Investigations of Alloying Elements and Rare Metals on the Hydrogen Content and Inclusion in Aluminum Alloy

The influences of alloying elements Mg, Zn and Cu and rare metals Ce, Er and mix rare metal (MRE) on the hydrogen content and inclusion in 1050 aluminum alloy were studied by optical microscope, scanning electronic microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that when adding 1wt.%Mg, 5wt.%Zn, 0.5wt.%Er and 0.5wt.%MRE into 1050 aluminum alloy, respectively, the decrements of density of the reduced pressure test (RPT) samples are 0.36g/cm3, 0.24g/cm3, 0.72g/cm3, and 0.24g/cm3, respectively. Mg and Er significantly increase the tendency of hydrogen adsorption in Al melt. The results of XRD analysis and microstructural observation indicate that the alloys adding Er contain more oxides and gas porosity.