Effect of Cooling Rate on the Microstructure Evolution and Mechanical Properties of Iron-Rich Al–Si Alloy

The mechanical properties of iron-rich Al–Si alloy is limited by the existence of plenty of the iron-rich phase (β-Al5FeSi), whose unfavorable morphology not only splits the matrix but also causes both stress concentration and interface mismatch with the Al matrix. The effect of the cooling rate on the tensile properties of Fe-rich Al–Si alloy was studied by the melt spinning method at different rotating speeds. At the traditional casting cooling rate of ~10 K/s, the size of the needle-like β-Al5FeSi phase is about 80 μm. In contrast, the size of the β-Al5FeSi phase is reduced to 500 nm and the morphology changes to a granular morphology with the high cooling rate of ~104 K/s. With the increase of the cooling rate, the morphology of the β-Al5FeSi phase is optimized, meanwhile the tensile properties of Fe-rich Al–Si alloy are greatly improved. The improved tensile properties of the Fe-rich Al-Si alloy is attributed to the combination of Fe-rich reinforced particles and the granular silicon phase provided by the high cooling rate of the melt spinning method.

Research on Microstructure and Growth Mechanism of Different Primary Silicon in Hypereutectic Aluminum Alloy

The as-cast microstructure of a typical hypereutectic Al-25Si alloy was studied, and the growth mechanism of different primary silicon phases was analyzed. The results show that the as-cast microstructure phase composition of the alloy is mainly primary silicon and eutectic silicon. Primary silicon is mainly petal-like, massive and other complex polyhedrons, and there are a lot of cavities, cracks and other defects in the interior and boundary; Eutectic silicon is coarse and long needle-like, and the distribution is relatively messy, which seriously deteriorates the mechanical properties and cutting performance, and hinders the further application of the alloy in the field of lightweight pistons. Petal-shaped primary silicon is grown by combining five tetrahedral crystal nuclei in the melt into a decahedron, while bulk primary silicon is mainly caused by the unbalanced aggregation of impurity elements. And these two types of silicon phase growth methods are related to the twin groove growth mechanism, which is the result of a combination of multiple mechanisms.

Spheroidization Behavior of Nano-Primary Silicon Induced by Neodymium under High-Current Pulsed Electron Beam Irradiation

The spheroidization behavior of the nano-primary silicon phase induced by Nd under high-current pulsed electron beam (HCPEB) irradiation was investigated in this study. The study results revealed that, compared to the Al–17.5Si alloy, spheroidized nano-primary silicon phase emerged in the alloy’s HCPEB-irradiated surface layer due to the presence of Nd. Because Nd was abundantly enriched on the fast-growing silicon crystal plane, its surface tension was reduced under the extreme undercooling caused by HCPEB irradiation, causing the growth velocity of each crystal plane to be the same and spherical nanometers of silicon to appear. The spheroidization of nano-primary silicon phases occurred in the remelted layer. The microhardness test revealed that Nd could depress the microhardness of the Al matrix at the same number of pulses, but conversely increase the microhardness of the primary silicon phase, compared to the Al–17.5Si alloy. The tribological test showed that the presence of spherical nano-primary silicon could significantly improve the alloy’s tribological property.

Microstructure evolution, thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of hot-rolling Al–Si–Fe–Mg alloy under different reductions

To further improve the properties of the Al–11.5Si–0.4Fe–0.35Mg, the effects of different reductions of hot-rolling (HR) Al–Si–Fe–Mg alloy on microstructure, thermal conductivity (TC), and mechanical properties were investigated in this paper. The results show that the eutectic silicon phases are broken and moved during the HR process. The average size of eutectic silicon phase decreases. Meanwhile, the aspect ratio of eutectic silicon phase closer to 1 and the distribution of that are more uniform with the increase of HR reduction. In addition, the ternary Al–Fe–Si phases are also broken after HR. It indicates that the action of shear force induced by the HR process is beneficial to promote refinement and spheroidization of the eutectic silicon phase, hence further improves the properties of the alloy. Apparently, the fine and dispersed distribution of spherical silicon particles can minimize the splitting of the [Formula: see text]-Al matrix, decrease the scattering effect on free electrons, and increase the number of free-electron transport channel. Therefore, the overall performance of HR Al–Si–Fe–Mg alloy with a reduction of 71.25% is the best with the TC of 170.24 W/m[Formula: see text]K, the tensile strength of 241.98 MPa and elongation of 8.73%, respectively.

Influence of excess silicon phase on the thermal expansion behaviours of Al-Si binary casting alloys

Al-Si casting alloys are the most commonly used materials for piston alloys. The coefficient of thermal expansion is the key property of a piston material for improving the overall performance and service life of an engine. In the present study, the relationship between the morphology of the excess silicon phase and the coefficient of thermal expansion of Al-Si binary casting alloys was discussed. Optical and scanning electron microscopy were utilized to observe the morphology of the excess silicon phase in the Al-Si binary casting alloys before and after solution aging treatment. The results showed that the morphology of the excess silicon phase significantly influenced the coefficient of thermal expansion of the Al-Si binary casting alloys. After solution aging treatment, the coefficient of thermal expansion of the Al-Si binary casting alloys increased due to the rounding and granulating of the excess silicon phase precipitated during the casting process and decreased due to the precipitation of the finely dispersed Si phase in the α-Al matrix. The change in the coefficient of thermal expansion depended on which of the two kinds of morphological transformation of the excess silicon phase is dominant.

Structure and phase composition of hypereutectic silumin alloy Al – 20Si after compression plasma flows impact

The results of structure and phase composition investigation in hypereutectic silumin alloy with 25 at. % Si content after high-energy pulsed compression plasma flows impact are presented in the work. The compression plasma flows impact with an absorbed energy density 25 – 40 J/cm2 allows to modify the sub-surface layer with a thickness up to 30 – 32 µm due to its melting and high rate solidification. By means of X-ray diffraction method, it was found the formation of two silicon phases with different grain sizes. The high-dispersed structure of silicon is presented in the Al-Si eutectic while the silicon phase with coarse grains exists in the primary crystals. The obtained results are the basis for a new method development for nanostructuring of the surface layers of hypereutectic silumin alloys increasing its wear resistance.

Statistical Relationship Between Strontium Content and Cooling Rate on A356 Alloy by Using Regression Analysis

Eutectic silicon modification is an important casting parameter on Al-Si alloys on the aspect of mechanical capability and energy absorption of the cast part. Chemical modifier element strontium has been used to obtain eutectic modification on Al-Si alloy commercially. On the other hand, high cooling rate on Al-Si alloys both refine dendrites and silicon phase which enhances mechanical characteristic. In order to find a statistical relationship between strontium amount and cooling rate, a special mold was designed in order to obtain different range of cooling rates in same cast part, then tensile test data of A356 alloy were analyzed in Minitab software. Therefore, after regression and analysis of variance tests have been proceeded, it was found that strontium amount is only dominant for lower cooling rates of < 0.9 oC.