The article presents the investigations of 7xxx aluminium alloys performed by the method of thermal and derivational analysis. The studies made it possible to identify the effect of the changes in the Cu concentration, the total Zn and Mg weight concentrations and the Zn/Mg weight concentration ratio on their crystallization process: the cooling as well as the kinetics and dynamics of the thermal process of cooling and crystallization. Metallographic studies were performed on the microstructure of the examined alloys and their HB hardness was measured. The evaluation of the changes was presented in reference to the model alloys EN AW-7003 and EN AW-7010, whose microstructure under the conditions of thermodynamic equilibrium are described by the phase diagrams: Al-Zn-Mg and Al-Zn-Mg-Cu. The performed investigations confirmed that the hardness HB of the examined alloys is mainly determined by the reinforcement of the matrix αAl by the introduced alloy additions and the presence of phases Θ(Al2Cu) and S(Al2CuMg) rich in copper, as well as η(MgZn2), in the examined alloys' microstructure. The increase of the amount of intermetallic phases precipitated in the microstructure of the examined alloys is caused, beside Cu, by the characteristic change of Zn wt. concentration and Mg. It was proposed that the process of one-stage thermal treatment of the examined alloys be introduced at a temperature of up to tJ-20 °C, which will prevent the exceedance of the solidus temperature.

Of great importance in the selection of materials for cast structures is keeping a proper balance between the mechanical and plastic properties,

while preserving the relevant casting properties. This study has been devoted to an analysis of the choice and application of highstrength

aluminium-based alloys maintaining sufficient level of casting properties. The high level of tensile strength (Rm > 500 MPa)

matched with satisfactory elongation (A > 3%) is important because materials of this type are used for cast parts operating in the aerospace,

automotive, and military industries. These beneficial relationships between the high tensile strength and toughness are relatively easy to

obtain in the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys subjected to plastic forming and proper heat treatment. In gravity cast products, on the other hand,

whether poured into sand moulds or metal moulds (dies), obtaining this favourable combination of properties poses a number of research

problems (mostly resulting from the alloy chemical composition) as well as technical and technological difficulties.

The article presents a novel method that allows measurement of thermal conductivity that is based on Stefan-Boltzmann law. The developed method can be used to determine thermal conductivity of ceramic investment casting molds. The methodology for conducting thermal conductivity tests of ceramic material samples is presented. Knowledge of the value of thermal capacity and thermal conductivity as a function of temperature enables computer simulations of the process of cooling and solidification of liquid metal in a mold.

The object of the experimental studies was to determine the mechanical properties of a hypoeutectic EN AC - 42100 (EN ACAlSi7Mg0,3)

silumin alloy, where the said properties are changing as a result of subjecting the samples of different types to solution

treatment. An important aspect of the studies was the use type of device for the heat treatment. As a basic parameter representing the

mechanical properties, the tensile strength of the metal (Rm) was adopted.

The work presents the test result of the influence of cooling rate on the microstructure of AZ91 alloy, Vickers micro-hardness and Brinell

hardness. Studies cooling and crystallization of AZ91 alloy was cast into the ceramic shells pre-heated to 180 ° C and then air-cooled at

ambient temperature or intensively super cooled in the liquid coolant. The TDA method was applied to record and characterize the thermal

effect resulting from the phase transformations occurring during the crystallization of AZ91 alloy. The kinetics and dynamics of the

thermal processes of crystallization of AZ91 alloy in the ceramic shells were determined. Metallographic tests were performed with the

use of an optical microscope. A comparison of these test results with the thermal effect recorded by way of the TDA method was made.

Influence of cooling rate of AZ91 on HV0, 01 micro-hardness and Brinell hardness alloy was examined.

The article presents the analysis of properties of the high-strength AlZnMgCu (abbr AlZn) aluminium alloy and estimates possibilities of

its application for responsible structures with reduced weight as an alternative to iron alloy castings. The aim of the conducted studies was

to develop and select the best heat treatment regime for a 7xx casting alloy based on high-strength materials for plastic working from the

7xxx series. For analysis, wrought AlZnMgCu alloy (7075) was selected. Its potential of the estimated as-cast mechanical properties

indicates a broad spectrum of possible applications for automotive parts and in the armaments industry. The resulting tensile and fatigue

properties support the thesis adopted, while the design works further confirm these assumptions.

The publication presents the comparison of selected refining methods (gaseous and/or flux) based on mechanical properties of the obtained secondary silumin EN AC-AlSi7Mg0.3 (in accordance to the European Standard PN-EN 1706:2011). The point of reference was a similar primary alloy produced using pure batch materials. The mechanical properties measured in room temperature were used to calculate the materials quality index. The research showed, that properly carried out refinement process of secondary (recycled) alloys can bring their quality indexes close to those of their primary materials. The goal was to assess the efficiency of selected refining methods when applied to the examined group of casting silumins, by measuring the basic mechanical properties (in room temperature) before and after refining. The practical aspect was to choose an effective (ecologically, technologically and economically) method of refining of secondary EN AC-AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy used to cast car rims for JN METAL company in Ostowiec Świętokrzyski (Poland).

Issues connected with high quality casting alloys are important for responsible construction elements working in hard conditions.

Traditionally, the quality of aluminium casting alloy refers to such microstructure properties as the presence of inclusions and intermetallic

phases or porosity. At present, in most cases, Quality index refers to the level of mechanical properties – especially strength parameters,

e.g.: UTS, YS, HB, E (Young’s Modulus), K1c (stress intensity factor). Quality indexes are often presented as a function of density.

However, generally it is known, that operating durability of construction elements depends both on the strength and plastic of the material.

Therefore, for several years now, in specialist literature, the concept of quality index (QI) was present, combines these two important

qualities of construction material. The work presents the results of QI research for casting hypoeutectic silumin type EN AC-42100

(EN AC-AlSi7Mg0.3), depending on different variants of heat treatment, including jet cooling during solution treatment.

High prices of tin and its limited resources, as well as several valuable properties characterising Cu-Sn alloys, cause searching for materials of similar or better properties at lower production costs. The influence of various nickel additions to CuSn10 casting bronze and to CuSn8 bronze of a decreased tin content was tested. Investigations comprised melting processes and casting of tin bronzes containing various nickel additions (up to 5%). The applied variable conditions of solidification and cooling of castings (metal and ceramic moulds) allowed to assess these alloys sensitivity in forming macro and microstructures. In order to determine the direction of changes in the analysed Cu-Sn-Ni alloys, the metallographic and strength tests were performed. In addition, the solidification character was analysed on the basis of the thermal analysis tests. The obtained results indicated the influence of nickel in the solidification and cooling ways of the analysed alloys (significantly increased temperatures of the solidification beginning along with increased nickel fractions in Cu-Sn alloys) as well as in the microstructure pattern (clearly visible grain size changes). The hardness and tensile strength values were also changed. It was found, that decreasing of the tin content in the analysed bronzes to which approximately 3% of nickel was added, was possible, while maintaining the same ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and hardness (HB) and improved plasticity (A5).