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The printability of Al6SiMg0·5Er1·0Zr alloy at various laser power, scan speed, and hatch spacing was investigated. The optimal processing window was determined. The relationship between hatch spacing and lack of fusion (LOF) defects and microstructure is discussed. Hatch spacing significantly affects the cellular size, which is formed by eutectic Si network, and medium hatch spacing can achieve the finest microstructure. Samples with high densities and fine microstructures were investigated more carefully. The grain and cellular boundaries have many Al3(Er,Zr) phases. The grain size was refined to 2.64 μm, and the epitaxial growth of columnar crystals was completely suppressed. The cellular structure has been significantly improved. Get the equiaxed - ultrafine equiaxed - columnar multi-cellular structure with dramatically enhanced mechanical properties. The yield strength, tensile strength, and elongation were 373 Mpa, 480 MPa, and 5.5%, respectively. Grain boundary strengthening and Orowan strengthening was the main strengthening mechanisms.

The effects of Fe, Cr and thermal exposure on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Si alloy were investigated in this work. The results indicated that the main phases of the Al-Si-Cu-Ni-Mg-(0.6–0.9%) Fe (wt. %) alloy were α-Al, Si, Al5Cu2Mg8Si6, Al3CuNi, Al7Cu4Ni, Al2Cu, and AlFeSi at room temperature. The size of the AlSiFe phase increased with increasing the weight fraction of Fe. The shape of Fe-rich phase changed from rod-like to star-like, followed by long needle-like with Fe varying from 0.6% to 0.9%. The mechanical properties of the studied alloys at elevated temperatures increased with Fe. The ultimate tensile strength of the three alloys at 350 °C was 111.2 MPa, 124 MPa, and 128.7 MPa, respectively. In addition, the ductility and strength of the studied alloys at room temperature decreased with increasing the Fe, due to the large size of the hard and brittle Fe-rich phase strictly cleaved the aluminum matrix. After thermal exposure, the properties of the alloy at room temperature and elevated temperature decreased obviously at the beginning of 0.5~8 h, and then tend to be stabilized during thermal exposure at 350 °C for approximately 32~64 h. Fe-rich was a thermal stable phase at 350 °C.

Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). In this work, the effects of ultrasonic treatment on in-situ ZrB2 particle-reinforced AA4032-based composites were studied. The composites were synthesized from Al–K2ZrF6–KBF4 system via an in-situ melt reaction. The phase composition, macrostructure characteristics, hardness and tensile properties of the composites were investigated. The results showed that the addition of in-situ submicron ZrB2 particles into the composites resulted in grain refinement, and the increased hardness and tensile properties. The ultrasonic treatment effectively enhanced the uniformity of in-situ ZrB2 distribution, which further enhanced the structure and mechanical properties of the composites. The mechanisms of the ultrasonic treatment in the improvement of in-situ particle distribution and mechanical properties of the composites were discussed. Research Strengthening Project of the Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi. SC acknowledges the financial support from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (2564-02-01-007).

The mechanical properties of Al-Si alloys have been investigated. Abrasion wear resistance is an important analysis being used in various applications so there are many laboratory testing methods to determine it. In this article, we've looked at one of the ways to determine wear resistance using a scratch tester as a relatively easy, efficient, and fast test method. Materials used in the tests were: Al-Si (Al 94.30; Si 2.24, Fe 0.84) alloy. The coefficient of friction and wear of the samples were determined both by the methods of testing the wear and by investigating them in correlation with their mechanical properties.

The goal of this research was to determine how the master alloys Al-5Ti-0.25C-0.25B and Al-5Ti-1B affected the mechanical properties and structural characteristics of the alloy Al-9.5Si-1.5Cu-0.8Mn-0.6Mg. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to probe the microscopic composition, and the mechanical properties were evaluated using tensile testing. The results showed that, by adding 0.5% Al-5Ti-0.25C-0.25B master alloy and 0.5% Al-5Ti-1B master alloy, the α-Al dendrites can be significantly refined. In the extrusion state, the ultimate tensile strength and elongation with 0.5% Al-5Ti-0.25C-0.25B master alloy reached 380 MPa and 11.2%, which were 5.5% and 22.4% higher than no refinement, respectively. The elongation of the samples with the Al-5Ti-1B alloy addition increased from 9% to 11.9%, which is attributed to the fact that more pronounced complete recrystallization occurred during the extrusion heat treatment.

Improving the engineering properties of Al–7Si cast alloys (300 series) provides an attractive alternative to automotive and aircraft engine industries. The solubility limit of silicon (Si) in Al contributes to the precipitation of flake-shaped Si particles with sharp edges, which function as a stress riser and promote crack propagation during the eutectic phase while also weakening the protective layer’s durability. In this study, the impact of microstructure refinement of Al–7Si alloys by using cooling slope, thixoforming and the T6 heat treatment process on hardness and corrosion resistance behavior was investigated. Results showed that the microstructures of the as-cast alloy had a very coarse dendritic shape, whereas the dendritic transferred to the globular α-Al phase, and the Si particles were replaced into a lamellar- or acicular-like shape after the cooling slope and thixoforming process, respectively. The as-cast, cooling slope and thixoformed samples were subjected to the T6 heat treatment process, which enhanced the hardness to 79, 99 and 104 HV, respectively, due to Si particle refinement. The potentiodynamic test revealed that the corrosion rate dropped to 0.00790 and 0.00736 mmpy−1 in the heat-treated cooling slope and thixoforming samples. This finding can be attributed to the substantially refined Si particles and reduced eutectic phase area due to the smaller cathodic to anodic area ratio.

A series of studies were conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of low-temperature bonding by the forming and heating an Al-8wt%Si alloy thick film on a B4C surface by cold spraying. The results show that: (1) The cracks near the joining interface are closed by the Al alloy by the process studied in this study, and a joining strength of about 220 and 240 MPa is achieved by low temperature joining of 580 °C and 600 °C, respectively.; (2) The amount of weak intermetallic compounds at the joining interface is reduced; (3) It is assumed that the reduction in the amount of Al-B-C compounds is due to the formation of the β phase during the solidification process of the Al-Si alloy, which hinders the growth of the compounds.; (4) On the primary joint surface, a continuous void group is formed in the vicinity of the β phase that surrounds the α phase, causing a decrease in the joining strength.

