Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russia

Miao Jingtao, Doctorate Student of the Foundry and Strengthening Engineering Department, e-mail: miaojingtao22@gmail.com
A. B. Finkelstein, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor of the Foundry and Strengthening Engineering Department, e-mail: avinkel@mail.ru
A. A. Shefer, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Foundry and Strengthening Engineering Department, e-mail: a.a.shefer@urfu.ru
V. A. Khotinov, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor of the Heat Treatment and Metal Physics Department, e-mail: v.a.khotinov@urfu.ru

The technology of oxygen blowing of pre-hydrogenated aluminum alloy melt allows to obtain a composite material in situ, saturated with submicroscopic Al₂O₃ particles. The key factor of the technology is the presence of iron in the melt, which negatively affects the strength of the oxide film, which allows to obtain isotropic particles of aluminum oxide, and not extended films. Until now, the technology was used only for cast products based on silumin AlSi7Fe. It is proposed to use an Al – Fe alloy with an iron content above 1.5% for obtaining a composite for cold rolling technology. The alloy is also saturated with titanium due to the introduction of TiH₂ for hydrogenation. As a result, a butterfly-shaped structure is formed in the metal, presumably by the following mechanism: the butterfly body is an Al₃Ti intermetallic compound, which precipitates in the melt first and collects oxide particles and iron-containing intermetallic compounds. The composite demonstrates grinding of iron intermetallic compounds at least 3 times relative to the original alloy. The content of the oxide component is 8 times lower than on the initial alloy of the AlSi7Fe system due to a significantly smaller thickness of the oxide film. This leads to a significant reduction in the blowing time, the total duration of melt processing, including hydrogen saturation, was 15 min. The samples were subjected to cold rolling, the foil thickness achieved was 19 μm. The obtained rolled product with a thickness of about 150 μm exceeds the original alloy in mechanical properties (σ_u – 269 MPa against 174 MPa of the original alloy), and the hot-rolled AlSi7Fe-Al₂O₃p composite (σ_u – 250 MPa).

1. Friedlaender I. N. Aluminum and Its Alloys. Moscow: Znanie, 1965. 62 p.
2. Handbook of composites. Ed. by Lubin G. New York: Springer Science + Business Media, LLC, 1982. 786 p.
3. Singh J., Chauhan A. Characterization of Hybrid Aluminum Matrix Composites for Advanced Applications – a Review. Journal of Materials Research and Technology. 2016. Vol. 5, Iss. 2. pp. 159–169.
4. Wang H., Li G., Zhao Y., Chen G. In Situ Fabrication and Microstructure of Al2O3 Particles Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composites. Materials Science and Engineering: A. 2010. Vol. 527, Iss. 12. pp. 2881–2885.
5. Chen B., Zhou X. Y., Zhang B., Kondoh K., Li J. S., Qian M. Microstructure, Tensile Properties and Deformation Behaviors of Aluminium Metal Matrix Composites Co-Reinforced by Ex-Situ Carbon Nanotubes and In-Situ Alumina Nanoparticles. Materials Science and Engineering: A. 2020. Vol. 795. 139930.
6. Chikova O. A., Finkel’shtein A. B., Shefer A. A. Structure and Nanomechanical Properties of the Al–Si–Fe Alloy Produced by Blowing the Melt with Oxygen. Physics of Metals Metallography. 2018. Vol. 119. pp. 685–690.
7. Bonner S. J., Taylor J. A., Yao J.-Y., Rhamdhanil M. A. Oxidation of Commercial Purity Aluminum Melts: an Experimental Study. In: Light Metals 2013 (Ed. by Sadler B. A.). pp. 993–997.
8. Finkelstein A., Schaefer A., Chikova O., Borodianskiy K. Study of Al – Si Alloy Oxygen Saturation on Its Microstructure and Mechanical Properties. Materials. 2017. Vol. 10, Iss. 7. pp. 786–793.
9. Finkelstein A. B., Chikova O. A., Shefer A. A., Makhmudzoda M. Oxydal – a New Aluminium Composite. Liteinoye Proizvodstvo. 2019. Iss. 7. pp. 6–8.
10. Lokesh G. N., Ramachandra M., Mahendra K. V. Effect of Hot Rolling on Al – 4.5% Cu Alloy Reinforced Fly Ash Metal Matrix Composite. International Journal of Composite Materials. 2014. Vol. 4, Iss. 1. pp. 21–29.
11. Kumar S. A., Shekhar P. S., Krushna M. G. Effect of Hot Rolling on Physical and Mechanical Properties of Al 6061 Alloy-Based Metal Matrix Composite. In: Advances in Mechanical Processing and Design (Eds. by Pant P., Mishra S. K., Mishra P. C.). 2019. pp. 319–330.
12. Afkham Y., Khosroshahi R. A., Rahimpour S., Aavani C., Brabazon D., Mousavian R. T. Enhanced Mechanical Properties of in Situ Aluminium Matrix Composites Reinforced by Alumina Nanoparticles. Archives of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. 2018. Vol. 18. pp. 215–226.
13. Ceschini L., Minak G., Morri A. Forging of the AA2618/20 vol.% Al2O3p Composite: Effects on Microstructure and Tensile Properties. Composites Science and Technology. 2009. Vol. 69, Iss. 11-12. pp. 1783–1789.
14. Khosroshahi N. B., Mousavian R. T., Khosroshahi R. A., Brabazon D. Mechanical Properties of Rolled A356 Based Composites Reinforced by Cu-Coated Bimodal Ceramic Particles. Materials & Design. 2015. Vol. 83. pp. 678–688.
15. Finkelstein A. B., Pellenen A. P., Khotinov V. A., Miao Jingtao. Hot Rolling of the Composite Manufactured by Oxygen Lancing of AlSi7Fe Melt. Tsvetnye Metally. 2024. No. 3. pp. 34–39.
16. Kraner J., Smolar T., Volšak D., Lažeta M., Skrbinek R., Fridrih D., Cvahte P., Godec M., Paulin I. Influence of the Hot-Rolling Technique for En Aw-8021B Aluminium Alloy on the Microstructural Properties of a Cold-Rolled Foil. Materials and Technology. 2021. Vol. 55, Iss. 6. pp. 773–779.
17. DIN EN 573-3–2009. Aluminium and Aluminium Alloys – Chemical Composition and Form of Wrought Pro ducts – Part 3: Chemical Composition and Form of Products. 2009. 32 p.
18. Lee I. S., Kao P. W., Ho N. J. Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Al – Fe in Situ Nanocomposite Produced by Friction Stir Processing. Intermetallics. 2008. Vol. 16, Iss. 9. pp. 1104–1108.
19. Kaloshkin S. D., Tcherdyntsev V. V., Tomilin I. A., Gunderov D. V., Stolyarov V. V., Baldokhin Y. V., Brodova I. G., Shelekhov E. V. Composed Phases and Microhardness of Aluminium-Rich Aluminium-Iron Alloys Obtained by Rapid Quenching, Mechanical Alloying and High-Pressure Torsion Deformation. Materials Transactions. 2002. Vol. 43, Iss. 8. pp. 2031–2038.
20. Finkelstein A., Schaefer A., Dubinin N. Aluminum Alloy Selection for In Situ Composite Production by Oxygen Blowing. Metals. 2021. Vol. 11, Iss. 12. 1984.
21. Finkelstein A., Schaefer A., Dubinin N. Dehydrogenation of AlSi7Fe1 Melt during In Situ Composite Production by Oxygen Blowing. Metals. 2021. Vol. 11, Iss. 4. 551.
22. GOST 11739.1–90. Aluminium Casting and Wrought Alloys. Methods for Determination of Aluminium Oxide. Moscow: Gosudarstvenniy Komitet SSSR po Upravleniyu Kachesvom Produktsii i Standartam, 1990. 12 p.
23. GOST 1497–84. Metals. Methods of Tension Test. Moscow: Standartinform, 2008. 22 p.
24. Wang F., Eskin D., Mi J., Connolley T., Lindsay J., Mounib M. A Refining Mechanism of Primary Al3Ti Intermetallic Particles by Ultrasonic Treatment in the Liquid State. Acta Materialia. 2016. Vol. 116. pp. 354–363.
25. Jaradeh M., Carlberg T. Effect of Titanium Additions on the Microstructure of DC-Cast Aluminium Alloys. Materials Science and Engineering: A. 2005. Vol. 413. pp. 277–282.

