Dissolution of Cu/Mg Bearing Intermetallics in Al-Si Foundry Alloys

Abstract

Evolutions of the Cu/Mg bearing intermetallics were thoroughly investigated in four Al-Si hypoeutectic alloys containing various Cu (1 and 1.6 wt pct) and Mg (0.4 and 0.8 wt pct) contents. The area fractions of Cu/Mg bearing phases before and after solution heat treatment (SHT) were quantified to evaluate the solubility/stability of the phases. Two Mg-bearing intermetallics (Q-Al5Cu2Mg8Si6, π-Al8FeMg3Si6) which appear as gray color under optical microscope were discriminated by the developed etchant. Moreover, the concentrations of the elements (Cu, Mg, and Si) in α-Al were analyzed. The results illustrated that in the alloys containing ~0.4 pct Mg, Q-Al5Cu2Mg8Si6 phase was dissolved after 6 hours of SHT at 778 K (505 °C); but containing in the alloys ~0.8 pct Mg, it was insoluble/ partially soluble. Furthermore, after SHT at 778 K (505 °C), Mg2Si was partially substituted by Q-phase. Applying a two-step SHT [6 hours@778 K (505 °C) + 8 hours@798 K (525 °C)] in the alloys containing ~0.4 pct Mg helped to further dissolve the remaining Mg bearing intermetallics and further modified the microstructure, but in the alloys containing ~0.8 pct Mg, it caused partial melting of Q-phase. Thermodynamic calculations were carried out to assess the phase formation in equilibrium and in non-equilibrium conditions. There was an excellent agreement between the experimental results and the predicted results.