Data Availability: The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request. In the cold chamber high-pressure die casting (CC-HPDC) process, alloy solidification in the shot sleeve due to heat loss leads to the formation of externally solidified crystals (ESCs), which have been proven to be closely related to microstructure inhomogeneity and mechanical properties of cast components. In this paper, the solidification behavior of aluminum alloy inside the shot sleeve is studied using a numerical modeling approach. Fluid flow, heat transfer, and solidification of aluminum alloy melt inside the shot sleeve are studied using ProCAST software in three dimensions. A comparison between modeling and experiments shows good correspondence. Moreover, the evolution and distribution of ESCs in the shot sleeve along with their dependence on the piston motion profile are analyzed accordingly. The results show that after the melt impinges the shot sleeve wall, a thin layer of initial solid forms on the wall with a non-uniform distribution along the sleeve in both the longitudinal and radial directions. With piston movement, the initial solid fraction first increases and then decreases to some extent before being injected into the die cavity. The amount of ESCs at the melt free surface are quantitatively analyzed and validated for different piston motion profiles. The results of this work would be useful in further microstructure and mechanical property variability study of high-pressure die casting products.

This paper deals with different types of modifiers and their effect on microstructure of Al-Si alloy. For purposes of this research Strontium, Antimony and Calcium were used as the modifiers of AlSi10CuNiMn alloy. Unmodified alloy was cast in order to be compared with alloy modified by different modifiers in different concentrations. Results of this research were analysed via light and electron microscopy.

Duplex nucleation and its effect on the grain size and properties of near eutectic Al-Si alloys were investigated in this work. It is found that the grain size of Al-13Si-1Cu alloy can be greatly refined by addition of Al-2Ti-0.5B-0.5C and Al-P master alloys, and TiB2/AlP duplex nucleation was observed at the nuclei of primary silicon in the process of studying the refinement mechanism. TiB2 phase coated by Al co-existed with AlP in the nuclei of primary Si. The existence of Al phase should not only guarantee the promotion of TiB2 particles on the nucleation of AlP particles, but also made TiB2 particle stable in the core of primary silicon through the interaction with the Si phase. Duplex nucleation can not only affect the grain size of Al-Si alloy, but also effect of the distribution of strengthening phases in Al-Si alloy and improve the properties. Compared with single Al-P master alloy treatment, the tensile strength of Al-12Si-4Cu-2Ni-1Mg alloy after duplex nucleation treatment are improved obviously. The fatigue performance of Al-12Si-4Cu-2Ni-1Mg alloy is also improved significantly by the duplex nucleation.

Nowadays, aluminium alloys are adopted mainly to produce engineering and automotive components. The present investigation aims to design, cast and characterize novel functionally graded materials (FGMs) produced using Al-Mg and Al-Si alloys by gravity casting technique. Alloys were sequentially cast into a mould to obtain an FGM to realizing great mechanical and metallurgical bonding. Zn addition was further performed in FGM to increase the mechanical properties, thanks to the nucleation of the intermetallic phases MgZn2. Castings were subsequently mechanically tested by tensile tests, bending tests, hardness and microhardness measures to assess the products\' quality. Microstructural characterizations were performed along the FGM to assess the metallurgical bonding and evaluate the microstructures obtained. Fracture, microstructural and compositional analysis will highlight the quality of this new FGM proposed. Possible applications of these materials are suggested, as automotive pistons or structural components.

Quality issues caused by casting defects are commonly complicated to solve, because the part-specific process parameters are not traced to the individual cast part. This problem can be mitigated by the traceability of each cast part with an identifier code. Therefore, a study of the influence of marked surface topography and post-treatments on code symbol quality is desirable for a well-designed traceability system. In this work, the code symbol quality of laser, dot peen, and electrolytic marking methods on three as-cast surfaces of Al-Si alloy, after sandblasting and heat treatment, is evaluated comparatively with a customized image processing software. The result shows that the laser marking method produces the highest performance for different as-cast surfaces; electrolytic marking provides acceptable results only on the smooth surfaces of high-pressure die casting; dot peen marking produces the codes of high symbol contrasts, which are similar to those of laser marking, especially for rough as-cast surfaces of sand casting. However, for all marking methods, the code qualities of all surface topographies decrease substantially after post-treatments. Considering that dot peen marking has satisfying performances as well as low equipment and maintenance costs, this method is more suitable for small- and medium-size foundries to start to trace each cast part in an economical manner.

Fabrication condition greatly influences the microstructures and properties of Al alloys. However, most of the available reports focus on a single fabrication technique, indicating there is still a lack of systematic comparisons among wider ranges of fabrication methods. In this paper, with conventional casting (via sand/Fe/Cu mold) and additive manufacturing (AM, via selective laser melting, SLM) methods, the effects of cooling rate (Ṫ) on the microstructures and mechanical properties of hypoeutectic Al-10Si-0.5Mg alloy are systematically investigated. The results show that with increasing cooling rate from sand-mold condition to SLM condition, the grain size (d) is continuously refined from ~3522 ± 668 μm to ~10 μm, and the grain morphology is gradually refined from coarse dendrites to a mixed grain structure composed of columnar plus fine grains (~10 μm). The eutectic Si particles are effectively refined from blocky shape under sand/Fe-mold conditions to needle-like under Cu-mold conditions, and finally to fine fibrous network under SLM condition. The tensile yield strength and elongation is greatly improved from 125 ± 5 MPa (sand-mold) to 262 ± 3 MPa (SLM) and from 0.8 ± 0.2% (sand-mold) to 4.0 ± 0.2% (SLM), respectively. The strengthening mechanism is discussed, which is mainly ascribed to the continuous refinement of grains and Si particles and an increase in super-saturation of Al matrix with increasing cooling rate.

