Study on the microstructures of Al-2.5%Mn alloy

The effect of Sr and cooling rate on the microstructure of Al-2.5%Mn alloy was studied by OM, SEM and XRD. The results showed that Sr not only refined the primary phase, but also refined eutectic microstructures. However, there was obvious delamination in the alloy. When the content of Sr was 0.2%–0.65%, the primary phase in the upper part of alloy changed from coarse needle and lath-shaped to fine block and needle-like. With the Sr content increased, the needle-like structure in the alloy tended to be more and longer, but the size of α -Al tended to be finer. At the bottom, there were many large massive phases, which were much more refined than the primary phase without Sr With the cooling rate increased, the primary phase was refined greatly and almost all of them transformed into eutectic microstructure. Besides, the delamination of microstructure disappeared.