In order to broaden the range of application of light weight aluminum alloys, it is necessary to enhance the mechanical properties of the alloys and combine them with other materials, such as cast iron. In this study, the effects of adding small amounts of Cu and Zr to the Al-Si-Mg based alloy on tensile properties and corrosion characteristics were investigated, and the effect of the addition on the interfacial compounds layer with the cast iron was also analyzed. Although the tensile strength of the Al-Si-Mg alloy was not significantly affected by the additions of Cu and Zr, the corrosion resistance in 3.5 %NaCl solution was found to be somewhat lowered in this research. The influence of Cu and Zr addition on the type and thickness of the interfacial compounds layer formed during compound casting with cast iron was not significant, and the main interfacial compounds were identified to be Al5FeSi and Al8Fe2Si phases, as in the case of the Al-Si-Mg alloys.

This research investigated the effect of Si addition on the microstructure, mechanical properties, electric and thermal conductivity of as-extruded Al 6013 alloys. As the content of Si increased, the area fraction of the second phase increased. As the Si content increased, the average grain size decreased remarkably, from 182 (no Si addition) to 142 (1.5Si), 78 (3.0Si) and 77 μm (4.5Si) due to dynamic recrystallization by the dispersed second particles in the aluminum matrix during the hot extrusion. As the Si content increased, the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength increased. The maximum values of yield strength and ultimate tensile strength were 224 MPa and 103 MPa for the 6013-4.5Si alloy. As the amount of Si added increased, the electrical and thermal conductivity decreased. The electrical and thermal conductivity of the Al6013-4.5Si alloy were 44.0% IACS and 165.0 W/mK, respectively. The addition of Si to Al 6013 alloy had a significant effect on its thermal conductivity and mechanical properties.

In this study, the effects of Sm addition (0, 0.05, 0.2, 0.5 wt%) on the microstructure, hardness, and electrical and thermal conductivity of Al-11Si-1.5Cu aluminum alloy were investigated. As a result of Sm addition, increment in the amount of α-Al and refinement of primary Si from 70 to 10 μm were observed due to eutectic temperature depression. On the other hand, Sm was less effective at refining eutectic Si because of insufficient addition. The phase analysis results indicated that Sm-rich intermetallic phases such as Al-Fe-Mg-Si and Al-Si-Cu formed and led to decrements in the amount of primary Si and eutectic Si. These microstructure changes affected not only the hardness but also the electrical and thermal conductivity. When 0.5 wt% Sm was added to the alloy, hardness increased from 84.4 to 91.3 Hv, and electric conductivity increased from 15.14 to 16.97 MS/m. Thermal conductivity greatly increased from 133 to 157 W/m·K.

Cr-Al alloys are attracting attention as oxidation resistant coating materials for high temperature metallic materials due to their excellent high temperature stability. However, the mechanical properties and oxidation resistance of Cr-Al alloys can be further enhanced, and such attempts are made in this study. To improve the properties of Cr-Al alloys, Si is added up to 5 wt%. Casting specimens with different amounts of Si content are prepared by a vacuum arc remelting method and isothermally heated under steam conditions at 1,100oC for 1 hour. The as-cast microstructure of low Si alloys is mainly composed of only a Cr phase, while Al8Cr5 and Cr3Si phases are also observed in the 5% Si alloy. In the high Si alloy, only Cr and Cr3Si phases remain after the isothermal heating at 1,100oC. It is found that Si additions slightly decrease the oxidation resistance of the Cr-Al alloy. However, the microhardness of the Cr-Al alloy is observed to increase with an increasing Si content.

For the development of a low-melting point filler metal for brazing aluminum alloy, we analyzed change of melting point and wettability with addition of Sn into Al-20Cu-10Si filler metal. DSC results showed that the addition of 5 wt% Sn into the Al-20Cu-10Si filler metal caused its liquidus temperature to decrease by about 30 oC. In the wettability test, spread area of melted Al-Cu-Si-Sn alloy is increased through the addition of Sn from 1 to 5 wt%. For the measuring of the mechanical properties of the joint region, Al 3003 plate is brazed by Al-20Cu-10Si-5Sn filler metal and the mechanical property is measured by tensile test. The results showed that the tensile strength of the joint region is higher than the tensile strength of Al 3003. Thus, failure occurred in the Al 3003 plate.

