2025
Viewed by 421
Abstract
The present study was performed on real-life I4-aluminum cylinder heads produced industrially by applying the lost foam technique to Al-Si-Mg alloys (356 and 357). This work, in addition, introduces a new Al-Cu alloys coded 220 alloy. The main aim of this study is [...] Read more.
The present study was performed on real-life I4-aluminum cylinder heads produced industrially by applying the lost foam technique to Al-Si-Mg alloys (356 and 357). This work, in addition, introduces a new Al-Cu alloys coded 220 alloy. The main aim of this study is to analyze the effects of liquid metal treatment on the hardness and tensile properties of such castings. The effects of liquid metal treatment (modification with 200 ppm Sr, grain refining with 150 ppm B and degassing using pure Ar) of the castings produced by the lost foam technique on the tensile strength and hardness properties were evaluated. Hydrogen plays an important role in the formation of porosity. At the same time, the foam mold leaves an impression on the casting surface taking the shape of fine holes. In addition, segregation of hydrogen occurs in front of the solidification front. Thus, the porosity is a combination of hydrogen level and the solidification rate. Gains of 17% and 24% are observed for the hardness and yield strength for alloy 357 compared to alloy 356, caused by the difference in their magnesium (Mg) contents in the sense that, in the T6 heat-treated condition, precipitates in the form of ultra-fine Mg2Si phase particles are formed. The enhancement in the mechanical properties of the used alloy depends mainly of the volume fraction of the precipitated Mg2Si particles. The hardness of alloy 220 increases by 18% and the yield strength by 15% compared to that measured for alloy 356. In this case, the hardening phase Al2Cu is responsible for this increase. Thus, this study demonstrates that liquid metal treatments significantly enhance the hardness and yield strength of Al-Si-Mg and Al-Cu alloys, with the gain attributed to refined microstructures and reduced porosity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Al/Mg/Cu Alloys and Their Composites: Welding, Additive Manufacturing, Heterogeneous Microstructures, and Mechanical Properties)
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25 pages, 17504 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Rare Earth Metals on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of 220 and 356.1 Alloys for Automotive Industry
by Herbert W. Doty, Shimaa El-Hadad, Ehab Samuel, Agnes M. Samuel and Fawzy H. Samuel
Materials 2025, 18(5), 941; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18050941 - 21 Feb 2025
Viewed by 381
Abstract
Application of rare earths (RE) as grain refiners is well-known in the technology of aluminum alloys for the automotive industry. In the current study, Al-2.4%Cu-0.4%Mg alloy (coded 220) and Al-7.5%Si-0.35%Mg alloy (coded 356.1), were prepared by melting each alloy in a resistance furnace. [...] Read more.
Application of rare earths (RE) as grain refiners is well-known in the technology of aluminum alloys for the automotive industry. In the current study, Al-2.4%Cu-0.4%Mg alloy (coded 220) and Al-7.5%Si-0.35%Mg alloy (coded 356.1), were prepared by melting each alloy in a resistance furnace. Strontium (Sr) was used as a modifier, while titanium boride (TiB2) was added as a grain refiner. Measured amounts of Ce and La were added to both alloys (max. 1 wt.%). The alloy melts were poured in a preheated metallic mold. The main part of the study was conducted on tensile testing at room temperature. The results show that although RE would cause grain refining to be about 30–40% through the constitutional undercooling mechanism, grain refining with TiB2 would lead to approximately 90% refining (heterogenous nucleation mechanism). The addition of high purity Ce or La (99.9% purity) has no modification effect regardless of the alloy composition or the concentration of RE. Depending on the alloy ductility, the addition of 0.2 wt.%RE has a hardening effect that causes precipitation of RE in the form of dispersoids (300–700 nm). However, this increase vanishes with the decrease in alloy ductility, i.e., with T6 treatment, due to intensive precipitation of ultra-fine coherent Mg2Si-phase particles. There is no definite distinction in the behavior of Ce or La in terms of their high affinity to interact with other transition elements in the matrix, particularly Ti, Fe, Cu, and Sr. When the melt was properly degassed using high-purity argon and filtered using a 20 ppi ceramic foam filter, prior to pouring the liquid metal into the mold sprue, no measurable number of RE oxides was observed. In conclusion, the application of RE to aluminum castings would only lead to formation of a significant volume fraction of brittle intermetallics. In Ti-free alloys, identification of Ce- or La-intermetallics is doubtful due to the fairly thin thickness of the precipitated platelets (about 1 µm) and the possibility that most of the reported Al, Si, and other elements make the reported values for RE rather ambiguous. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Al/Mg/Cu Alloys and Their Composites: Welding, Additive Manufacturing, Heterogeneous Microstructures, and Mechanical Properties)
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20 pages, 21466 KiB  
Article
Influence of the Deformation Degree on the Evolution of the Microstructure and Properties of Al-10.0Zn-2.7Mg-2.3Cu Alloy During Short-Flow Thermo-Mechanical Treatment
by Hao Li, Yongxing Zhao, Yuanchun Huang, Yu Liu and Junhua Cheng
Materials 2025, 18(3), 554; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18030554 - 26 Jan 2025
Viewed by 710
Abstract
A simple short-flow thermo-mechanical treatment (TMT) named L-ITMT (consisting of three steps: solution, warm deformation, and solution) was applied to ultra-high-strength Al-10.0Zn-2.7Mg-2.3Cu alloy to study the influence of the deformation degree on the particle distribution, resolubility, microstructure evolution, recrystallization mechanism, formation and development [...] Read more.