In this study, three Al-12Si-Sr alloys containing different ratios (0.02; 0.1 and 1%) strontium (Sr) were manufactured by the permanent mold casting method. The microstructures of the manufactured alloys were determined by standard metallographic methods, and the hardness and tensile strength values were stated by the Brinell method and tensile test, respectively. The effects of different Sr ratios and cutting parameters on the cutting force and surface roughness during turning of these alloys were investigated using CVDTiCN/Al2O3/TiN coated carbide inserts under the different cutting speeds (200, 300 and 400 m/min), feed rate (0.05; 0.1 and 0.15 mm/rev) and constant depth of cut (1.5 mm) conditions. Metallographic examinations revealed that the microstructure of the Al-12Si-0.02Sr alloy consists of α, eutectic aluminum-silicon, Al-FeSi (δ) phases and primary silicon particles, while the Al-12Si-0.1Sr contains Al-Sr-Si phase in addition to the phases observed in the Al-12Si-0.02Sr alloy. In these investigations, it was also observed that as the Sr ratio increased, the Al-Sr-Si phase grew and/or the number of these phase particles increased. The highest hardness and tensile strength values were obtained from Al-12Si-0.1Sr alloy among the produced alloys. The elongation to fracture value of the alloys decreased continuously with increasing of Sr ratio. It was seen that the cutting force and surface roughness decreased with the increase of cutting speed, whereas increased with the increase of feed rate in the machining tests. The lowest cutting force and surface roughness values were measured in the machining of Al-12Si-0.1Sr alloy, while the highest values were measured in Al-12Si-0.02Sr alloy in turning tests. Built-up edge (BUE) formation was observed during the turning of the alloys. It was revealed that BUE formation could be reduced by using a combination of high cutting speed and low feed rate. While the least BUE formation was observed in the Al-12Si-0.1Sr alloy at the cutting tool rake face, the highest BUE formation was observed in the Al-12Si-0.02Sr alloy. The findings obtained from the turning tests were discussed in based on the structural and mechanical properties of the alloys. Bu çalışmada, farklı oranlarda (%0,02; 0,1 ve 1) stronsiyum (Sr) içeren üç adet Al-12Si-Sr alaşımı kokil kalıba döküm yöntemiyle üretildi. Üretilen alaşımların içyapıları standart metalografik yöntemlerle, sertlik ve çekme dayanımı değerleri ise sırasıyla Brinell ölçüm yöntemi ve çekme deneyi ile belirlendi. Farklı Sr oranları ve kesme parametrelerinin bu alaşımların tornada işlenmesi esnasındaki kesme kuvveti ve yüzey pürüzlülüğü üzerindeki etkileri, farklı kesme hızı (200, 300 ve 400 m/dak), ilerleme (0,05; 0,1 ve 0,15 mm/dev) ve sabit kesme derinliği (1,5 mm) koşullarında CVD-TiCN/Al2O3/TiN kaplamalı karbür kesici uç kullanılarak araştırılmıştır. Metalografik incelemeler, Al-12Si-0,02Sr alaşımının içyapısının α, ötektik alüminyumsilisyum, Al-Fe-Si (δ) fazları ile primer silisyum parçacıklarından, Al-12Si-0,1Sr alaşımının içyapısının ise Al-12Si-0,02Sr alaşımında gözlenen fazlara ilave olarak Al-Sr-Si fazından oluştuğunu göstermiştir. Bu incelemelerde ayrıca Sr oranı arttıkça Al-Sr-Si fazının büyüdüğü ve/veya bu faz parçacıklarının sayısının arttığı gözlenmiştir. Üretilen alaşımlar içerisinde en yüksek sertlik ve çekme dayanımı değeri Al-12Si-0,1Sr alaşımından elde edilmiştir. Alaşımların kopma uzaması değeri ise artan Sr oranı ile sürekli azalmıştır. İşleme testlerinde kesme hızının artması ile kesme kuvveti ve yüzey pürüzlülüğünün azaldığı, ilerlemenin artması durumunda ise bu değerlerin de arttığı tespit edilmiştir. Tornalama testlerinde en düşük kesme kuvveti ve yüzey pürüzlülüğü değerleri, Al-12Si-0,1Sr alaşımının işlenmesinde ölçülürken, en yüksek değerler ise Al12Si-0,02Sr alaşımında ölçülmüştür. Alaşımların tornalanması esnasında yığıntı talaş (YT) oluşumu gözlenmiştir. YT oluşumunun yüksek kesme hızı ve düşük ilerleme kombinasyonları kullanılarak azaltılabileceği ortaya konulmuştur. Kesici uçta en az YT oluşumu, Al-12Si-0,1Sr alaşımında gözlenirken, en fazla YT oluşumu ise Al-12Si-0,02Sr alaşımında gözlenmiştir. İşleme deneylerinden elde edilen bulgular, alaşımların yapısal ve mekanik özelliklerine dayandırılarak irdelenmiştir.

Constantly growing requirements concerning the quality of poured machinery components give rise to the need to find new solutions to improve their mechanical and technological properties, considering economic and ecological aspects resulting from energy consumption of the casting and heat treatment processes. This study presents the investigation of the effect of heat treatment on mechanical properties (tensile strength Rm, elongation A5, hardness HBW) of the AlSi7Mg alloy without modification and modified with strontium. Obtained results allowed us to determine T6 heat treatment parameters associated with the improvement of mechanical properties of the alloy with simultaneous limitation of duration of solutioning and aging treatments. The maximum increase in Rm was 67%, and 55% in the case of HBW, with a slight decrease in elongation (approx. 10%) in relation to an alloy not subjected to heat treatment in the adopted scope of tests for the total time of heat treatment of 4–6 h. The increase in elongation of up to 250% requires aging at a temperature exceeding 300 °C, which also causes a decrease in durability and hardness by 20%. Modification of the alloy using strontium before heat treatment facilitates the process of fragmentation and balling of silicone precipitates.

Al-Si alloys exhibit promising wear resistance, thus being mainly employed to weld Al alloy parts and processed into components of equipment. During the new continuous casting direct rolling (CCDR) process, the raw material gradually cools and solidifies, simultaneously plastically deformed. Hence, the materials manufactured through the CCDR process presented an unparalleled microstructure. The experimental results indicated that the strength of the CCDR Al-Si alloy can be increased through cold rolling. A two-stage heat treatment (solid solution and aging treatment) was introduced to improve the ductility and satisfy the industrial application. Furthermore, the erosion wear characteristics and fracture mechanism of the CCDR Al-Si alloy dominated by the ductility were confirmed. Both cold rolling specimens (FR) and those with heat treatment (FRH) showed greater wear resistance than as-manufactured (F). The FR specimens exhibited greater wear resistance owing to a higher Al matrix strength at a lower impact angle, on the other hand, at a higher impact angle, the FRH specimens with a softer Al matrix presented better wear resistance due to the formation of a lip structure to reduce material removal. The TEM results confirmed that the nanoscale grains formation was induced in the erosion-affected region and affected the Si concentration. Conclusively, the heat-treated CCDR Al-Si alloy possessed excellent erosion resistance and workability, which can serve as a reference processed as wear-resistant mechanical parts.

