Effect of applied pressure on microstructures of squeeze cast Mg-15Gd-1Zn-0.4Zr alloy

Microstructural evolution of Mg-15Gd-1Zn-0.4Zr(GZ151K,wt%)alloys,cast under 0 MPa(gravity cast)and 6 MPa(squeeze cast),were comparatively studied.It is found that the grain size of squeeze cast GZ151K alloy with applied stress 6 MPa is much smaller than that of the gravity cast counterpart.Moreover,the squeezing pressure hinders the transition fromβ’precipitates toβ1 precipitates during subsequent aging process,leading to reduced volume fraction ofβ1 precipitates in the squeeze cast alloy.Thus,the relatively lower volume fraction ofβ1 precipitates in the squeeze cast GZ151K results in higher hardness increment and stronger precipitation hardening effect.

Achieving grain refinement ofα-Al and Si modification simultaneously by La-B-Sr addition in Al-10Si alloys

As-cast Al-Si alloys always face low ductility because of coarseα-Al grains and large lamellar eutectic Si.Although B-containing refiners and Sr modifiers could refine theα-Al grains and eutectic Si respec-tively,simultaneous addition leads to an invalid effect of Sr because B-containing refiner has a poison-ing effect(PE)on Sr modifier in the Al-10Si-B-Sr alloys.The present work achieves both refinement ofα-Al grains and modification of Si merely by the addition of 500 ppm La in Al-10Si-0.02B-0.015Sr alloy,which greatly enhances the ductility and tensile strength.Sr-B interaction in the Al-10Si-0.02B-0.015Sr melt results in a consumption of Sr by forming Sr-B intermetallic compound.CALPHAD-type calculations reveal that Sr concentration in liquid before eutectic reaction becomes a key parameter to estimate the alloying modification effect.The addition of La forms LaB 6 and thereby releases Sr to protect the Sr modification effect.First-principles calculations illustrate that both Sr and La are benefi-cial to the formation of twin boundaries in Si particles due to their negative formation energy of twin boundaries.The formed LaB 6 has a semicoherent interface withα-Al with the orientation relationship of[110]_(LaB6)//[110]_(Al) and(111)_(LaB6)//(111)_(Al),demonstrating that LaB 6 is an efficient nucleation site forα-Al,which contributes to the refinement ofα-Al in the Al-10Si-0.05La-0.02B-0.015Sr alloy.Our findings re-veal the micro-mechanism of refinement during the solidification process and develop an effective and simple way to obtain high-performance Al alloys.

Effect of Cu addition on microstructures and tensile properties of high-pressure die-casting Al-5.5Mg-0.7Mn alloy

In this study, Cu was added into the high-pressure die-casting Al-5.5 Mg-0.7 Mn(wt%) alloy to improve the tensile properties. The effects of Cu addition on the microstructures, mechanical properties of the Al-5.5 Mg-0.7 Mn alloys under both as-cast and T5 treatment conditions have been investigated. Additions of 0.5 wt%, 0.8 wt% and 1.5 wt% Cu can lead to the formation of irregular-shaped Al2 CuMg particles distributed along the grain boundaries in the as-cast alloys. Furthermore, the rest of Cu can dissolve into the matrixes. The lath-shaped Al2 CuMg precipitates with a size of 15–20 nm × 2–4 nm were generated in the T5-treated Al-5.5 Mg-0.7 Mn-x Cu(x = 0.5, 0.8, 1.5 wt%) alloys. The room temperature tensile and yield strengths of alloys increase with increasing the content of Cu. Increasing Cu content results in more Al2 CuMg phase formation along the grain boundaries, which causes more cracks during tensile deformation and lower ductility. Al-5.5 Mg-0.7 Mn-0.8 Cu alloy exhibits excellent comprehensive tensile properties under both as-cast and T5-treated conditions. The yield strength of 179 MPa, the ultimate tensile strength of 303 MPa and the elongation of 8.7% were achieved in the as-cast Al-5.5 Mg-0.7 Mn-0.8 Cu alloy, while the yield strength significantly was improved to 198 MPa after T5 treatment.