Vikteffektiva lttmetallstukturer

Rapport 24

VILMER

The influence of Iron on the microstructure and mechanical properties of cast Al-Si-alloys
Salem Seifeddine, Ingenjrshgskolan i Jnkping

THE INFLUENCE OF IRON ON THE MICROSTRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CAST AL-SI ALLOYS

LITERATURE REVIEW VILMER PROJECT- 5.2 CASTING

DECEMBER 2007

SALEM SEIFEDDINE
JNKPING UNIVERSITY THE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING COMPONENT TECHNOLOGY SWEDEN

Abstract
Using recycled aluminium cast alloys is profitable in many aspects. Requiring only 5% of the energy to produce secondary metal as compared to primary metal and generates only 5% of the green house gas emissions, the recycling of aluminium is therefore beneficial of both environmental and economical point of view. Thanks to the excellent compromise between mechanical properties and lightness assured by such a material, applications of aluminium cast alloys are spreading in many industrial fields. Besides the benefits of utilizing secondary aluminium alloys, these alloys usually exhibit a remarkable reduction in ductility in comparison with primary aluminium alloys. By implementing adaptable alloying- and process technology the mechanical properties such as ductility will therefore be radically enhanced, leading to larger application fields of complex cast aluminium components such as safety details. Iron is recognised as the most detrimental impurity in cast aluminium alloys due to the formation of brittle intermetallics progressively decreasing the ductility and ultimate tensile strength. The cooling rate and addition of neutralizers such as Mn influence the critical Fe content and hence determines the final quality and soundness of the cast component. Corrosion resistance, machinability and castability are all adversely influenced when iron is present in the melt. Fe-intermetallics are also blamed for the formation of porosity during solidification and being as stress raisers leading to premature failures. Nevertheless, with increased iron content, the hardness and the resistance to hot tearing seem to increase and die soldering issues are avoidable leading to longer tool life time.

Table of content
Abstract ....................................................................................................... 2

Theoretical development ............................................................................. 4 Magnesium in Al-Si alloys ........................................................................ 4 Copper in Al-Si alloys............................................................................... 4 Magnesium, copper and iron in Al-Si alloys ............................................. 5 Iron in Al-Si alloys ................................................................................... 5 Modification of the harmful - Al5FeSi -needles ....................................... 7 Dissolution of iron intermetallic compounds through heat treatment ....... 9 The impact of iron on porosity formation ................................................. 9 Oxide build-up when remelting secondary Al- alloys.............................. 10 Influence of Copper and iron on the corrosion resistance ...................... 10 Influence of alloying elements on the fluidity.......................................... 10 Influence of iron on the mechanical properties....................................... 11 On the spheroidization of iron-rich phases ............................................. 13 The influence of grain refinement on iron intermetallic compounds ....... 14 On the reduction of the melts iron content............................................. 14 The effect of iron content on the castability ............................................ 14 The effect of iron on the machinability.................................................... 15 Conclusions, recommendations and guidelines for Al-Si casting alloys.. 15 Reference: ................................................................................................. 17

Theoretical development
Due to the increasing utilization of recycled aluminium cast alloys from components such as car cylinder heads, gear boxes, window frames etc, the necessity for strict microstructural control arises to remove the deleterious impact of impurity elements; which is considered to impair the overall properties of aluminium-silicon based casting alloys. By implementing adaptable alloying- and process technology, the mechanical properties such as ductility will therefore be radically enhanced, leading to larger application fields of complex cast aluminium components such as safety details. Generally, the mechanical and microstructural properties of aluminium cast alloys are dependent on the composition, melt treatment conditions, solidification rate, casting process and the applied thermal treatment. The mechanical properties of Al-Si-Mg and Al-Si-Mg-Cu alloys depend, besides the Mg and Cu-content, more on the distribution and the shape of the silicon particles. Alloys in which the silicon particles (eutectic or primary) are small, round and evenly distributed are usually highly ductile. Alloys in which the silicon particles are faceted and acicular are usually much less ductile but exhibit slightly higher strength [1-9]. The theoretical development will enlighten and assess the influence of iron and its compounds on the mechanical and microstructural performances of cast Al-Si alloys and propose what can be done to minimize the undesirable effect; summing up with some guidelines helping the die casters promoting as friendly cast components as possible.

