Castings in FRC

[George]

Originally Posted by Tristan Lall

Did you need to adjust the alloy for better casting properties? (I assume you started with mostly wrought Al-Mg-Si alloys like 6061.)

Did you attempt any heat treatment afterward? (If so, what was the process, and how did it go?)

As our final product was to be wheels other than flux and de-gassing we did not adjust the alloy, nor attempt artificial aging or annealing, this was a spur of the moment measure, the cast billet worked fine and machined well, with no flaws and no failures.
We did not send any of our cast samples out for analyses, so I can’t comment on the alloy content, other than you are correct as most of the material we used was 6061 with a good helping of 6063
If we decide to cast gears, high strength components or wear parts it would be a different story, in this case a bit of zinc would go well,

fyi Blast from the past; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJyD8...eature=related

Have Fun
Geo.