Materials Letters 59 (2005) 894 900 www.elsevier.

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Microstructure characterization and tensile properties of squeeze-cast AlSiMg alloys

M.T. Abou El-khair*
Non Ferrous Laboratory, Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute (CMRDI), P.O.B. 87 Helwan, Cairo, Egypt Received 24 March 2004; received in revised form 20 November 2004; accepted 27 November 2004 Available online 10 December 2004

Abstract A research program was conducted to study the effects of squeeze pressure (70, 100 and 160 MPa) and heat treatment T6 on the structure, hardness and tensile properties of cast Al6Si0.3Mg alloys. The influence of squeeze pressure on macro- and microstructures of Al6Si0.3Mg alloys has been investigated. Some of castings were solution treated at 540 8C for various times and others were subjected to aging at 170 8C after solution treatment. The results indicated that precipitation occurred within about 30 min for both cast and squeeze cast alloys. The hardness began to increase and maximum values were observed after about 10 h for as-cast alloy. Increasing of squeeze pressure (70160 MPa) accelerated strength of the alloys from 8 to 4 h, respectively. Squeeze pressures decreased the percentage of porosity and increased the density, also it decreased the grain size of a-Al and modified the Si eutectic. Hardness and tensile properties increased with both heat treatment and increasing of squeeze pressure. D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: AlSiMg; Squeeze casting; Soundness; Macro-/microstructure; Aging; Tensile properties

1. Introduction The use of light-metal components in various applications has increased during the last decade, partly as a result of the increased amount of light metals being used for transportation purposes. One advantage is that light-metal components lead to an overall reduced weight and, thus, to reduced energy consumption. Another advantage, which may be just as important from an environmental point of view, is the fact that aluminium components may be recycled with relative low energy demands. For such purposes, alloys of the type AlSiMg are found to give good results since they show excellent casting characteristics and mechanical properties; the addition of Mg makes the alloys heat treatable [15].

* Tel.: +20 25010642; fax: +20 25010639. E-mail address: rucmrdi@rusys.eg.net. 0167-577X/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.matlet.2004.11.041

The mechanical properties of cast AlSiMg alloys are determined by chemical composition, rate of solidification, cast structure and its integrity and heat treatment. Generally, alloy composition effects are independent of casting techniques where as the rate of solidification of cast structure, and heat treatment procedures are process dependent [68]. Also, the mechanical properties of the castings are affected significantly by the morphology of the eutectic Si and porosity. The porosity is known to affect adversely the mechanical properties of Al alloys [1,4,9,10]. In the squeeze casting process, the high pressure applied during solidification can eliminate porosity caused by both gas and shrinkage, and the increased cooling rate caused by improved thermal contact between the casting and die results in the formation of fine grained structures [1012]. Consequently, these also improve casting soundness and mechanical properties. In the present contribution, aspects related to the casting technique and heat treatment of the casting are considered.

M.T. Abou El-khair / Materials Letters 59 (2005) 894900 Table 1 The Density measurements and porosity percent Squeeze pressure As cast Total pore area sq-m/g Bulk Density g/ml Porosity % 2.783 2.5846 2.6527* 2.27 70 MPa 0.698 2.6735 2.6894* 0.71 100 MPa 0.659 2.6753 2.6902* 0.63 160 MPa 0.490 2.6976 2.6917* 0.48

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3. Soundness The density measured by Archimedes principle and also the densities measured by the pore size device are tabulated in Table 1. From the results both measurements show that with increasing the squeeze pressure, the density increases.

* Archimedes measurements.

This paper presents results on the effect of optimum process conditions for obtaining sound castings and also to explore the squeeze pressure effect on macro-and microstructure, soundness, aging curves, eutectic morphology and tensile properties.

