Alloying of Zn-27% Al with antimony

In the work reported in this paper, the authors investigated the effects of antimony in ZA 27 alloy (Zn-27wt% Al) on its mechanical properties, friction and wear behaviour, ageing, and “underside” shrinkage. The test results showed that the presence of a suitable level of antimony was advantageous to tensile strength, elongation, hardness, wear resistance, the suppression of compositional segregation and underside shrinkage, and dimensional stability. However, antimony also has a tendency to accelerate intergranular corrosion of ZA 27 alloy. The suitable content of antimony in ZA 27 alloy was found to be approximately 1.5% wt. Microscopic examination indicated that antimony forms a multi-component compound with zinc and aluminium. Antimony was also found to affect grain refinement.