Magnesium in Al-Si alloys

Aluminium cast alloys can be given, by adding a proper amount of Mg, a very strong heat treatment response. Thermal treatment of these Al-Si-Mg alloys allows Mg and Si to dissolve in the aluminium matrix; while upon aging, Guinier-Preston zones or highly dispersed Mg2Si particles precipitate in the matrix. As a result of that process, the tensile strength is significantly enhanced [2-4].

Copper in Al-Si alloys

In aluminium alloys copper is found partially soluble in -Al solid solution or forming intermetallics such as Al2Cu, see figure 1, which will be solidified in two forms after the main Al-Si eutectic reaction: one massive or blocky and the other as fine eutectic form. The main purpose by adding copper to aluminium alloys is to enhance their strength. The higher the content of copper is the higher level of hardness will then be achieved. Increasing copper content beyond 6% the castability appears to improve, but the specific gravity of the alloy and porosity formation increase considerably. The strength and ductility of these alloys depend on whether the Cu is present in solid solution as evenly distributed spheroidised particles, or as continuous network at the grain boundaries. As for Cu being dissolved in the Al matrix, the alloys will have the largest increase in strength and retain substantial ductility. On the other hand, if the copper is present as

continuous network at grain boundaries the alloys will not show any appreciable increase in strength, but a loss of ductility [5-8].

Magnesium, copper and iron in Al-Si alloys

Magnesium and copper, if they are present in Al-Si-Fe, promote the formation of different kind of coexisting intermetallics. In the occurrence of Mg, the phaseAl8FeMg3Si6 can form as Chinese script (when it is eutectic) or as globules (when it is primary). Mg my also form complex intermetallics with Cu precipitating as Cu2Mg8Si6Al5. In Al-Si alloys, when copper is present, the Al- Al5FeSi-Si eutectic forms as thin needles. Other phases that Fe form when Cu is present is the needle like Al7FeCu2-phase. The morphology and size of the Fe bearing phases in aluminium casting alloy depend on the alloy composition, melt treatment, casting conditions and cooling rate; and they can appear as small or large needles, Chinese script, when Mn or Mg are present in the alloy, star-like shapes and polyhedral particles.

Iron in Al-Si alloys

Iron is considered to be one of the most deleterious impurity elements present in aluminium. Being easily picked up from cast equipment made by steel, like ladles and inserts, iron can be added intentionally to improve the resistance to hot tearing and decreases the tendency for die sticking or soldering. The solubility of iron is very low in aluminium alloys with the result that most iron present forms intermetallic compounds. In a binary Al-Fe system, the equilibrium solid solubility of iron in aluminium is 0.03-0.05 wt. % at the eutectic temperature of 655 C and even lower at room temperature. Due to non-equilibrium solidification, it is not unusual to find several brittle and harmful intermetallic phases such as FeAl6, FeSiAl3, Fe2SiAl8, Al5FeSi, and FeSi2Al4 coexist with one another and with Si in Al-Si iron containing alloys [9]. Considerable studies have been reported regarding the formation of Fe-bearing phases in relation to the iron content and cooling rate [10-23]. Concerning the effect of iron content on the formation of Fe-bearing compounds, many researches have reported that at 0.05%<Fe<0.7% a small needle-like phase is believed to form after the eutectic Si, along with Si, in a ternary eutectic reaction. At Fe> 0.7 % most of Al5FeSi -needles seems to be precipitated prior to the eutectic Si [16, 17, 21] as a binary eutectic reaction, see figure 1. In his article, Lu et al. [16] concluded that higher iron levels not only did enhance the total amount of Al5FeSi -needles but also shifts to precipitation sequences of this phase to higher temperature. These phases precipitated at higher temperatures are likely to grow during the solidification process resulting in extremely coarse needle-shapes. Even if the iron level is quite low, enough iron segregates during solidification to cause the Al5FeSi -needles to form. At high cooling rates, as in the case of high pressure die casting, the occurrence of primary Al5FeSi -needles is shifted towards higher iron levels, Fe>1%. The length and thickness of the needles, no matter if they precipitate as primary,

