Effects of Vibration and TiB2 Additions to the Melt on the Structure and Strain-Rate Sensitive Deformation Behavior of an A356 Alloy

Abstract

For the first time, joint experiments have been conducted with samples of A356-TiB2 cast aluminum alloy under quasi-static and plane shock-wave loading. Alloys were obtained by introducing TiB2 particles using a master-alloy, combined with the effect of vibration treatment on the melt in order to fragment the dendritic structure and prevent its branching during solidification. The melt treatment and introduction of TiB2 particles allowed the average grain size to reduce to a third of that of the base cast alloy. During the experiments the strain rate and the shock-wave compression pressure were varied. It was shown that introducing particles affected the strain-rate sensitivity of the alloy. The best elastic–plastic and strength characteristics at increased strain rates of over 0.01 s−1 were demonstrated by an A356 alloy without TiB2 particles.