To systematically investigate the effect of rare earth element Gd on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Si-Mg(A357) cast alloy, A357 alloys with different Gd additions were investigated by OM, SEM, EPMA, XRD, DSC, TEM and tensile test. The results show that the addition of Gd can refine the grain and secondary dendrite arm spacing of the alloy. Besides, Gd refines eutectic Si, instead of transforming its morphology. The mechanical properties are improved by Gd addition due to obvious refinement of the grain and eutectic Si, the reduction of secondary dendrite arm spacing. For the A357-0.5Gd(mass fraction/%) alloy, the ultimate tensile strength(UTS) is 355MPa, which is 37MPa higher than that of the alloy without Gd. However, when increasing the Gd mass fraction to 1.0%, the formation of a high number of coarse Al2Si2 Gd results in the decrease of the mechanical properties of the alloy.The refinement mechanism of Gd was investigated.Combined with the TEM observation, it can be inferred that the Gd addition produces fewer twins but some nanosized particles within eutectic Si. The density of twins is not high enough to cause the morphology transition of eutectic Si. The refinement effect of Gd on eutectic Si may be attributed to the increase of constitutional overcooling and the formation of nanosized particles, inhibiting the growth of eutectic Si during solidification.

This study fabricated a thixoformed Al-7% Si alloy using the cooling slope technique and subjected it to heat treatment before processing with severe plastic deformation to determine the effect of this combination method on the microstructure refinement and hardness of Al-Si alloys (300 Series). Each as-cast and thixoformed Al-Si alloy sample was subjected to equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) and high-pressure torsion (HPT) individually at room temperature before and after heat treatment. ECAP was conducted in a mould with a 120° channel angle via route A, and HPT was applied with 0.75 and 5 turns. The heat-treated thixoformed Al-Si alloy subjected to the HPT process had an ultra-fine grain microstructure and showed a fine and homogeneous redistribution of the eutectic phase in the Al matrix. For the as-cast alloy, the hardness of the heat-treated thixoformed Al-7% Si alloy increased from 63 HV to 124 and 215 Hv after two ECAP passes and five turns of HPT due to the reduced and redistributed eutectic phase in the Al matrix. Subjecting the Al-7% Si alloy to a combination of semisolid and heat treatment processes before subjecting it to severe plastic deformation resulted in microstructural refinement and improved the hardness of the Al-Si alloy. The results indicate that HPT is a more effective method than ECAP for increasing the hardness of the thixoformed Al-Si alloy due to microstructure refinement.

The research aims to produce, model, and optimise the mechanical properties of novel composite material through a structured multidisciplinary approach. The primary objective is to combine materials science, mechanical engineering, and statistical concepts to ensure Design for Manufacturability (DFM) from the industrial perspective. More specifically, the article is intended to determine the optimal mixture components and predictive model of Al-Si alloy with Al2O3 by accommodating multi-responses that enable DFM. The study adopted ASTM standards to prepare and test the novel composite material. Additionally, the Mixture Design of Experiment (DOE) approach was used to design the experimentation and subsequent analysis. In addition, microstructural images, Cox Response Trace plot, and Response Optimiser plot are effectively utilised to draw robust inferences. For multi-response modelling and optimisation, the composite material’s mechanical properties, like impact strength, hardness, density, and tensile strength, are considered. The study determines that innovative composite material will yield better results when Al-Alloy is 94.65 wt% and Al2O3 is 5.35 wt% from a multi-responses perspective. Further, it provides predictive models with a high level of predictability. Besides, the research shows that novel composite material has better mechanical properties from a practical perspective. The article not only provides the mechanical properties of a new class of material but also shows the effective utilisation of material science and statistical concepts to develop the novel material in a structured manner. This composite material can be used as a replacement for various parts of automobiles and aircraft. Additionally, researchers can use the article’s modelling and optimisation approach as a paradigm to create durable composite materials.

Inconel superalloys are used substantially in high-temperature environments. However, these alloys suffer from corrosion and wear. Attempts to overcome these drawbacks involve coating the metal with different techniques and materials. In this study, a new method with increasing potential was utilized. Using the mechanical alloying process in a planetary ball mill vial, alloying and the Al-Si coatings were concurrently achieved on Inconel 625 substrates. Different process control agent (PCA) ratios, milling ball diameters, and milling times were used to improve coating properties. Macro and microstructure, morphology, microhardness, and roughness values of samples were evaluated and compared. Additionally, crystallographic and cross-sectional properties were investigated in order to optimize the processing conditions. The results indicated that increasing the diameter of the grinding ball enhanced the hardness and thickness of these coatings and increased the roughness values. Longer processing time also enhanced the thickness with mechanical values. However, under these conditions, coating homogeneity decreased, and incompatible regions were formed on the coatings. PCA content brought a refined grain structure, hence showed better mechanical properties. On the other hand, processing time should be increased to get a denser and thicker protective layer against the operational conditions.

The microstructure of the Si phase in Al-20Si alloys solidified under high pressure was investigated. The results demonstrate that the morphology of Si phase transformed (bulk→short rod→long needle) with the increase of superheat temperature under high pressure. At a pressure of 3 GPa and a superheat temperature of 100 K, a microstructure with a uniform distribution of fine Si phases on the α-Al matrix was obtained in the Al-20Si alloy. In addition, a mathematical model was developed to analyze the spacing variation of the lamellar Al-Si eutectics under the effect of pressure. The lamellar Al-Si eutectics appeared at 2 GPa and superheat temperatures of 70–150 K, and at 3 GPa and superheat temperatures of 140–200 K. With the increase of pressure from 2 GPa to 3 GPa, the average spacing of lamellar Al-Si eutectics decreased from 1.2–1.6 μm to 0.9–1.1 μm. In binary alloys, the effect of pressure on the eutectic spacing is related to the volume change of the solute phase from liquid to solid. When the volume change of the solute phase from liquid to solid is negative, the lamellar eutectic spacing decreases with increasing pressure. When it is positive, the eutectic spacing increases with increasing pressure.

The fatigue life of a hot extruded Al-12.7Si-0.7Mg alloy under T1, T4, and T6 conditions was studied. The microstructure and tensile properties of the alloy were investigated in order to analyze the fatigue behavior. The results of the fatigue test showed that an extruded Al-12.7Si-0.7Mg alloy provided greater fatigue life compared to a cast Al-Si alloy, which was explained by the refined microstructure characterized by fine Si particles uniformly distributed in the Al matrix of fine equiaxed grains promoted by hot extrusion. The fatigue property of the alloy in T6 treatment was higher than that in the T4 and T1 conditions due to strengthening precipitation.