binary are ternary reactions, depends to a large extent on the cooling rate and an increase in iron content leads to an increased fraction of iron precipitates. The mechanical properties are dependent on the type and morphology of the formed intermetallic compounds, as well as on the quantities. Due to the sharp edges of the Al5FeSi -needles, a severe stress concentration is then introduced to the alloy's matrix. The needle-shaped Fe-bearing phase is therefore recognized as the most detrimental to the casting's mechanical properties why efforts should be dedicated to developing means of controlling the precipitation, growth and morphology of these harmful platelet-like Al5FeSi intermetallic phases. In order to enhance the overall properties such as tensile, fatigue and corrosion properties, the morphology of the iron rich beta-phase in a needle shape is required to be altered to a more compact, less harmful intermetallic compounds. Replacing these needles, the influence of cooling rate and iron content [10-15] and also the impact of different frequently used modifiers such as Mn, Cr, Co, Sr, Be and Ca on the formation of these phases should be investigated.

Al2Cu

Al5FeSi
Figure 1. The formation of Al2Cu along the Al5FeSi. Comparing the morphology of the Fe-bearing phases in die cast specimens to specimens cast at lower cooling rates, L. Wang et al.[10] has found that the Fe-bearing compounds in an Al-12%Si base alloy containing 0.8 %Fe and 0.6 %Mn in die cast specimens, with a cooling rate of 9000 C/min, exist mostly as polyhedral particles, whereas Fe-bearing phases cast in a graphite mould, 750 C/min, exhibited a morphology of small, disintegrated Chinese script within the interdendritic regions. At very slow cooling rates, 10 C/min the Fe-particles appeared in the form of well developed, large Chinese script. Another alloy, which also was considered in this study, shows that for Fe-content of 1.5 % and Mn-content of 0.5%, the Fe-bearing phase altered its morphology from large Al5FeSi -needles to Chinese script and star-like morphologies when increasing the cooling rate from 10C/min to 750 C/min. At higher cooling rates, 9000 C/min, the shape of the Fe-bearing morphology is replaced with polyhedral particles. Another similar study have been reported by Shabestari et al. [11], which is in agreement of what L. Wang et al. [10] has proposed, demonstrating that the size of all morphologies of the Fe-bearing compounds is decreased by an increase in the cooling rate and that the average size and fraction at the same cooling rate is increased when the level of iron is increased from levels 0.4% up to 1.2% Fe.

Modification of the harmful - Al5FeSi -needles

As mentioned earlier, alloying elements are also added to convert the morphology of the iron rich beta-phase to a more compact, less harmful intermetallic compounds. Among the modifiers that are frequently used for that purpose are Mn, Cr, Co, Sr, Be and Ca [18, 19, 20, 24-30]. Shabestari et al. [24, 27] has reported that alloying with 0.9% Mn, resulted in apparent fragmentation of the - Al5FeSi -needles. At higher Mn levels the plate-like morphology of the - Al5FeSi -needles was replaced by Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2dendrites in the form of plate, polyhedral or star-like shapes, see figure 2. In the absence of Mn, the increase in cooling rate and decrease in iron content results in size and volume fraction reduction of Al5FeSi -needles and a finer dispersion of these particles is appeared [12, 13, 15]. Worth to be mentioned, that even if Manganese is present in the alloy, Al5FeSi -needles and Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2 are likely to coexist and the fraction of each of them, depends on the cooling rate and the ratio Fe:Mn, which is usually recommended to 2:1. G. Gustafsson et al. [19] and M. Mahta et al, [28] have reported how the undesirable effect of - Al5FeSi -needles could be neutralised by adding small amounts of Cr and Co. Fe:Cr ratio of 3 is required in order to promote the formation of the coarse Chinese script-Al13(Fe,Cr)4Si4 dendritic phase instead of the plate-shaped - Al5FeSi -needles. Regarding the Co, it has been found that a higher amount of Co is needed to suppress the formation of the Fe-needles. An optimum ratio of Fe:Co is recommended to approximately 1.

