Technological Aspect:

The invention relates to a hybrid stirring system that is used in casting for the production of aluminum matrix composites.

State of Art:

Aluminum alloys have been one of the most commonly used matrix materials in metal matrix composite (MMC) materials for a very long time. The most important reason for this is its low- density feature, which is the first requirement for many areas of use. Compared to low- density alloys such as Mg and Ti, cost is relatively less. The properties of aluminum alloys such as high strength, machinability, accessibility, ductility and corrosion resistance allow the use of aluminum matrix composite (AMC) materials in advanced application areas such as automotive, aerospace/aircraft, defense, electronics, sports industry. The invention, which is the subject of the description, describes a system and method to be used in stirring aluminum matrix composite melts.

In the prior art, mechanical stirring process is widely used in particle added composite production studies. It is also known that, in addition to the mechanical stirring process, ultrasonic stirring method is commonly used.

As a result of the conducted analyses, it was observed that the fracture strength of aluminum matrix composites produced by using only mechanical and only ultrasonic stirring methods is low. In addition, if only ultrasonic stirring is applied, the desired homogeneity of the particle additions to be made cannot be obtained with the mixture. Furthermore, if only mechanical stirring is applied, gaps may occur between the particle and the liquid aluminum, despite the dispersion of the added particles in the aluminum matrix.

In the literature search, an aluminum matrix preparation method was mentioned in the Chinese patent document numbered CN105112704 (A). In the mentioned method, mechanical stirrers were used and therefore this document contains the disadvantages mentioned above.

As a result, there is a need for a stirring method and system in which the known state of the art is overcome and its disadvantages are eliminated.

A Short Explanation of Invention:

The invention is a stirring method and system in which the known state of the art is overcome, the disadvantages are eliminated, and additionally includes extra advantages.

The aim of the invention is to introduce a hybrid stirring method and system to be used in the production of aluminum matrix composites that improves fracture strength and increases homogeneity.

Another aim of the invention is to present a stirring method and system that increases homogeneity and fracture resistance compared to the aluminum composite casting processes in the known art, where only ultrasonic stirring and only mechanical stirring methods are used.

The present invention is a hybrid stirring method that is utilized for stirring the ingredients contributed in casting to be used in the production of aluminum-containing composites, to realize all the objectives mentioned above and which will emerge from the detailed explanation below. It is characterized by stirring the aluminum matrix composite casting melt with a mechanical stirrer for x times, and stirring the aluminum matrix composite casting melt with an ultrasonic stirrer for y times. Explanation of Figures:

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the features of the invention will be more clearly understood. However, it is not intended to limit the invention to these particular embodiments. On the contrary, it is also intended to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents that may be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It should be understood that the details shown are for illustrative purposes only, and are presented for the purpose of providing the most useful and comprehensible description of both the embodiment of the methods and the conventions and conceptual features of the invention. In these drawings;

Figure - 1 is the representative view of the stirring system which is the subject of the invention.

Figure - 2 is the view of the analysis results of the aluminum matrix composite with mechanically stirred aluminum matrix for 2 minutes existing in the known technique.

Figure - 3 is the view of the composite analysis results with aluminum matrix stirred with ultrasonically for 2 minutes and existing in the known technique.

Figure - 4 is the view of the aluminum composite analysis results using the stirring method (1 -minute mechanical + 1 minute ultrasonic) which is the subject of the invention.

Explanation of References:

10. Tank

11. Casting melt

20. Mechanical stirrer

21. Motor

30. Ultrasonic stirrer

31. Ultrasonic power unit 40. Controller

Explanation of Invention:

In this detailed explanation, the stirring system and method of the invention are only explained with examples for better understanding of the subject and that will not create any limiting effect. In the specification, a hybrid system that is utilized for stirring the ingredients contributed in casting (molten aluminum and particulate additives to be used in composite production) is described to be used in the production of aluminum-containing composites.

In the stirring method, which is the subject of the invention, mechanical stirring and ultrasonic stirring methods are used respectively. Aluminum matrix composite melt (casting melt (11) is stirred by mechanical stirring method for x time, then ultrasonic stirring method is immediately applied for y time. Here x and y can be equal to each other, x can be greater than y value or x can be less than the value of y. The main purpose of the invention is to use mechanical and ultrasonic stirring methods together in a sequential manner where mechanical stirring method is applied first, followed by the ultrasonic stirring.

Analyses of AMC production were given in Figure 2 and 3, where only mechanical stirring was applied on Figure 2 and only ultrasonic stirring was applied on Figure 3. Likewise, in Figure 4, analyses for the aluminum matrix composite, in which a mechanical stirrer is applied for 1 minute and an ultrasonic stirrer is applied for 1 minute, are given. The dark gray parts in the figures show that the added particles are agglomerated. When we look at these results, homogeneity is obtained at the highest rate (75%) with ultrasonic vibration applied for 1 minute after 1 minute of mechanical stirring. The purpose of conducting mechanical stirring first is to distribute the added particle additives in the liquid by creating a vortex in the melt. If ultrasonic vibration is applied first, all of the additives remain on the surface and are not transmitted into the structure.

In Figure 1, a representative view of a system that enables the application of the inventive method is given. Accordingly, the system consists of a mechanical stirrer (20) to mechanically stir the casting melt (11) in a tank (10), a motor (21) that provides energy to the mechanical stirrer (20), and an ultrasonic stirrer which stirs the casting melt (11) with ultrasonic method (30) and an ultrasonic power unit (31) providing energy supply. The operating times of the ultrasonic power unit (31) and the motor (21) located here are controlled by a controller (40). In the invention, composite sample production was carried out with two-minute separate mechanical stirring and ultrasonic stirring methods and 1 -minute mechanical 1 -minute ultrasonic stirring, which is called hybrid stirring. In the obtained results, it has been proven that the stirring type called hybrid stirring is effective in the production of aluminum matrix composites. This study was validated by performing both the simulation application and the casting process in the laboratory.