26. Seikh A. H., Baig M., Singh J. K., Mohammed J. A., Luqman M., Abdo H. S., Khan A. R., Alharthi N. H. Microstructural and Corrosion Characteristics of Al-Fe Alloys Produced by High-Frequency Induction-Sintering Process. Coatings. 2019. Vol. 9, Iss. 10. 686.
27. Wang W., Sun Q., Zhang K. Modification Mechanism and Mechanical Properties of 8021 Aluminum Alloys. Journal of Materials Engineering and Perform. 2025. DOI: 10.1007/s11665-025-10851-0
28. Srivastava S., Mohan S. Study of Wear and Friction of Al – Fe Metal Matrix Composite Produced by Liquid Metallurgical Method. Tribology in Industry. 2011. Vol. 33, Iss. 3. pp. 128–137.
29. Hinton E. M., Griffiths W. D., Green N. R. Comparison of Oxide Thickness of Aluminium and the Effects of Selected Alloying Additions. Materials Science Forum. 2013. Vol. 765. pp. 180–184.
30. Braaten O., Kjekshus A., Kvande H. The Possible Reduction of Alumina to Aluminum Using Hydrogen. JOM. 2000. Vol. 52, Iss. 2. pp. 47–53.
31. Fuxiao Y., Fang L., Dazhi Z., Toth L. S. Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Al – 3Fe Alloy Processed by Equal Channel Angular Extrusion. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. 2014. Vol. 63, Iss. 1. 012079.
32. Pat. SU No. 551390 A1. Int. Cl. С22, С1/10. The Method of Modifying Aluminum Alloy with Titanium. Pogrebnyak D. A., Tarasova I. V., Polesya A. F. Appl. 18.12.1975, Publ. 25.03.1977.
33. Babcsán N., Leitlmeier D., Degischer H. P., Banhart J. The Role of Oxidation in Blowing Particle–Stabilised Aluminium Foams. Advanced Engineering Materials. 2004. Vol. 6, Iss. 6. pp. 421–428.
34. Сubero-Sesin J. M., Horita Z. Strengthening of Al Through Addition of Fe and by Processing with High-Pressure Torsion. Journal of Materials Science. 2012. Vol. 48. pp. 4713–4722.