-Chinese script, Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2

-needles, Al5FeSi

Figure 2. Illustrates the shape of the -Chinese script, Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2, and -needles, Al5FeSi. Alloying with Mn and Cr, caution has to be taken in order to avoid the formation of hard complex intermetallic multi-component sludge, Al15(Fe, Mn, Cr)3Si2. These intermetallic

compounds are hard and can adversely affect the overall properties of the casting. Sludge factor formula has been suggested for these types of alloys to act as a guide, but not as a guarantee, to avoid sludge formation. The estimated formula is: Sludge Factor = % Fe + (2 x % Mn) + (3 x % Cr) A Sludge factor of 1.8 will normally not result in sludge formation if the casting temperature is of 650 C or more. The critical sludge factor is estimated to be 2.1 for AlSi-Cu-Mg containing alloys [20, 25, 27, 30]. Once these sludge particles are formed, they are nearly impossible to re-dissolve during reheating or thermal treatment because of their high melting points. The formation of sludge is a temperature dependent process in a combination with the concentrations of iron, manganese and chromium independent of the silicon content. There exists a critical melt superheat temperature above which the formation of sludge can be avoided during solidification. Another advantage with the melt superheat is the refining of the iron intermetallics. Regarding the modification effect of Sr on the formation of these needles, it appeared that Sr at low levels, 0.02-0.03%, neutralises the positive effect of Mn in reducing the deleterious Al5FeSi - plates while at Sr levels of 0.3%, the formation of complete conversion to dendritic morphology is encouraged, [18, 20, 24,27]. Another work by Shabestari et al. [31] has been proposed that the addition of strontium leads to rejection of Si from the beta-phase, leading to its decomposition into Al6Fe that appears in the form of fine fragments. F. H. Samuel et al [32], have also studied the effect of Sr on the Fe-intermetallics on an Al-Si-Cu alloy, in the unmodified and Sr-modified conditions with 350 ppm. Three pouring temperatures, 750, 720 and 620 C, were used in each case. The liquid metal was poured into hot graphite mould, cold metallic mould and cold water, which produced castings whose microstructures exhibited average dendrite arm spacings (SDAS) of 45m, 15m and 5m respectively. The test bars were tensile tested in the T6 condition. The results that are obtained show that the presence of Sr leads to precipitation of a large part of the iron intermetallics in the form of coarse pre-dendritic particles situated within the alpha Al-dendrites, instead of in the interdendritic regions. This is expected to homogenize the stress distribution across the alloy matrix, and hence lead to better tensile properties. In the alloy containing a higher Fe-content (1.4%Fe), but the same amount of Mn, addition of 0.08% Be together with 0.02% Sr is equivalent to the addition of 1%Mn in terms of the tensile properties [20, 32]. According to S. Murali et al, [26] beryllium appeared to completely nullify the deleterious impact of iron on the mechanical properties up to 0,93 %Fe content in the alloy by forming Be-Fe phase, only inside the primary Al-dendrites. The - Al5FeSi needles seem to be formed by a ternary eutectic while Be-Fe phase is formed by a peritectic reaction. Calcium acts also as an effective Fe-corrector by refining the Feintermetallic compounds as well as the eutectic silicon, leading to an improvement of the tensile properties of the materials, specially the elongation [29].

Dissolution of iron intermetallic compounds through heat treatment

Dissolution of iron intermetallics has been reported to occur through non-equilibrium heat treatment [33] while the - Al5FeSi -needles appear to be partially dissolved at conventional (equilibrium) heat treatment [34]. The -phases are likely to dissolve slowly through concurrent fragmentation along the plate width and dissolve at the tips with increased solution temperature. Manganese has been found to hinder the dissolution kinetics of iron intermetallics, therefore Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2 does not undergo any dissolution. According to Moustafa et al. [34] the -phase undergoes partial dissolution during solution heat treatment at 500 C. Fully decomposition of the -phases does not take place. When alloying with Mg, Al8Mg3FeSi6 intermetallic compounds appear in Al-Si-Mg-Fe alloys, denoted as -phase. In low Mg alloys (0,1-0,4%Mg), Taylor et al.[35] reported that the -phases, which occur in the form of Chinese scripts and blocky morphologies, are being transformed to small clustered of -phases with an accompanying release of Mg into solution when T6-heat treatment is applied. While at higher Mg alloys the -phase seems to be more stable and any transformations to -phases appears unfavourable.