A simple short-flow thermo-mechanical treatment (TMT) named L-ITMT (consisting of three steps: solution, warm deformation, and solution) was applied to ultra-high-strength Al-10.0Zn-2.7Mg-2.3Cu alloy to study the influence of the deformation degree on the particle distribution, resolubility, microstructure evolution, recrystallization mechanism, formation and development of deformation bonds, and mechanical properties. Increasing the rolling deformation during the L-ITMT process can effectively break up the second phase at the grain boundary and promote its dissolution, which is beneficial to aging precipitation strengthening and improves the strength of the alloy. The dominant mechanism changes from recovery to recrystallization when the deformation degree reaches 80%. As the strain increases, the deformation band becomes flatter and eventually becomes nearly parallel to the RD direction, promoting the occurrence of geometric recrystallization or continuous recrystallization (CRX). Under high-strain conditions, the formation mechanisms of recrystallized grains include discontinuous recrystallization (DRX), CRX, and particle-stimulated nucleation (PSN), but the main contributions to the formation of large-area fine-grained bands are CRX and PSN. The results showed that as the deformation degree increased from 10% to 80%, the improvement of solid solubility and grain refinement in the short-flow TMT process increased the ultimate tensile strength (701 MPa), yield strength (658 MPa), and elongation (11.3%) of the alloy by 15.7%, 10.8%, and 842%, respectively. This shows that the short L-ITMT process has a synergistic effect in significantly improving the plasticity and maintaining the strength of this ultra-high strength Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Al/Mg/Cu Alloys and Their Composites: Welding, Additive Manufacturing, Heterogeneous Microstructures, and Mechanical Properties)
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23 pages, 20209 KiB  
Article
Effect of Fe Concentration and Superheating on the Microstructure and Tensile Properties of High Mg 413.0-Type Alloys: Role of Sr, Be, P, and La
by Herbert W. Doty, Ehab Samuel, Agnes M. Samuel, Ehab Elsharkawi, Victor Songmene and Fawzy H. Samuel
Materials 2025, 18(2), 249; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18020249 - 8 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 706
Abstract
The present work was undertaken to explore the multiple alloys and process steps that have been suggested to mitigate the harmful effects of high iron content in cast Al-Si alloys. The base alloy used was ommercial 413.0 alloy containing 0.35%Mg. Iron was added [...] Read more.
The present work was undertaken to explore the multiple alloys and process steps that have been suggested to mitigate the harmful effects of high iron content in cast Al-Si alloys. The base alloy used was ommercial 413.0 alloy containing 0.35%Mg. Iron was added at three Fe levels up to 1.8%. The addition of Sr, 1.0%Zn, 0.2%Ti were made to the alloys so prepared, which were melted and maintained at a superheat of 750 °C or 950 °C. The melts were poured in different molds that produced three solidification rates. In total, 40 castings were prepared: half of the castings were used for metallographic examinations in the as-cast condition, while the other half were set aside for tensile testing following T6 treatment. The results show that at a solidification rate of 50 °C/s, 1.8%Fe could be dissolved in the aluminum matrix regardless of other melt treatments. With regard to the other solidification rates, superheating at 950 °C, coupled with Sr addition or Sr + Be, reduces the average β-platelets length by 80% (0.8 °C/s) or 95% (8 °C/s). The addition of P causes a marked drop in the alloy tensile strength due to the precipitation of primary Si, Al2Si2Sr, and β-AlFeSi hard-phase particles. Therefore, reducing the iron content in the castings may be considered a major objective to be recommended for developing alloys with higher strength and optimum quality values. More than 1000 tensile bars were tested in this study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Al/Mg/Cu Alloys and Their Composites: Welding, Additive Manufacturing, Heterogeneous Microstructures, and Mechanical Properties)
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