2. Experimental procedure An AlSi alloy of composition Si 5.9, Fe 0.52, Cu 0.385, Mg 0.333 and Al balance was used as casting material. After melting in an electric resistance crucible furnace, degassing with previously purified liquid nitrogen was carried out. Liquid metal with a certain superheat (50 8C) was poured into the preheated tool steel die with a cylindrical cavity of an internal diameter of 50 mm, a height of 100 mm and a wall thickness of 20 mm. After pouring the melt into the die cavity, pressurization was achieved using a 60 T hydraulic press. The delay time, which is necessary for the pressurization of the melt after pouring was 120 s. The die temperature was 250 8C and the pouring temperature was 750 8C and the squeeze pressures were 70, 100 and 160 MPa. The densities of as-cast and squeeze specimens were determined using Archimedes principle and also by using pore sizer device micro merities model 9310 to quantify the porosity percent. The squeeze cast specimens were cut into two parts in the longitudinal direction, and one part was prepared for observation of macrostructure by polishing and etching with Turkers reagent. Then the casting was formed as tensile specimens of A-370 standard. Some of the specimens were solution treated at 540 8C for 32 h, the other for hardness and tensile tests were subjected to T6 condition (solution treated at 540 8C for 8 h, quenched in water at 25 8C and aged at 170 8C for different times till 36 h). The as-cast and solution-treated specimens were polished and etched, and the microstructures were examined using optical microscopy. The tensile properties were evaluated with the test specimens fabricated by ScHEMATZUE DCS testing machine under the cross-head speed of 0.3 mm/min and fracture surfaces of the test specimens were examined with JEOL scanning electron microscope.

Fig. 1. Macrostructure of squeeze cast alloys (a) 70 (b) 100 and (c) 160 MPa. 1X.

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Density increases markedly from as-cast to 70 MPa, and the increase is gradual thereafter from 100 to 160 MPa. Also, the pore area and porosity percent decrease. Increasing of pressure from 0 to 70 MPa decreases the porosity about 69% while it is 32% from 70 to 160 MPa. As the squeeze casting process does not make use of feeder material, the cavity resulting from metal shrinkage must be compensated by the application of pressure. Hashemi et al. [11] stated that the density measurements indicated that there is a critical pressure that can be achieved. All squeezed cast specimens at a pressure above 50 MPa were fully dense.

4. Macrostructure Fig. 1 shows the macrostructural characterization conducted on the squeeze cast alloys at 70, 100 and 160 MPa, respectively. It revealed no evidence of blowholes or macropores. The macrostructure is an equiaxised structure and the grain sizes decrease with increase of squeeze pressure from 70 to 160 MPa.

and heat treatment on the mechanical properties of Al6Si0.3Mg alloy. The microstructure of as-cast alloy is shown in Fig. 2a which shows the existence of acicular eutectic Si surrounded by a-Al dendrites . The relatively coarse a-Al dendrite of about 150 Am size together with the coarse Si particles were observed in the gravity cast material. This was attributed to the slow solidification rate during casting. On the other hand, in Fig. 2b, the application of pressure 70 MPa results in a structure of a-Al of about 50 Am size with fine eutectic Si. Increasing the applied pressure from 100 to 160 MPa reduces the grain size of the primary phase from 30 to 20 Am (Fig. 2c and d). Also, increasing the applied pressure leads to the formation of a very fine eutectic Si. However, application of pressure does not affect the eutectic Si morphology. On the solidification under pressure, the following changes in microstructure were observed Fig. 2: 1. 2. 3. 4. increasing in the volume fraction of the Al-rich a-phase with increase in pressure decrease in the size of the primary Al-rich dendrites decrease in the volume fraction of the eutectic considerable refinement of the Si of the eutectic

5. Microstructure The major purpose of this work is to clarify, through microstructural studies, the influence of squeeze pressure The microstructures of as-cast and squeeze cast solution treatment alloys are shown in Fig. 3. The microstructure in the solution treatment condition consists of a-Al cells

Fig. 2. Microstructure of (a) as-cast and squeeze cast alloys at (b) 70, (c) 100 and (d) 160 MPa.

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Fig. 3. Microstructure of solution-treated alloys (a) as-cast (b) squeeze cast at 70 MPa.

bounded by irregularly shaped Si particles. Eutectic is acicular and randomly distributed. The typical distribution of Si particles after solution treatment is shown in Fig. 3. For squeeze cast alloy the Si particles have spheroidized and coarsened to some extent, as compared with as-cast alloy. Most of them are more or less spherical. Some particles still have a longitudinal shape. Initially, Si particles are broken down into smaller fragments and are gradually spheroidized. Prolonged solution treatment leads to coarsening of the particles. Both spheroidization and coarsening are surface energy-driven, i.e., the system tries to reduce excess surface area to the minimum possible [13,14].

6. Aging behavior The aging curves at room temperature hardness of as-cast and squeezed cast alloys are shown in Fig. 4. The curves behave in a similar trend. They reveal that the precipitation-strengthening effect become pronounced after 30 min of aging and reaches a peak value at 10, 8, 6 and 4 h for as-cast and squeeze cast (70160 MPa) alloys, respectively. Little difference in time to peak hardness was observed for different conditions. The alloys are strengthened by the precipitation of an intermetallic compound Mg2Si during the aging treatment.

