The Solution Heat Treatment of Rheo-High Pressure Die Cast Al-Mg-Si-(Cu) 6xxx Series Alloys

The 6xxx series alloys are well known for desirable combinations of high strength, weldability, corrosion resistance and formability. This paper investigates the influence of chemical composition on the solution heat treatment parameters of rheo-high pressure die cast (R-HPDC) 6xxx series aluminium alloys. The presence of copper in the 6xxx series aluminium alloys affects the solution heat treatment by promoting incipient melting. The incidence of incipient melting is investigated for the R-HPDC alloys using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and optical microscopy. R-HPDC is known to produce surface liquid segregation and centre-line liquid segregation when processing the alloys and these areas are the most susceptible to incipient melting. The applicability of single and multiple step solution heat treatments are investigated. The alloys used for this study include the Cu-free alloy 6082, as well as the Cu-containing alloys 6013 and 6111.