Study of the precipitation hardening process in recycled Al-Si-Cu cast alloys

• Published in: Archives of metallurgy and materials 2017-03, Vol.62 (1), p.397-403
• Main Authors: Kuchariková, L., Tillová, E., Matvija, M., Belan, J., Chalupová, M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aging (artificial); Alloys; Aluminum base alloys; and transmission electron microscopy; Casting alloys; Copper base alloys; Cu precipitate; Dispersion; Electron diffraction; Foils; Heat treatment; High resolution; Mechanical properties; Phase transitions; Precipitates; Precipitation hardening; Quenching; recycled Al-Si-Cu cast alloys; Silicon base alloys; Solution heat treatment; Transmission electron microscopy
• ISSN: 2300-1909; 1733-3490; 2300-1909
• DOI: 10.1515/amm-2017-0062

The formation of extremely small uniformly dispersed particles of a second phase within the original phase matrix during heat treatment changed material properties. Therefore the characterization of precipitation had been investigated using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron diffraction of thin foils for an AlSi9Cu3 cast alloy. For investigation the hardening effect onto mechanical properties of aluminium cast was used heat treatment, which consisted from solution treatment at 515°C / 4 hours (h), followed by quenching into water with temperature 50°C and artificial aging using different temperatures 170°C and 190°C with different holding time 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 hours. The observations of microstructure and substructure reveals that precipitation hardening has caused great changes in size, morphology and distributions of structural components, the formation of precipitates of Cu phases, and the change of mechanical properties as well.