This one-stop reference is a tremendous value and time saver for engineers, designers and researchers. Emerging technologies, including aluminum metal-matrix composites, are combined with all the essential aluminum information from the ASM Handbook series (with updated statistical information).

This is the first monograph to comprehensively cover the effect of using power ultrasound to refine and solidify aluminium and magnesium alloys. The author is widely regarded as a pioneer in the field, and the text is based on results obtained over the 40 years he has spent developing these techniques. Ultrasonic treatment efficiently removes hydrogen and fine solid inclusions from melts, and also helps create a refined grain structure during solidification in the ultrasonic field. Both the fundamental and applied aspects of the formation of an extremely fine nondentritic grain structure are discussed, as well as the application of ultrasound to the process of zone melting.

Direct-chill casting is the major production route for wrought aluminium and magnesium alloys that are later deformed (rolled, extruded, forged) to the final products. To aid in this process, this book provides comprehensive coverage on topics such as the history of process development in this field, industrial applications, including vertical and horizontal casting, melt preparation, fundamentals of solidification in DC casting, and more. The first book targeted for the industrial researcher and practitioner, it pulls together the practice and process of physics with the goal of improving process performance.