International Journal of Engineering & Technology IJET-IJENS Vol:14 No:04 1 140304-6868-IJET-IJENS © August 2014 IJENS I J E N S Characterization of Melt-Quenched SnSbBiAl Alloys Used in Fusible Elements of Low Voltage Fuses Mustafa Kamal, Abu-Bakr El-Bediwi, and SORAN MOHAMMED RASHID* Metal Physics Lab. Physics Department, Faculty of Science –Mansoura University, Egypt. *On leave, M.Sc. student, Iraq. kamal42200274@yahoo.com, baker_elbediwi@yahoo.com, soran.mohammed.rashid@gmail.com Abstract-- A series of tin-antimony-bismuth-aluminium alloys containing up to20wt.% aluminium were quenched from the melt to room temperature by Chill methods ( Spinning technique ). The resultant ribbons were studied by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope SEM techniques. From the differential thermal analysis DTA measurements, it is found that entropy change, enthalpy and specific heat decreases with increasing aluminium content. The electrical resistivities are reported for temperatures between 280 and 400K for all the melt-quenched ribbons of (Sn 80-x -Sb 10 -Bi 10 -Al x ) (where x= 0 , 1 , 2 , 10, 15 and 20 in wt.%) . The microhardness, elastic moduli, internal friction and thermal diffusivity were also measured from melt-quenched ribbons. Finally it is confirmed from our data that low melting alloy are functional components of low voltage high capacity blade-contact fuses. Index Term-- Fusible element, Structural characterization, Microstructure analysis, Electrical Resistivity, Thermal parameters, Mechanical properties . 1- INTRODUCTION Tin is an important metal in industry. It is an important constituent in solders, because it wets and adheres to many common base metals at temperature considerable below their melting points. Tin has also a low coefficient of friction, which is the first consideration in its use as a bearing material. It is structurally a weak metal, and when used in bearing applications it is alloyed with antimony, bismuth and aluminum for increased hardness, strength and good surface properties such as softness and embedability which make them useful for crosshead bearings in high-power marine diesel engines as a potential Sn-based system. Xianfen Li et al [1] investigated the effect of Sn on reversibility of liquid –liquid transition in Bi-Sb-Sn alloys. The results show that obvious reversible changes occur on the resistivity- temperature (ρ-T) curves of liquid (Bi-Sb 20 ) 1-x -Sn x alloys at the temperature far above their liquidus , but irreversible in liquid Bi-Sb20wt.% alloy. It is suggested that Sn plays an important role on the reversibility of liquid-liquid transition. Dragan Manasijevic et al [2] have studied experimentally the phase equilibria and thermodynamics of the Bi-Sb-Sn ternary system. Y.S. Hor and R.J. Cava[3],have reported the thermoelectric properties of Sn-doped Bi-Sb that small amounts of Sn doping dramatically decrease the thermal conductivity of the alloy system using melt stoichiometric mixtures of elemental Bi,Sb and Sn in 4mm inner diameter quartz tube. They have also shown that good low temperature p-type thermoelectric materials are obtained through Sn-doping of the Bi-Sb binary alloy over its full semiconducting composition range. Alberto Torres et al[4], have investigated the effects of the addition of Sb (0 , 3 and 6wt.%) on structure, melting, corrosion and mechanical properties of Sn-Bi eutectic solder alloys. Ohnuma et al [5] have investigated the thermodynamic database for phase diagram in Sn-Sb-Bi ternary alloy system. Although Ohtani and Ishida[6] optimized thermodynamic parameters in the Bi- Sb-Sn ternary system, also experimentally obtained activities based excess Gibbs energy functions from the literature [7,8] were used for the optimization of the thermodynamic parameters. Many investigators[6,9-13] have performed the thermodynamic calculation on the system Sn-Sb-Bi .The critical assessment by Feutelais et al [13]was studied in details. However, a better analysed was given by a recent work of Ohtani and Ishida [6] who additionally employed their own new experimental data. This updated set of parameters was taken into account in the present study . The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Al content on structure, electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of SnSbBiAl melt-quenched ribbons to promote the application of SnSbBiAl series alloys on the functionality industry. Consequently the present paper relates to a low melting alloy of tin (Sn), antimony (Sb), bismuth (Bi) and aluminum (Al) containing 10.0% by weight of Sb and 10.0% by weight of Bi and from 0.0% to 20.0% by weight of Al, for fusible elements of low voltage fuses. 2- EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES The experimental techniques utilized have been described in details [14-17] and will be repeated here only briefly. The