Research on causes of hot-tearing of AA3003 aluminum billet during DC casting process

Abstract

AA3003 aluminum alloy made from raw scrap materials that have the advantage of economical use, but hottearing often occurs in the product billets of the direct chill casting process. This study used ANOVA analysis method for determination of chemical composition of AA3003 aluminum billet products to show influence of chemical composition on hot-tearing ability. The evaluation of the microstructure and chemical composition distribution of the elements by optical and scanning electron microscopes combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy showed the existence of impurities such as Cu, Zn, Fe, Pb exceeding the allowable limit in aluminum billets, especially at grain boundary, which can be the main reason for the hot-tearing of cast aluminum billets.