Effect of iron on the microstructure and mechanical property of Al-Mg-Si-Mn and Al-Mg-Si diecast alloys

MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING A-STRUCTURAL MATERIALS PROPERTIES MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROCESSING

卷:564

Article

Ji, Shouxun¹  Yang, Wenchao¹  Gao, Feng¹  Watson, Douglas¹  Fan, Zhongyun¹ 

[1] Brunel Univ, BCAST, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, Middx, England

关键词: Aluminium alloy;    Mechanical properties;    Fe-rich compounds;    High pressure die casting;    CALPHAD;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.msea.2012.11.095

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Al-Mg-Si based alloys can provide super ductility to satisfy the demands of thin wall castings in the application of automotive structure. In this work, the effect of iron on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the Al-Mg-Si diecast alloys with different Mn concentrations is investigated. The CALPHAD (acronym of Calculation of Phase Diagrams) modelling with the thermodynamic properties of the multi-component Al-Mg-Si-Mn-Fe and Al-Mg-Si-Fe systems is carried out to understand the role of alloying on the formation of different primary Fe-rich intermetallic compounds. The results showed that the Fe-rich intermetallic phases precipitate in two solidification stages in the high pressure die casting process: one is in the shot sleeve and the other is in the die cavity, resulting in the different morphologies and sizes. In the Al-Mg-Si-Mn alloys, the Fe-rich intermetallic phase formed in the shot sleeve exhibited coarse compact morphology and those formed in the die cavity were fine compact particles. Although with different morphologies, the compact intermetallics were identified as the same alpha-AlFeMnSi phase with typical composition of Al-24(Fe,Mn)(6)Si-2. With increased Fe content, beta-AlFe was found in the microstructure with a long needle-shaped morphology, which was identified as Al-13(Fe,Mn)(4)Si-0.25. In the Al-Mg-Si alloy, the identified Fe-rich intermetallics included the compact alpha-AlFeSi phase with typical composition of Al8Fe2Si and the needle-shaped beta-AlFe phase with typical composition of Al13Fe4. Generally, the existence of iron in the alloy slightly increases the yield strength, but significantly reduces the elongation. The ultimate tensile strength maintains at similar levels when Fe contents is less than 0.5 wt%, but decreases significantly with the further increased Fe concentration in the alloys. CALPHAD modelling shows that the addition of Mn enlarges the Fe tolerance for the formation of alpha-AlFeMnSi intermetallics and suppresses the formation of beta-AlFe phase in the Al-Mg-Si alloys, and thus improves their mechanical properties. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free