Synergistic Effect of Strontium and Melt Quenching on the Solidification Microstructure of Hypereutectic Al-Si Alloys

Abstract

The synergistic effect between strontium (Sr) and melt quenching on the solidified microstructure of hypereutectic Al-Si alloys was investigated by optical and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that melt quenching can suppress the growth of primary Si particles in the solidified structure of the hypereutectic Al-Si alloy, resulting in a significant decrease of in the average size of primary Si particles in Al-(18~22)Si alloys from 30.35~66.31 μm to 15.13~34.63 μm. The synergistic effect between Sr and melt quenching can further inhibit the precipitation of primary Si particles in the Al-18Si alloy. After the addition of Sr to Al-18Si alloy and undergoing melt quenching, the area fraction of primary Si clearly decreases. When the added amount of Sr increases from 0.1 wt.% to 0.5 wt.%, the area fraction of primary Si decreases from 1.13% to 0.16%. With 0.5 wt.% Sr in the tested alloy, the inhibiting effect on primary Si precipitation was significantly improved. Research has shown that the cooling rate has a significant impact on the solidified structure of the melt-quenched Al-18Si-0.5Sr alloy. There exists no primary Si in solidified structures on the area of 1/8R and 1/4R from the surface of the round bar sample, but the area fraction of primary Si increases, respectively, to 1.97% and 12.48% on the area of 1/2R and R from the surface. The higher the cooling rate, the higher the inhibitory effect on the primary Si precipitation in the Al-18Si-0.5Sr alloy.