Study of Dry Wear Behavior and Resistance in Samples of a Horizontally Solidified and T6/Heat-Treated Automotive AlSiMg Alloy

Abstract

To investigate dry wear behavior in an aluminum-based automotive alloy, transient horizontal solidification experiments using a water-cooled directional solidification device have been performed with the Al7Si0.3Mg alloy (wt%). Samples of the as-cast ingot at positions (P) 2, 4, 6, 40, and 80 mm from the cooled interface were subjected to precipitation hardening heat treatment (T6-type). The heat treatment has been applied under the following conditions: solution treatment for 3 h at 520 ± 2 °C, followed by quenching in warm water (70 ± 2 °C), aging for 3 h at 155 ± 2 °C and air-cooling. Dry wear tests were performed on both the as-cast and heat-treated samples. The wear tests were carried out by rotary-fixed ball wear machine means. The analyzed parameters were solidification growth and cooling rates (VL and TR), secondary dendritic spacings (λ2), and wear volume and rate (WV and WR). An interrelation between these parameters has been conducted and experimental mathematical equations have been proposed to characterize the WV and WR dependence on P, VL, TR and λ2. The T6-heat treatment has affected the length of the as-cast dendritic scale, increasing the λ2 values as well as the wear features of the investigated automotive alloy. Finer and coarser dendritic microstructures inherited better wear resistance for the as-cast and heat-treated samples, respectively. An evaluation by occupied area fraction (%IRAF) of interdendritic regions on wear resistance in the as-cast and heat-treated samples has been performed. It has been observed higher and lower IRAF values in the as-cast and heat-treated samples, respectively.