The paper presents the results of study concerning the evaluation of the precipitation hardening parameters (temperatures and times of solution treatment and artificial ageing processes) having an effect on mechanical properties, and the change in the microstructure of the EN AC-AlSi11(Fe) alloy. Based on the obtained results and performed statistical analysis, regression equations and the response surface model in the form of spatial and contour plots were determined to illustrate the effects of solution treatment and artificial ageing parameters on the mechanical properties of the investigated alloy. The performed heat treatment had a positive effect on improving the mechanical properties of the alloy versus the initial state. The maximum increase in tensile strength was by 52%, in unit elongation by 56%, in Brinell hardness by 44% and impact strength by 88%. Furthermore, a favorable change was observed in the microstructure of the investigated alloy, especially regarding eutectic silicon precipitations, which underwent partial spheroidization and coagulation after the heat treatment.

In this paper, the effects of size, morphology and distribution of eutectic silicon on the thermal conductivity of Al-8Si alloy modified by Sr (0.04, 0.08, 0.12 wt.%) and Sb (0.1, 0.3, 0.5 wt.%) elements with T6 heat treatment were investigated. The results show that the modified fibrous eutectic silicon has a significant capability of improvement of thermal conductivity, while the amount of the modifier has a relatively weak effect on thermal conductivity. After T6 treatment, the fracture or spheroidization of the flake eutectic silicon and the disappearance of clustering phenomenon could raise thermal conductivity, but the coarsening of fibrous eutectic silicon is inconducive to thermal conductivity. Finally, the effect of eutectic silicon on electron transport is analyzed in detail, which could provide a reference for enhancing the thermal (or electrical) conductivity of hypoeutectic Al-Si alloy through effective microstructure control.

International audience; With new economic and environmental challenges in the automotive industry, the cylinder head is affected by the reduction of manufacturing costs and the system mass optimization due to the “downsizing” trend.Al-7Si-3Cu aluminum alloy meets the specifications of this application. In the 80’s, the Lost Foam Casting process (LFC) with sand mold was developed. It competes with the traditional gravity Die Casting (DC) process thanks to cost reduction and better part accuracy. Nevertheless, the significantly slower cooling rates for cylinder heads produced by LFC, result in coarser aluminum dendrites and more numerous and large micro-shrinkage. Several studies on castable Al-Si alloy have been done to understand the impact of microstructure phases and defects on the product lifetime under cyclic thermos-mechanical stresses including in our laboratory, particularly on LFC Al-7Si-3Cu cylinder heads specimens. Yet, the high variability of distribution and characteristics of the defects observed complicates the cracking mechanism analysis. The new approach is to create a model material with a representative cylinder heads microstructure, ie.size of the microstructure and defects location. Controlling the defect position allows to know the crack initiation location. Hence, the observation area is limited during the mechanical test and it helps to ease quantitative measurement at a very fine scale information. Two strategies are considered for the model. The first is to control the cooling of a cast tensile sample prepared in our laboratory’s foundry with the aim of placing an internal pore in the middle of the gauge length. Optical microscopy and X-ray micro-tomography observations were carried out in order to quantify the microstructure features and the defects location. The results show that it is possible to repeatedly obtain the specific microstructure of the engine part with the same interdendritic size. The second method, that will be presented here, is to close pores of the LFC alloy take a part from the engine with the Hot Isostatic Pressure (HIP) processing and drill an inclined hole in the center of the machined specimen. Instrumented cyclic mechanical tests were performed on the specimen with a drilled hole using a small size tensile stage and high resolution cameras. The displacement fields around the defect on the surface were measured and analyzed with digital image correlation. These fields are used as boundary conditions in a finite element method simulation for experimental – numerical dialogue. The test was stopped at different stages to characterize the 3D morphology of the micro-cracks by X-ray micro-tomography. The deformations of von Mises calculated on the surface and those calculated in the volume allow an understanding of the damage mechanisms throughout the interest area of the specimen. It reveals cracks initiation and propagation along the silicon eutectic phase and intermetallics close to the hole.

The thermal stability of the Al-Si alloys during the thermal exposure process from 250 °C to 400 °C was systematically investigated. The relationships between the morphological evolution and the mechanical changes of the alloys were determined through the Vickers hardness test and materials characterization method. Initially, the alloys exhibited similar thermal degradation behavior. For example, the exposure process of the alloy at 300 °C can be divided into two stages according to the changes of the alloy hardness and the matrix micro-hardness. In detail, the first stage (0–2 h) exhibited a severe reduction of the alloy hardness while the second stage showed a more leveled hardness during the following 98 h. There are three identified morphological characteristics of Ni-rich phases in the alloy. Furthermore, the differences in both composition and the micro-hardness between these Ni-rich phases were confirmed. The underlying relationships between the morphological transformation of the Ni-rich phases and hardness fluctuation in the alloy were correlated and elucidated. The observed alloy hardness increase when the exposure temperature was 400 °C was unexpected. This behavior was explained from the perspectives of both Ni-rich phases evolution and dispersoid formation.

The present study investigated the effect of the casting conditions for the reduced pressure test (RPT) on the melt quality of Al-Si alloy. The casting conditions considered in RPT were the atmospheric exposure during melting, sampling method, and mold pre-heating temperature. Density Index (DI) was measured to quantify the melt quality of the Al-Si alloy casted with the different casting conditions for the RPT. The sample with blocking atmospheric exposure during melting was 5.6% lower in DI than the one without blocking. DI showed a 1.9% gap between scooping-out and pouring sampling methods. Increasing mold pre-heating temperature from 100 &deg, C to 250 &deg, C increased the DI of the alloy from 8.5% to 18.7%. On the other hand, when the mold pre-heating temperature was 350 &deg, C, the DI of the alloy dropped sharply to 0.9%. The melt quality of the alloys was analyzed by measuring the pores and microstructure and simulating the solidification of the samples. It was presumed that the oxides and inclusions in the molten alloys caused the difference in DI according to the atmospheric exposure and the sampling method. The difference in DI according to the mold pre-heating temperature could be understood by calculating the solidification starting time and hydrogen diffusion coefficient during the solidification of the alloys in RPT.

