description
- "The main objective of the project is to develop a new aluminium wrought alloy that can work at temperatures in the range of 200-250ºC for aeronautical applications such as regulator valves or actuator bodies for air treatment systems. Several heat resistant aluminium based materials have already been developed in the last years that might be applied for such high temperature applications. Notwithstanding, these are either too expensive or present additional technical drawbacks such as insufficient ductility, segregation of components, low machinability or recycling problems. The present project aims at developing new alloys through a methodology based on the identification of the effect of up to 12 alloying elements and their combinations in the heat resistance of wrought alloys through the Taguchi methodology. This is based on the selection of critical parameters through design of experiment techniques that minimise the time and resources to be employed in the process. Two orthogonal matrices are to be used, a L16 matrix and a modified L8 matrix. The former employs two levels that are related to the maximum and minimum amounts of the alloying element. The modified matrix incorporates intermediate values. In a first stage gravity casting samples with 24 different formulations are cast by gravity casting and preliminarily tested in order to check whether any of these combinations may reach the established specifications Subsequently, the most promising 2 alloys would be further developed. Researchers belonging to the non ferrous metallic materials and characterization departments of Tecnalia will lead the project. Their work will be complemented by the researchers at Fundación Inatec, a research institution that is part of the Otua industrial group related to recycling and recovery of metals and Refial, a company devoted to the production of aluminium alloys. They will be responsible of the cost analysis issues, environmental aspects and industrialisation aspects."