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Fig. 4. The aging curves of as-cast and squeeze cast alloys at different squeeze pressures at 170 8C.

This enhancement of strength was obtained also with increasing the squeeze pressure from 70 to 160 MPa. Increasing the pressure increases the Si solubility so the strength increased with increasing the pressure [10]. Because of the presence of excess Si in the solid solution, precipitation of Mg2Si occurs much faster in squeezed alloys [6]. The solution treatment stage of the T6 heat treatment performs several important functions: dissolution of Mg2Si phase; homogenization of the solid solution; and fragmentation, spherodization and coarsening of the eutectic silicon. Dissolution of Mg2Si and homogenization of the matrix occurs within 15 min in A356 alloy at 540 8C [1]. The changes to eutectic silicon morphology are generally slower, taking up to several hours, and depend on parameters such as solution temperature and original particle size/shape which in turn are determined by solidification conditions, grain size and eutectic modification [9].

The enhancement of strength properties obtained during aging treatment is primarily owing to the metastable phase from the supersaturated solution [8]. When both the solution and aging treatment effects on the tensile properties are considered, the properties would show an increase in strength and decrease in ductility. The present results therefore agree quite well with the results reported in literature. The increase of strength with increasing squeeze pressure is due to the increased solubility of Si and the virtual elimination of shrinkage and/or gas voids could all contribute towards the observed improvements in strength of the alloys [6,10,11]. The elongation percent increases with increasing squeeze pressure, the values of solution-treated alloys are the largest ones. The improvements in elongation values are most likely to be due to the increased volume fraction of the primary a phase and improved soundness of the alloys. The eutectic Si morphology plays a vital role in determining the mechanical properties. Particle size, shape and spacing are factors that characterize Si morphology. Under normal cooling conditions, Si particles are present as coarse acicular needles. The needles act as crack initiators and lower mechanical properties appreciably. The Si particle characteristics can be altered by subjecting the casting to a high temperature heat treatment for long periods. Therefore, for prolonged solution treatment, the observed change in tensile properties are attributed to change in Si particle characteristic [4,9,10].

8. Tensile fracture surface Fig. 5 reveals the SEM micrographs of the typical fracture surfaces of nontreated and aged tensile specimens. A mixed mode of brittle cleavage and ductile fracture with dimples was observed at both heat-treated and nontreated alloys. Application of squeeze pressures improve the fracture surfaces. It indicates a more ductile failure mode.

7. Tensile properties Table 2 shows the values of ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS) and elongation percent (El%) of the non-heat-treated, solution-treated and aged alloys at different squeeze pressures. From the table UTS and YS show an increasing trend with increasing of squeeze pressure from 70 to 160 MPa for all alloys. Aged alloys have the largest value of UTS and YS, the values of solution-treated alloys are less while the values of nontreated alloys are the lowest. The eutectic Si in as-cast alloy is present as coarse, acicular needles which act as stress raisers, and consequently, the material is easy fractured. The heat treatment modifies the morphology of the Si from acicular to spherodized shape, thereby improving the mechanical properties [5,9,14].
Table 2 Mechanical properties (UTS, YS and El.%) of investigated alloys Pressure MPa UTS MPa As cast 70 100 160 As cast 70 100 160 As cast 70 100 160 Effect of heat treatment Non treated 103 128 131 132 64 87 103 114 2.5 4 5.5 6.5 Solution treatment 147 173 185 190 114 136 139 140 4 13 14 15 Aging 150 198 200 208 82 136 165 190 3.5 5 6 8

YS MPa

EI.%

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Fig. 5. SEM micrographs of tensile fracture of (a) as-cast and squeeze cast alloys at (b) 70, (c) 100 and (d) 160 MPa.

The fracture behavior of the alloys is affected by the size of a-particles and Si morphology [15].

5. 6.

9. Conclusions 1. 2. 3. 4. Both heat treatment and squeeze casting increase the strength of the investigated alloys. Increasing of squeeze pressure decreases the a-Al grain size and modified the eutectic Si. Increasing of squeeze pressure (70160) MPa decreases the porosity and improves the tensile properties. Squeeze pressure accelerates hardness peak from 8 to 4 h.

Aging enhances UTS and YS and reduces the ductility. The Si particles start to fragmentize and spheroidize almost immediately with solution treatment. This leads to pronounce improvement in mechanical properties of treated alloys.

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