FACULTY OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

ALLEN MAKUMBIROFA N01522978W

ENNOCENT BUDZI N01522940N
TAWANDA NYATHI N01522988P
BLESSMORE NDEMO N01523019L
JAMES ZENGENI N01522941Q

COURSE: MATERIALS AND CONTAINMENT

ASSIGNMENT: ALUMINIUM AND ITS ALLOYS

STRUCTURE OF PURE ALUMINIUM
Aluminium crystallises in the face centred cubic structure. There is an atom in the
centre of each face. In addition to this atom, there are atoms on the corner of each
cube. Each face atom touches its nearest corner atom and is shared by only one
adjacent cube. Therefore the unit cell of aluminium has four atoms. Aluminium has
got twelve possible slip systems.

PROPERTIES OF ALUMINIUM
PHYSICAL
 It is relatively soft.
 Durable.
 Lightweight.
 Ductile.
 Malleable.
 Non-magnetic and does not easily ignite.
 A good thermal and electrical conductor.
 Excellent reflector.
 Low density.

CHEMICAL
 High corrosion resistance.
 Reacts with water to form hydrogen in highly acidic solutions.
 Reacts with water to form aluminates in highly alkaline solutions.
 Aluminium is oxidised by water below 280 degrees celcius to form
hydrogen,aluminium hydroxide and heat.
 Highly reactive with chlorides.
 STRESS/STRAIN CURVE OF ALUMINIUM

Stress vs. Strain curve typical of aluminum.

 1 Ultimate Strength
 2 Yield Strength
 3 Proportional Limit Stress
 4 Rupture
5 Offset Strain (usually 0.002)
USES OF ALUMINIUM LINKED TO ITS PROPERTIES

PROPERTIES USES

 aluminum is a good extensively for overhead

conductor of electricity electrical cable
and light
 nontoxic, light and easy to Household utensils for example
recycle spoons and folks
 excellent corrosion Making window frames,
resistance roofing materials
 good heat conduction Making of boilers and cookers
 high reflectivity Making mirrors ,reflectors and
heat resistant clothing
  nonmagnetic Magnetic X ray devices
material(paramagnetic)


REASONS FOR ALLOYING ALUMINIUM WITH OTHER

ELEMENTS
 To increase stress bearing
 To reduce oxidation at very high temperatures.
 To improve conductivity
 Increases the rate of age hardening.
 To improve corrosion resistance.
 For good welding characteristics.
 To increase the melting point.

FIVE MAJOR ALLOYS OF ALUMINIUM ARE:

 Copper –Aluminium
 Silicon –Aluminium
 Magnesium-Aluminium
 Aluminium-Chromate
 Aluminium-Zinc

COPPER-ALUMINIUM
This alloy has a face centred cubic [Link] has two phases in the solid state.
DESCRIPTION

The Al-Cu phase diagram shown only goes up to around 60%, by weight, of Copper.
The Al-Cu phase diagram is split at around 54wt%Cu by a particular phase. This
"split" means that the two parts of the diagram can be considered separately. The
diagram up to the 54% point is very similar to the "standard" phase diagram.

Examining the phase diagram:

 the 33wt%Cu alloy is of eutectic composition and

 the 20wt%Cu alloy is hypoeutectic as it is on the left of the eutectic point.

SILICON-ALUMINIUM
  Al-13wt%Si
 Al-13wt%Si-0.01%Na

13wt%Si places the alloy to the right of the eutectic point on the phase diagram and
so the Al-13wt%Si alloy is hypereutectic. The eutectic on this phase diagram contains
much more alpha than Si and so we expect the eutectic mixture (alpha+Si) to be
mainly alpha (consider the lever rule at the eutectic temperature).
As this alloy is hypereutectic, primary Si forms first, depleting the liquid of Si until it
reaches the eutectic composition where the remaining solidification follows the
eutectic reaction.

MAGNESIUM-ALUMINIUM

Structure in the solid state

 Description
•Eutectic reaction gives K phase (FCC) and β Phase (Al3Mg2.
The Al-Mg phase diagram shown only goes up to around 99%, by weight, of
Magnesium. The Al-Mg phase diagram is split at around 57wt%Mg by a particular
phase. This "split" means that the two parts of the diagram can be considered
separately. The diagram up to the 57% point is very similar to the "standard" phase
diagram. Consider two Al-Cu alloys, one of composition 36wt%Mg and the other of
22wt%Mg

ALUMINIUM AND ZINC

Description

α= Al rich FCC phase

ß= Zn rich FCC phase
η= Zn rich HCP phase
L= Liquid Solution
Properties of alloys and their uses

ALLOY NAME PROPERTIES USES

1. Zinc-aluminium •High eutectic melting  To make bearings

point.  Used in military
•Good machinability. applications.
•Dimensional stability.  die casting
•Corrosion resistance  airframes
. •Not suitable for high
temperature applications
due to rapid softening
 very high strength
2. Copper-aluminium  High strength  Fuel tanks
 Good creep
strength at high
temp.
 High toughness at
 cryogenic temp.
 Good machinability

3. Magnesium-aluminium  High rate of work  Transportation

hardening structural plates
 High corrosion  Large tanks for
resistance petrol, milk,
 Bright surface grain
finish  Pressure vessel
 Architectural
components
 Chemical and
sewage
 Kitchen utensils
[Link]-aluminium  Good
castabilityand high
fluidity due to Al-
Si eutectic
 High corrosion
resistance
 Good weldability.
 Low solidification
shrinkage.
 Machining
difficulty in
hypereutectic

Working processes of aluminium and its alloys

Work Hardening: When work is done below the metal's

recrystallization temperature (cold work), it not only forms the metal, but
also increases it strength due to the fact that dislocations trying to glide
on different slip planes interact causing a "traffic jam" that prevents them
from moving. Fabricating processes carried out above the metal's
recrystallization temperature (hot work) do not normally increase strength
over the annealed strength condition.
With non-heat-treatable wrought alloys, cold work is the only way of
increasing strength. With heat treatable alloy, cold work applied after
heat treating can increase strength still further. Work hardening of non-
heat treatable aluminium magnesium and pure aluminium alloy is shown
in Figure 1501

TALAT 1501

Solid Solution Hardening

Most alloys are solid solutions of one or more metals dissolved in another metal:
either the alloying of atoms take over the lattice positions of some of the base-metal
atoms (substitutional solid solutions) or they occupy spaces in the lattice between
the base-metal (interstitial solid solutions). In both cases, the base-metal lattice is
distorted, retarding the movement of dislocations and hence strengthening the
metal. The 5000 series with magnesium as the solute is a good example.

Most aluminium alloys reflect some solid solution hardening as a result of one or
more elements being dissolved in the aluminium base, each element's contribution to
the strength of the alloy is roughly additive. Usually these alloys are further
strengthened by heat treatment or by work hardening.
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