The impact of iron on porosity formation

Several researchers have investigated the impact of iron on the porosity formation in AlSi cast alloys [16, 20, 21, 36-45]. Iron facilitates the formation of porosity which seems to be associated with the formation and occurrence of iron intermetallics. The iron intermetallics are expected to cause severe feeding difficulties during solidification. The morphology of the -phase blocks the interdendritic flow channels, why it is proposed that higher iron contents in the alloy is associated with higher levels of porosity. According to Lu et al. [16], at low iron contents (Fe<0.3%) sponge-like pores have been detected in the centre of the casting which is suggested to be formed due to the presence of ternary platelets. At iron levels 0.3% up to 0.7% the level of porosity is still as for the levels mentioned earlier but distributed across a wider area. The precipitation of binary -phases is proposed to block the feeding channels of the interdendritic network earlier. Adding Mn, no remarkable changes in the porosity levels has been observed but the sponge-like pores are concentrated to mid-region of the casting which might be due to the suppression of the coarse -phases and promoting a more compact -phase Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2. Another study made by Dinnis et al [36] indicates that the addition of Mn play an important role in reducing the amount of porosity in alloys with supercritical iron contents (Fe>1%). At higher amount of Fe>1% with no addition of Mn, the concentration of Fe in the liquid is sufficiently high due to the low solubility of iron in aluminium, the nucleation of platelets occurs before the Al-Si eutectic reaction leading to coarser and larger iron intermetallics. The addition of small amount of Mn in relation to iron (Mn: Fe=1:6) seems to not influence the degree of porosity. At high Mn:Fe ratio (Mn:Fe = 1:2)

the more compact -phase forms early in the solidification process and a large amount of iron is therefore consumed, reducing the iron content of the residual liquid and preventing the nucleation of platelets prior to the Al-Si eutectic leading to a reduction in porosity. Other related research demonstrate that an increase in porosity are detected at intermediate iron contents (Fe>0.4%). Furthermore, it is suggested that at higher iron contents (Fe>0.7%), the platelets have been observed to participate in the nucleation of eutectic silicon [21, 22, 37, 38], therefore leading to a rapid deterioration of the interdendritic permeability which is in disagreement of what Lu and Dahle [16] have reported. Samuel et al.[20, 39-42] showed that an increase in iron content results in the precipitation of the platelets with their branched morphology that promote an inability of the liquid metal to feed into the spaces between these branches leading to shrinkage cavities. It has also been suggested that the - Al5FeSi -needles are very active sites for pore nucleation and that addition of Mn, which inhibits the formation of these needles, also neutralizers the pore nucleation [41].

Oxide build-up when remelting secondary Al- alloys

Remelting of secondary aluminium is associated with problems such as oxide build up, dross formation and inclusions why fluxing processes and degassing are employed to overcome these phenomena. These oxide films on the liquid surfaces may be folded in by the action of breaking wave, or by droplets that form and fall back into the melt leading to an entrainment of the surface oxide films into the bulk liquid. The purpose of this study is not to investigate on the influence of oxide films on the mechanical properties, which may act as cracks in liquid metals and castings. But it is appropriate to mention that the iron rich -phase, Al5FeSi, may nucleate and grow on the surfaces of the oxide films. Sometimes, if the -phase is precipitated on both sides of the oxide film, the phase may exhibit a crack along the centre line or if it is precipitated on only one side, it will lead to an apparent decohesion from the matrix [45, 46].

Influence of Copper and iron on the corrosion resistance

Besides that the addition of Copper to aluminium alloys degrades the corrosion resistance and making a significant contribution to pitting, iron in the form of Al3Fe causes also pitting and therefore decreases the corrosion properties of the alloys. By adding Mn, Fe in Mn-Fe compounds can be absorbed leading to a reduction of Al3Fe phases and increasing the corrosion resistance [9]. The iron content should therefore not exceed 1%, and with account for its subsequent growth in the melting process the level is recommended to not exceed 0.8% [47].