To fabricate porous SiC-Si composites for heating element applications, both SiC powders and Si powders were mixed and sintered together. The properties of the sintered SiC-Si body were investigated as a function of SiC particle size and/or Si particle contents from 10 wt% to 40 wt%, respectively. Porous SiC-Si composites were fabricated by Si bonded reaction at a sintering temperature of 1650 oC for 80 min. The microstructure and phase analysis of SiC-Si composites that depend on Si particle contents were characterized using scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction. The electrical resistivity of SiC-Si composites was also evaluated using a 4-point probe resistivity method. The electrical resistivity of the sintered SiC-Si body sharply decreased as the amount of Si addition increased. We found that the electrical resistivity of porous SiC-Si composites is closely related to the amount of Si added and at least 20 wt% Si are needed in order to apply the SiCSi composites to the heating element.

The effects of particle size of Li-Si alloy and LiCl-KCl addition as a binder phase for raw material of anode were investigated on the formability of the thermal battery anode. The formability was evaluated with respect to filling density, tap density, compaction density, spring-back and compressive strength. With increasing particle size of Li-Si alloy powder, densities increased while spring-back and compressive strength decreased. Since the small spring-back is beneficial to avoiding breakage of pressed compacts, larger particles might be more suitable for anode forming. The increasing amount of LiCl-KCl binder phase contributed to reducing spring-back, improving the formability of anode powder too. The control of particle size also seems to be helpful to get double pressed pellets, which consisted of two layer of anode and electrolyte.

Two types of nanoclusters, termed Cluster (1) and Cluster (2) here, both play an important role in the age-hardening behavior in Al-Mg-Si alloys. Small amounts of additions of Cu and Ag affect the formation of nanoclusters. Two exothermic peaks were clearly detected in differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) curves by means of peak separation by the Gaussian method in the base, Cu-added, Ag-added and Cu-Ag-added Al-Mg-Si alloys. The formation of nanoclusters in the initial stage of natural aging was suppressed in the Ag-added and Cu-Ag-added alloys, while the formation of nanoclusters was enhanced at an aging time longer than 259.2 ks(3 days) of natural aging with the addition Cu and Ag. The formation of nanoclusters while aging at 100˚C was accelerated in the Cu-added, Ag-added and Cu-Ag-added alloys due to the attractive interaction between the Cu and Ag atoms and the Mg atoms. The influence of additions of Cu and Ag on the clustering behavior during low-temperature aging was well characterized based on the interaction energies among solute atoms and on vacancies derived from the first-principle calculation of the full-potential Korrinaga-Kohn-Rostoker(FPKKR)-Green function method. The effects of low Cu and Ag additions on the formation of nanoclusters were also discussed based on the age-hardening phenomena.

The effect of extrusion temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties were studied in He-gas atomized alloy powders and their extruded bars using SEM, tensile testing and thermal expansion testing. The extruded bar of alloy consists of a mixed structure in which fine Si particles with a particle size below 20∼500nm and very fine compounds with a particle size below 200nm are homogeneously dispersed in Al martix with a grain size below 500nm. With increasing extrusion temperature, the microstructural scale was decreased. The ultimate tensile strength of the alloy bars has incresed with decreasing extrusion temperature from 500 to 35 and alloy extreded at 35 shows a highest tensile strength of 810 MPa due to the fine namostructure. The addition of Ni and Ce decreased the coefficients of thermal expansion and the effects of extression temperature on the thermal expansion were not significant.

원소 분말을 합성하여 Ti5SI3 화합물을 합성하는 방법을 연구하였다. 합성법으로서는 기본적으로 반응소결법을 사용하였으며, 치밀화를 위하여는 유사-열간 정수압 성형법(PHIP, pseude-hot isostatic pressing)을 사용하였다. 반응소결법에서는 분말의 입도, 반응온도 및 유지시간이 소결밀도에 영향을 주었으며, PHIP법에 의한 치밀화에서는 압력 및 유지 간이 주요 변수로 사용되었다. 이들 변수중 미세한 입도와 유지시간이 기공을 감소시켰다. 또한 Cu의 첨가 영향을 연구하였는데, 약 6wt%이내의 Cu 첨가는 밀도 향상에 좋은 영향을 미쳤다. 반응소결 및 PHIP를 통해 Ti5SI3 -Cu의 상대밀도를 약 99%까지 높일 수 있었으며, 이때 Cu의 효과는 감도지수 부합됨을 확인하였다.

과공정 Al-18wt%Si합금의 초정 Si입자의 미세화에 미치는 첨가원소의 영향에 관하여 조사하였다. 초정 Si입자의 크기는 P량이 증가함에 따라 미세해졌으며 적정 P량은 40ppm이었다. 최적주입온도는 AlCuP, CuP 경우 각각 750˚C, 800˚C이었으며 미세화 처리 후 10분 이상 경과되어도 초정 Si입자의 크기는 변화가 없었다. 또한 WDS분석 결과 초정 Si내에 AIP가 핵생성 site로 존재함을 알 수 있었다.