New and improved AL alloy for high pressure die casting of structural automotive components - characterization, heat treatment and mechanical

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Recently, a new Al alloy was developed from the family of the AA7xxx (Al-Zn-Cu-Mg) alloy to enable structural automotive cast components that would potentially replace several high density iron based components and realize significant weight reduction of the an automobile curb weight along with the economical and environmental benefits through improved fuel efficiency and reduced Green House Gases (GHG) when implemented. Large scale industrial testing of the new alloy had firmly established the proof-of-concept and yielded data to demonstrate a 200% improvement in strength and ductility when compared to the current state-of-the-art alloy, improved die tool life, reduce operating and maintenance cost of the high pressure die casting (HPDC) process and improved recyclability of a light weight automotive structural alloy. A provisional patent application has been filed to protect the intellectual property pertaining to this new alloy invention. There would be a significant positive economic and environmental impact in the automotive manufacturing sector and automobiles at large globally through the successful implementation of this technology in commercial practice. This project proposal aims to carry out critical technological assessment through research and implementation in order to establish the operating boundaries of this new alloy in the HPDC process: geometric design constraints of the casting component, hot tearing susceptibility and heat treatment optimization. The deliverable of this project would establish certain viable operating windows for the new alloy that would guide the choice of automotive products that could possibly be implemented at the onset of commercialization with minimum risk of failure. The strategy of the project would be to carry out intense laboratory scale research and development at the initial stage to characterize and evaluate the optimum operation boundaries of the alloy, identify an existing commercial automotive product that would satisfy the criteria obtained from the laboratory scale R&D and carry out industrial scale trial to validate the feasibility of implementing the alloy in commercial automotive casting practice.