In this study, solidification microstructure of fine primary silicon being uniformly distributed on single αAl matrix was obtained when adding Cu–9 wt%P alloy to an Al–10 wt%Si alloy melt or an Al–20 wt%Si alloy melt, stirring at 200 r/min for 12 min and cooling at the cooling rate of 16.3 K·s−1. The change law of silicon phase size with cooling rate and modified treatment parameters was determined by examining the solidification microstructures. It was found that ultrafine AlP was easily swallowed by primary silicon when the cooling rate was slow. The formation mechanism of superfine AlP particles, the growth process of αAl phase around primary silicon and the disappearance process of eutectic silicon were researched under intense stirring of the melt during the Cu–9 wt%P alloy modification. Moreover, the conditions under which fine primary silicon was uniformly distributed in single αAl matrix in hypereutectic Al-Si alloy were put forwarded. Finally, the formation mechanism of the solidification microstructure without eutectic Si in hypereutectic Al-Si alloy was analyzed.

Hypereutectic Al-Si melts and eutectic Al-Si melt were solidified to study boron and phosphorus distributions in primary silicon phase, eutectic silicon phase and eutectic aluminum phase during Al-Si solvent refining. The boron and phosphorus contents in the primary silicon phase and the eutectic silicon phase were determined by ICP-OES, and the boron and phosphorus contents in the eutectic aluminum phase were calculated by the principle of mass conservation. The primary silicon phase has lowest boron and phosphorus contents, while the eutectic aluminum phase has highest boron and phosphorus contents.

The WCCo/PCD (Diamond Dispersed Cemented Carbide&mdash, DDCC) manufactured with the use of PPS (pulse plasma sintering) are modern materials intended for cutting tools with the benefits of tungsten carbides and polycrystalline diamonds. Nevertheless, the cutting performance of DDCC materials are currently not recognized. Thus this study proposes the evaluation of technological effects of a precise groove turning process of hard-to-cut AlSi13MgCuNi alloy with DDCC tools. The conducted studies involved the measurements of machined surface topographies after grooving with different cutting parameters. In addition, the tool life and wear tests of DDCC inserts were conducted during grooving process and the obtained results were compiled with values reached during machining with cemented carbide tools. It was also proved that grooving of AlSi13MgCuNi alloy with DDCC inserts enables 5 times longer tool life and almost 3-fold increase of cutting path compared to values obtained during grooving with H3 and H10 cemented carbide inserts. Ultimately, the feed value of f = 0.15 mm/rev and cutting speed in a range of 800 m/min &le, vc &le, 1000 m/min during grooving with DDCC inserts can be defined as an optimal machining parameters, enabling the maximization of tool life and improvement in surface quality.

The microstructure of samples of austenitic stainless steel and Al-Si alloy, obtained by the wire based additive method under various conditions was investigated. The effect of the beam current, the deposition intervals and the electron beam post-processing on the microstructure is shown.

In this work, the effect of heat treatments on the anodizing behavior of additive manufactured AlSi10Mg material is studied. Specimens are subjected to artificial aging or stress release heat treatments, followed by galvanostatic anodizing in sulfuric acid. Optical and scanning electron microscopy are employed to study the microstructure and the oxide layer characteristics. Upon applying the heat treatments, the microstructure shows a gradual evolution from a continuous 3D silicon network toward separate coarse silicon particles in an aluminum matrix. The morphology of the silicon phase is found to be a deciding factor as it determines the fraction of silicon that is oxidized during anodizing. This in turn is found to have a direct impact on the anodizing efficiency and oxide layer uniformity. Thicker and more uniform oxide layers are obtained for the additive manufacture AlSi10Mg specimens after the silicon network is broken up due to the heat treatments.

24th International Symposium on Metastable, Amorphous and Nanostructured Materials (ISMANAM), San Sebastian, SPAIN, JUN 18-23, 2017; The effect of impurities, Sr additions and cooling rate on the microstructural evolution of high-purity Al-10Si-0.3Fe and corresponding impure commercial alloys is examined by optical microscopy and in situ by X-ray synchrotron 3D tomography. At fast cooling rate (similar to 470 K min(-1)) the presence of impurities decreases the growth rate of primary Al dendrites and enables formation of the beta phase. Besides a modification of the eutectic Si, the addition of Sr prevents the formation of the beta phase and increases the growth rate of Al dendrites. A low cooling rate (similar to 1 K min(-1)) leads to the formation of alpha, gamma, delta and beta intermetallic phases. In all four alloys, the dominant phase is the delta phase, regardless of commercial impurities or the Sr level. Intermetallic phases formed during slow cooling rates are much coarser than those formed during fast cooling and they have different morphologies. Our results suggest that the velocity of growth and the final morphology and size of the intermetallic phases are mainly determined by diffusional processes which in turn are controlled by the cooling rate. (c) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The refinement potential of Al-3.5FeNb-1.5C master alloy on pure aluminium and Al-9.8Si-3.4Cu alloy has been investigated. Different amounts of Al-3.5FeNb-1.5C master alloy were added to estimate the optimal addition level. It was found that the addition of Al-3.5FeNb-1.5C grain refi ner can promote signifi cantly the refi nement of grains in the pure aluminium, particularly at 0.1wt.%, with the mean primary aluminium α-grain size reducing to 187±3 μm from about 1-3 mm. Similarly, the microstructural study of the Al-9.8Si-3.4Cu alloy die casting at different weight percentages (viz. 0.0wt.%, 0.1wt.% and 1.0wt.%) of Al-3.5FeNb-1.5C master alloy shows that the Al-3.5FeNb-1.5C master alloy as a grain refi ner is also acceptable for Al-Si cast alloys when the silicon content is more than 4wt.%. As a result of inoculation with Al-3.5FeNb-1.5C master alloy, the average grain size of α-Al is reduced to 22±3 μm from about 71±3 μm and grain refi ning effi ciency is not characterized by any visible poisoning effect, which is the major limitation in the grain refi nement of Al-Si cast alloys by applying Al-Ti-B ternary master alloys. Mechanical properties such as ultimate tensile strength and yield strength are signifi cantly improved by 9.6% and 9.7%, respectively.

Distribution behavior of B and P during directional solidification of Al-20Si, Al-30Si and Al-40Si alloys has been investigated. Macrostructure of the Al-Si alloy ingots and concentration profile of elements B and P reveal that the elements segregate to eutectic Al-Si melt during growth of primary Si flakes, and P gradually segregates to the top of the ingots during directional solidification. An apparent segregation coefficient, ka, is introduced to describe the segregation behavior of B and P between the primary Si and the Al-Si melt and compared with thermodynamic theoretical equilibrium coefficients. The apparent segregation coefficients of B and P decrease with increase of solidification temperature.