Influence of alloying elements on the fluidity

The fluidity of Al-Si alloys are determined by many factors such as the solidification temperature range, the viscosity, the surface tensions of the melt and of course, the

amount of inclusions. An increase in the iron level will consequently increase the amount of insoluble iron rich bearing phases and therefore reducing the alloy's fluidity. Any of Fe, Mn, Cr, Ni and Mg additions to aluminium alloys, if they lead to formation of intermetallic compounds are inclusions, will result in a reduction in fluidity.

Influence of iron on the mechanical properties

The influence of iron on the mechanical properties of aluminium alloys depends on the type, morphology and quantity of iron in the melt. Nevertheless, the shape of the iron compounds is more influential than the quantity of those iron compounds. Intermetallic particles that form prior to the solidification of the -aluminium dendrites network or that form at the same time as the dendritic network tend to grow much larger than those that form much later, during or after the eutectic solidification. This is explained due to less liquid space available for growth during these later stages. Hence, the larger the iron precipitates and especially the -needles, the more detrimental they are likely to be. As mentioned earlier, if the levels of iron and also Mn increase, earlier formation of intermetallic phases are likely to form and hence more unconstrained growth is able to occur. Besides, a slower cooling rate also increases the risk of forming large particles due to the time available for growth [48]. Generally, the progression of damage in most of all ductile materials that are subjected to monotonic loading is due to the nucleation, growth and coalescence of voids. At a macroscopic level, the release of stress carried by the second phase particles, like the silicon and iron precipitates, when cracking occurs, it affects the overall load bearing capacity of the material and hence, it limits its work hardening behaviour. There is an intimate relationship between damage and work hardening since the flow stress increase in the matrix leads to a higher level of load transfer to the second phases increasing the rate of damage development. This relationship between concurrent work hardening and damage development during deformation complicates often the analysis of these materials [49]. At a microscopic level, damage events change the local stress distribution. This may reduce the level of internal stresses by relieving stresses in the particles. Alternatively, the defect introduced by the damage may lead to a high local stress concentration depending on the shape of the resulting defect. It is worth to have in mind that damage events play a critical role in the final fracture process which typically involves void growth, linkage and coalescence of the damage events. The shape, orientation and physical properties of the intermetallic compounds determine the degree of damage during the deformation process. In aluminium cast alloys, there exist a random orientation relationship between the intermetallic compounds and the loading axis. Parallel to the loading axis, the iron-rich -platelets will fail at low applied strain during tensile loading, but due to the orientation of the cracks, these cracks will be limited to the plate thickness.

As the matrix work hardens, the overall stresses in the system rise. At a critical point, a crack can be initiated in one of the iron rich plates, which are oriented perpendicular to the loading axis. Due to its inherent brittleness and the orientation of the plate the crack will grow in an unstable manner along the length of the plate. In this case, a very large internal stress concentration will be produced due to this crack. The presence of this crack could either lead to immediate fracture by exceeding the critical stress intensity factor for the material or adjacent iron rich intermetallics could be fractured, see figure 3a and b. This process tends to initiate micro cracks at these particles providing easy pathways for macro cracks to propagate through them leading to fracture of the bulk material [48, 49].

(a) (b) Figure 3. Illustration of fractured -Al5FeSi, a) the crack is initiated at the surface of sample while in b) it is clear to notice the crack linkage between the platelets. The reason that iron-containing intermetallic particles are generally more detrimental to alloys mechanical properties is that they are much more easily fractured under tensile loading than the aluminium matrix and/or the modified silicon particles. Otherwise, if the silicon is unmodified, the cracks of silicon flakes are as prone to fracture and crack linkage as for the iron particles, see figure 3b. It is significant to mention that the Al5FeSi platelets tend to be much prone to fracture and crack linkage than the Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2-Chinese script particles. It is why it is commonly accepted practice of adding Mn to Al-Si-Fe alloys. There are several studies concerning the influence of iron on the mechanical properties, for instance S. Kumari, et al. [50] that has studied the effect of the variation of iron content in small amounts from 0.17% to 0.6% in Al-7%Si-0.3%Mg alloys. It was found that the variation of iron within this range has not any significant effect on the tensile strength. However, the increase of iron reduces markedly the elongation of the samples. For example, changing the iron content between 0.2 and 0.8% has been observed the following variations on the properties: the ultimate tensile strength reduces 15%, the hardness increases 12% and the ductility falls over 50%. These variations are due to the presence of the needles, that provides a brittle behaviour to the alloy.

