Abstract
Wrought alloys have low fluidity and are prone to hot tearing, which make them difficult to cast. The presence of eutectic-forming elements in the alloy composition lessens these effects. For this reason, the constituents of casting alloys tend to include a eutectic portion. Typically, silicon is added to aluminium alloys to provide casting ability by forming the aluminium-silicon eutectic. However, the presence of silicon in aluminium alloys is associated with a number of issues that do not allow these alloys to reach their full potential. In this publication we report results of our investigation of three alternative eutectics: Al-6.1Ni, Al-1.8Fe, and Al-1.75Fe-1.25Ni. Our results indicate that these eutectics have satisfactory fluidity and resistance to hot tearing and higher strength than the aluminium-silicon eutectic. We also found that introducing these eutectic compositions into 7075 wrought alloy results in a castable composition with yield strength comparable to that of the wrought alloy.