ANALYSING THE ALTERNATIONS IN THE ALUMINIUM ALLOY PROPERTIES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF SILICON AND GERMANIUM ALLOYING ELEMENTS

Aluminum alloys are becoming more crucial and the most required alloys because of their excellent mechanical and casting properties.This results in more experimental works and innovations for further development of this field.This study focuses primarily on the evaluation of the performance of Al-Cu-Mn alloys under the effect of fixed content of silicon (5%) and varying additions of germanium oxide, corresponding to 1%, 2%, and 3% Ge by weight.The obtained results proved that the optimal content of germanium should be 1% for their better structure, hardness, and fluidity properties since further addition may lead to microdefects and affects the fluidity of aluminium alloys.The overall trend showed a decrease in fluidity, whereas hardness illustrated an increasing trend.The microstructure of the alloys showed a better grain boundary in the first three samples, yet with further addition of Ge2O deteriorated, which can be explained by the formation of AlO and intermetallides.