Effect of Si Content on the Fatigue Fracture Behavior of Wrought Al-xSi-0.7Mg Alloy

The wrought Mg-containing high-silicon aluminum alloy has become more attractive as an ideal structural material, because it has moderate strength and the ductility, high wear and corrosion resistance, low thermal expansion coefficient and low cost. However, as structural material, the fatigue properties and the fatigue fracture behavior of it should be paid much more attention to, especially the effect of Si content on the fatigue properties of wrought Mg-containing Al-Si alloy. In this paper, the wrought Al-(1.44%, 4.92%, 6.61%, 8.81% and 12.4%)Si-0.7%Mg alloy were prepared through DCC and homogenization treatment, and then hot-rolled and cold-rolled into 1.3mm sheets. The microstructure and fatigue fracture morphology of Al-(1.44~12.4)Si-0.7Mg-T4 alloy sheet after fatigue test were investigated by LSCM and SEM. The results showed that the size of Si particles in Al-(1.44~12.4)Si-0.7Mg alloy sheets was approximately the same, but the number of Si particles increased as the Si content increased. The size of recrystallization grain in Al-(1.44~12.4)Si-0.7Mg alloy sheets decreased from 47μm to 10μm when Si content increased from 1.44% to 12.4%, which indicates that increasing of Si content can refine the grain of Al-(1.44~12.4)Si-0.7Mg alloy sheets. With the increasing of Si content the propagation area of fatigue fracture surface of Al-(1.44~12.4)Si-0.7Mg alloy sheets in T4 temper became rougher, and crack propagation became more difficult. Moreover, dimples in the fast fracture area became larger in amount, smaller in size and more uniform in distribution.