High silicon and molybdenum ductile cast irons (Si-Mo alloys) are commonly used as exhaust manifold materials suffering from high temperature-oxidation and thermal-mechanical fatigue. The structural integrity of cast Si-Mo alloys under these service conditions is attributed to their microstructure consisting of spheroidal graphite and Mo-rich carbide embedded in a ferritic matrix. However, the cast structure includes also pearlite structure having a detrimental effect on the mechanical properties, therefore the cast matrix needs to be heat treated. In this study, the solidification of a Si-Mo ductile iron was investigated using (i) thermodynamic and kinetic calculations by Thermo-Calc and DICTRA software and (ii) thermal analysis in order to reveal out the sequence of phase formation and the phase transformations during solidification and (iii) microanalysis by energy dispersive spectrometer in order to determine elemental segregation and compare with the calculated values. The solidified structure was also characterized and all microstructural features were specified.

In this study, powder metallurgical Cu-Ni-Si alloys with different Ni:Si ratios are produced by cold pressing sintering (600 MPa, at 950?C for 60 min) and bulk materials are solution annealed at 950?C for 60 min, quenched in water and aged at 450?C for 60 min. A fine distribution of Ni-Si compounds embedded in a netted-free structure is formed in the matrix. Although a conductivity level of at least 22% IACS is achieved in all powder metallurgical alloys, the impurity effect is dominant and a decrease in the conductivity is detected by increasing Ni:Si ratio. However, a slight increase in electrical conductivity is achieved by the precipitation of nickel silicides in the ?-Cu matrix under aging conditions. Increasing Ni:Si ratio directly increases the hardness of the powder metallurgical matrix, and a hardness value of 73 HV0.1 is obtained for the aged alloy having the highest Ni:Si (5:1) ratio.

Among the copper based alloys, Cu-Al-X bronzes are commonly used as mold materials due to their superior physical and chemical properties. Mold materials suffer from both wear and corrosion, thus, it is necessary to know which one of the competitive phenomenon is dominant during the service conditions. In this study, tribo-corrosion behavior of CuAl10Ni5Fe4 and CuAl14Fe4Mn2Co alloys were studied and electrochemical measurements were carried out using three electrode system in 3.5 % NaCl solution in order to evaluate their corrosion resistance. In tribo-corrosion tests, alloys were tested against zirconia ball in 3.5 % NaCl solution, under 10N load with 0.04 m/s sliding speed during 300 and 600 m. The results indicate that (i) CuAl10Ni5Fe4 alloy is more resistant to NaCl solution compared to CuAl14Fe4Mn2Co alloy that has major galvanic cells within its matrix, (ii) although CuAl10Ni5Fe4 alloy has lower coefficient of friction value, it suffers from wear under dry sliding conditions, (iii) as the sliding distance increases, corrosion products on CuAl14Fe4Mn2Co surface increase at a higher rate compared to CuAl10Ni5Fe4 leading to a decrease in volume loss due to the lubricant effect of copper oxides.