Improving High-Temperature Tensile and Low-Cycle Fatigue Behavior of Al-Si-Cu-Mg Alloys Through Micro-additions of Ti, V, and Zr

• Published in: Metallurgical and materials transactions. A, Physical metallurgy and materials science Physical metallurgy and materials science, 2015-07, Vol.46 (7), p.3063-3078
• Main Authors: Shaha, S. K., Czerwinski, F., Kasprzak, W., Friedman, J., Chen, D. L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alloys; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Materials Science; Metal fatigue; Metallic Materials; Nanotechnology; Structural Materials; Surfaces and Interfaces; Temperature; Thin Films
• ISSN: 1073-5623; 1543-1940
• DOI: 10.1007/s11661-015-2880-x

High-temperature tensile and low-cycle fatigue tests were performed to assess the influence of micro-additions of Ti, V, and Zr on the improvement of the Al-7Si-1Cu-0.5Mg (wt pct) alloy in the as-cast condition. Addition of transition metals led to modification of microstructure where in addition to conventional phases present in the Al-7Si-1Cu-0.5Mg base, new thermally stable micro-sized Zr-Ti-V-rich phases Al 21.4 Si 4.1 Ti 3.5 VZr 3.9 , Al 6.7 Si 1.2 TiZr 1.8 , Al 2.8 Si 3.8 V 1.6 Zr, and Al 5.1 Si 35.4 Ti 1.6 Zr 5.7 Fe were formed. The tensile tests showed that with increasing test temperature from 298 K to 673 K (25 °C to 400 °C), the yield stress and tensile strength of the present studied alloy decreased from 161 to 84 MPa and from 261 to 102 MPa, respectively. Also, the studied alloy exhibited 18, 12, and 5 pct higher tensile strength than the alloy A356, 354 and existing Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloy modified with additions of Zr, Ti, and Ni, respectively. The fatigue life of the studied alloy was substantially longer than those of the reference alloys A356 and the same Al-7Si-1Cu-0.5Mg base with minor additions of V, Zr, and Ti in the T6 condition. Fractographic analysis after tensile tests revealed that at the lower temperature up to 473 K (200 °C), the cleavage-type brittle fracture for the precipitates and ductile fracture for the matrix were dominant while at higher temperature fully ductile-type fracture with debonding and pull-out of cracked particles was identified. It is believed that the intermetallic precipitates containing Zr, Ti, and V improve the alloy performance at increased temperatures.