International audience; An intensive formation of crystal defects in the α-Al matrix of an as-cast Sr-modified eutectic Al–Si alloy, induced by heat treatment with rapid heating, has been studied. This phenomenon arises from the fragmentation of the Si crystals and the diffusion of Al atoms into the cracks of the Si crystals. During the rapid heating process, a large temperature gradient is established within an as-cast Al–Si sample. It creates a tensile environment for the irregular-shaped and interconnected Si crystals, as the thermal expansion coefficient of the α-Al is ten times that of the Si. Under the thermal constraints, some Si crystals are broken, where the cracks produce the so-called “capillary force” that attracts the surrounding α-Al matrix to fill in them. As the migration of the Al atoms is substitutional, the Al diffusion creates fluxes of vacancies to the interior of the αAl matrix; thus, the crack volume is transferred to the αAl matrix. Due to the homogeneous distribution of the Si crystals and the random presence of the cracks, the αAl matrix is subjected to a varied migration of vacancies in site, in quantity and in direction. Such diffusion is further perturbed by local migration of Al atoms to accommodate the spheroidization of the Si induced by its shape instability. In this way, a large amount of crystal defects (vacancies and then dislocations) are produced in the α-Al matrix. The produced crystal defects then promote the recovery and even recrystallization of the α-Al matrix, resulting in its refinement. Such a mechanism of defect production is applicable to polycrystalline materials composed of phases with incompatible thermal and mechanical properties.

The Al-Si melts that contain different silicon contents were solidified with a series of cooling rates, and the boron contents in primary silicon phases and eutectic silicon phases were measured and discussed. The results indicate that the boron content in the eutectic silicon phases is higher than that in the primary silicon phases when the cooling rate is constant. When the cooling rate decreases, the boron content in the primary silicon phases decreases, but the boron content in the eutectic silicon phases increases. The microstructure observations of solidified ingots show that there is an interface transition layer beside the primary silicon phase, and the average width of the interface transition layer increases with decreasing cooling rate.

We have utilized a phase-field model to investigate the evolution of eutectic silicon in Al-Si alloy. The interfacial fluctuations are included into a phase-field model of two-phase solidification, as stochastic noise terms and their dominant role in eutectic silicon formation is discussed. We have observed that silicon spherical particles nucleate on the foundation of primary aluminum phase and their nucleation continues on concentric rings, through the Al matrix. The nucleation of silicon particles is attributed to the inclusion of fluctuations into the phase-field equations. The simulation results have shown needle-like, fish-bone like and flakes of silicon phase by adjusting the noise coefficients to larger values. Moreover, the role of primary Al phase on nucleation of silicon particles in Al-Si alloy is elaborated. We have found that the addition of fluctuations plays the role of modifiers in our simulations and is essential for phase-field modeling of eutectic growth in Al-Si system. The simulated finger-like Al phases and spherical Si particles are very similar to those of experimental eutectic growth in modified Al-Si alloy.

Cerium-based conversion coatings were deposited on Rheo-High Pressure Die Cast (HPDC) Al-Si alloys by immersion in cerium nitrate aqueous solutions. Rheocast Al-Si alloys have a heterogeneous microstructure and present a challenge for the conversion treatment. Different parameters were studied to optimize the conversion coating, and NaCl or H2O2 were also added to the solution to modify or accelerate the deposition process. The mechanism of the coating formation was studied by means of focused ion beam milling (FIB) assisted SEM. The results show that applying cerium-based conversion coating to Al-Si alloys, is possible and a preferential deposition is obtained due to the presence of iron-rich intermetallic particles inside the eutectic region. The formation mechanism of selectively deposited cerium-based conversion coating includes dissolution of aluminium matrix, selective dissolution of aluminium from the noble intermetallic particles, oxidation of iron from the intermetallic particles, and the deposition of cerium hydroxide/oxide layer. The results reveal that the improvement in corrosion resistance in the presence of selectively deposited cerium-based conversion coating is more significant compared to the homogenous coating deposited from the conversion solution containing H2O2.

Increasing environmental demands are forcing the automotive industry to reduce vehicle emissions by producing more light-weight and fuel efficient vehicles. Al–Si alloys are commonly used in automotive applications because of excellent castability, high thermal conductivity, good wear properties and high strength-to-weight ratio. However, most of the aluminium alloys on the market exhibit significantly reduced strength at temperatures above 200 °C. This paper presents results of a study of the effects of Co and Ni in a hypoeutectic Al–Si alloy on microstructure and mechanical properties at room and elevated temperature. Tensile test specimens with microstructures comparable to those obtained in high-pressure die casting, i.e. SDAS ~ 10 µm, were produced by directional solidification in a Bridgman furnace. The results show an improvement in tensile properties up to 230 °C.

Fe-rich intermetallics, especially β-Fe phase, usually forming in the microstructure of cast aluminum alloys, are very detrimental to mechanical properties. In the present work, the effects of Fe content on phase transformation and microstructures were analyzed using a 3D X-ray microscope. Based on the high-resolution 3D X-ray computed tomography, the 3D characteristics of Fe-rich intermetallics and micropores in the gravity-cast Al-6Si alloys with different Fe contents were investigated. In addition, the effect of intermetallics on the microporosity was discussed. The results show that with increasing the Fe content from 0.10wt.% to 0.60wt.%, the volume fraction of Fe-rich intermetallics and the volume of the largest size Fe-rich intermetallic increased, and the 3D morphology of intermetallics changed from fine flake to network aggregation. As the Fe contents increased, the shrinkage pores were characterized, which were rather complex due to the micropores promoted by the intermetallics interactions.

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) of an Al-13%Si alloy matrix reinforced with 0, 3 and 6 wt% Al2O3 nanoparticles (nAl2O3) is performed and the optical microstructures, tensile strength, hardness and sliding wear properties of friction stir welded joints are investigated and compared to those of base materials. Four different zones of distinct appearances were observed during FSW, which exhibited altered microstructures in the nugget zone (NZ), thermo mechanically affected zone (TMAZ), heat affected zone (HAZ), and base material zone (BMZ). The ultimate tensile strength of the base materials and their welded joints were found to be increasing with increased wt% of nano-alumina reinforcements. High joint efficiency of 89-97% was achieved in FSW. Hardness and wear resistance of friction stir welded joints were found to be better than those of the base materials.

