Influence of ageing process on the microstructure and mechanical properties of aluminium-silicon cast alloys - Al-9%Si-3%Cu and Al-9%Si-0.4%Mg

Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to investigate the influence of ageing process on the microstructure and mechanical properties of aluminium-silicon alloys. The investigation was carried on Al-9%Si-3%Cu and Al-9%Si-0.4%Mg. To obtain different DAS with low content of oxide films and micro shrinkage, gradient solidification has been used. The specimens were treated according to T6 heat treatment. In this thesis it has been shown that solidification rate has great influence on mechanical properties since it controls microstructure. To reach peak level of mechanical properties different times of artificial ageing were used depending on the alloy. In peak value condition Yield’s Strength of alloys was 197MPa for Al-Si-Cu alloy and 243MPa for Al-Si-Mg one. These results can be compared to these presented in other papers concerning aluminium silicon alloys. Such comparison shows that when talking about potential of alloy, these results are more or less the same as in other articles in this field. The work was conducted within 10 weeks and for this reason not all the necessary data was collected. Further work will be conducted to obtain missing results, like overaged state for Al-Si-Cu alloy.