A wrought Al-11.3Si-0.6Mg alloy under hot extrusion (T1), solution treatment (T4), and solution treatment + artificial aging (T6) states were friction stir welded at welding speed of 100 mm/min and rotation rate of 800 rpm. The effect of prior heat-treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the welds were investigated. The results show that the microstructures of the nugget zones have little dependence on the initial states of the base material. In the nugget zones, complete recrystallized structures with equaxied grains in the Al matrix were formed under all conditions. The Si particles in the nugget zones are almost unchanged compared with those of their base materials (BMs) in the three states. In contrast, the joint efficiency of the obtained welds was very sensitive to the initial material condition. The joint efficiency under the T1 state is more than 90% due to the fact that the microstructure is almost unchanged, except for the slight coarsening of the Al matrix grains and some of the Mg2Si phases during the friction stir welding process. However, the joint efficiency in the T4 and T6 conditions is only 77.22% and 62.03%, respectively. The relatively low weld strength in the T4 and T6 conditions is due to the elimination of the solid solution strengthening and age hardening effects during friction stir welding. The hardness distributions along the cross section of joints are all W-shaped under T1, T4, and T6 conditions.

Separation of refined silicon from Al&ndash, Si melt is still a puzzle for the solvent refining process, resulting in considerable waste of acid and silicon powder. A novel modified Czochralski method within the Al&ndash, Si alloy is proposed. After the modified Czochralski process, a large amount of refined Si particles was enriched around the seed crystalline Si and separated from the Al&ndash, Si melt. As for the Al&ndash, 28%Si with the pulling rate of 0.001 mm/min, the recovery of refined Si in the pulled-up alloy (PUA) sample is 21.5%, an improvement of 22% compared with the theoretical value, which is much larger 1.99 times than that in the remained alloy (RA) sample. The content of impurities in the PUA is much less than that in the RA sample, which indicates that the modified Czochralski method is effective to improve the removal fraction of impurities. The apparent segregation coefficients of boron (B) and phosphorus (P) in the PUA and RA samples were evaluated. These results demonstrate that the modified Czochralski method for the alloy system is an effective way to enrich and separate refined silicon from the Al&ndash, Si melt, which provide a potential and clean production of solar grade silicon (SoG-Si) for the future industrial application.

In this paper, the effect of the equal-channel-angular-pressed (ECAPed) substrate on the coating formation and anticorrosion performance of the anodized Al&ndash, 11Si alloy was systematically investigated. The ECAP process dramatically refines both Al and Si phases of the alloy. The parallel anodizing circuit is designed to enable a comparative study of anodizing process between the cast and the ECAPed alloys by tracking their respective anodizing current quota. The optimum coatings of both alloys were obtained after anodization for 30 min. The ECAPed alloy attained a thicker, more compact, and more uniform coating. Energetic crystal defects in the fine Al grains of the ECAPed substrate promote the anodizing reaction and lead to the thicker coating. Fragmented and uniformly distributed fine Si particles in the ECAPed alloy effectively suppress the coating cracks, enhancing the compactness of the coating. Overall, the ECAP-coated sample exhibits the best anticorrosion performance, which is evidenced by the concurrently enhanced prevention of coating and improved corrosion resistance of the substrate.

Cooling rate plays a critical role in determining the thermal conductivity of Al-Si alloys. Although the effect of morphology and size of Si (changed by heat treatment) on its thermal conductivity has been investigated, the effect of cooling rates on thermal conductivity has not been well studied. In this study, we investigated the microstructure of an Al-8Si (with and without modification by Strontium (Sr)) alloy with cooling rates from 46.2 °C/s to 234 °C/s. It was found that the effect of cooling rate on thermal conductivity of Sr modification and Sr-free samples are opposite from each other. As a result, while the cooling rate increased from 46.2 °C/s to 234 °C/s, the calculated thermal conductivity increased from 145.3 MS/m to 151.5 MS/m for Sr-free Al-8Si alloy, and the calculated thermal conductivity was reduced from 187.5 MS/m to 176.7 MS/m for the Sr-modified Al-8Si alloy. By discussing how thermal conductivity correlates with eutectic silicon morphology and secondary dendrite arm spacing, the relationship between cooling rate and thermal conductivity were explained. This work suggests a new design strategy for improving the thermal conductivity of Al-Si hypoeutectic alloys.

Issues connected with high quality casting alloys are important for responsible construction elements working in hard conditions. Traditionally, the quality of aluminium casting alloy refers to such microstructure properties as the presence of inclusions and intermetallic phases or porosity. At present, in most cases, Quality index refers to the level of mechanical properties – especially strength parameters, e.g.: UTS, YS, HB, E (Young’s Modulus), K1c (stress intensity factor). Quality indexes are often presented as a function of density. However, generally it is known, that operating durability of construction elements depends both on the strength and plastic of the material. Therefore, for several years now, in specialist literature, the concept of quality index (QI) was present, combines these two important qualities of construction material. The work presents the results of QI research for casting hypoeutectic silumin type EN AC-42100 (EN AC-AlSi7Mg0.3), depending on different variants of heat treatment, including jet cooling during solution treatment.

The cooling rate is one of the main tools available to the process engineer by means of which it is possible to influence the crystallisation process. Imposing a desired microstructure on a casting as early as in the casting solidification phase widens significantly the scope of technological options at disposal in the process of aluminium-silicon alloy parts design and application. By changing the cooling rate it is possible to influence the course of the crystallisation process and thus also the material properties of individual microstructure components. In the study reported in this paper it has been found that the increase of cooling rate within the range of solidification temperatures of a complex aluminium-silicon alloy resulted in a decrease of values of the instrumented indentation hardness (HIT) and the instrumented indentation elastic modulus (EIT) characterising the intermetallic phase occurring in the form of polygons, rich in aluminium, iron, silicon, manganese, and chromium, containing also copper, nickel, and vanadium. Increased cooling rate resulted in supersaturation of the matrix with alloying elements.

The paper presents the results of the crystallization process of silumin by the TDA thermographic method and the results of the cast microstructure obtained in the sampler ATD-10, that was cooling down in ambient air. The study was conducted for silumins AlSi8 and AlSi11 unmodified. The work demonstrated that the use of thermal imaging camera allows for the measurement and recording the solidification process of silumin. Thermal curve was registered with the infrared camera and derivative curve that was calculated on the base of thermal curve have both a very similar shape to adequate them TDA curves obtained from measurements using a thermocouple. Test results by TDA thermographic method enable quantitative analysis of the kinetics of the cooling and solidification process of hypo-and neareutectic silumins.