Similar investigation has been performed by X. P. Niu et al. [23] but regarded higher iron levels and Al-Si-Cu alloys. Changing the iron content from 1 up to 1.8 % successively resulted in a serious reduction of the tensile strength and also the elongation. Moreover, the hardness of the alloy grows slightly and so did the yield strength. Another study done by Z. Ma et al. [51] has focused on the effect of iron on the tensile properties of the 319 and 356 aluminium alloys. The results of this study are coherent with the previous ones [23, 50]. In the 319 alloy, the increase of the size of the -platelets promotes a considerable decrease of both the elongation and the ultimate tensile strength. It has also been observed that the yield strength is independent on the maximum length of the -needles. However, the fracture behaviour seems to depend on the maximum length of the needles. Regarding the 356 alloy, the results are quite similar.

On the spheroidization of iron-rich phases

There exist many ways to eliminate the disadvantageous influence of iron compounds and one of them is to alter the shape of the -Al5FeSi-needle into a more compact intermetallic compounds called -Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2 having a Chinese script morphology. The procedure has been mentioned earlier. Other procedure that might be applied in order to reduce the negative impact of iron is by spheroidization of the iron needles. B. Xiufang et al. [52] has demonstrated how by adding an Al-10%Mn-2%Ti master alloy the iron needle altered the morphology from needle- to spherical shape. The TiAl agent acts as a site for nucleation of iron compounds which are further transformed into a spherical form. Due to this spheroidization, the ultimate tensile strength increased by nearly 30 % and the elongation to fracture by over 80 % for an Al-Si alloy containing 1.4% iron. Also, by casting Al-Si alloys with high iron contents at overheating temperatures, up to 900-1000C, the iron compounds in the liquid alloy will become short range ordered structure atom clusters which solidify as spheroidal solids at high cooling rates. As a result, high temperature melting/treatment in combination with high speed cooling rate are two important factors that guarantee spheroidal form of the iron compounds offering a superior increment of the mechanical behaviour both at room and elevated temperature [53]. At elevated temperature, the Fe-rich phases contribute to retain substantial high strength, probably due to the insolubility of Fe-rich intermetallics retaining their shape. Further investigation of Narayanan et al [54] explained the aforementioned phenomenon and proposed that the mechanism for the change in crystallization from -Al5FeSi-needle to -Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2 upon melt superheating is related to the transformation of aluminium oxide present in the melt to -Aluminium oxide at the high melt temperature, where the -alumina, unlike the -variation, does not favour nucleation of the -platelets.

The influence of grain refinement on iron intermetallic compounds

A.M. Samuel [55], has observed a thickening of the -needle with grain refinement, in addition to the branching effect of sympathetic nucleation. Thick needles in grain refined alloys seem to undergo brittle fracture behaviour as opposed to the fragmentation that occurs in the case of modification; as he also studied the influence of modification by Sr on the -Al5FeSi-needles. Grain refinement of the modified alloys seems to nullify the beneficial effect of modification since much larger -needle density is likely to form.

On the reduction of the melts iron content

How to remove the detrimental elements like among others the iron from aluminium melts is a crucial technical subject in recycling aluminium scraps. Natural settling and centrifugal methods based on density difference between the melt and the iron-rich compounds are some of available techniques; but long treatment time, low efficiency and productivity make these choices less economical. According to X. Zhenming [56], the elimination of iron by electromagnetic filtration can improve filtrating efficiency as compared with the aforementioned methods. In electromagnetic filtration, the electromagnetic force is exerted on the melt in the separation chamber. The electromagnetic force hardly acts on the primary iron phases due to its low electric conductivity, which then moves in the direction opposite to that of the electromagnetic force. As a result, the iron-rich compounds are then separated from the Al-Si alloy scrap melt and will be collected in the separation chamber while the melt is in continuous flow. The iron content in the cast ingot decreases from 1.20% down to 0.41 % and the alloy can therefore meet the demands for casting assuring appreciable mechanical properties and soundness of components. Sedimentation might also help to reduce the amount of iron in the melt down to 0.3% if the melt is held between 620-660C. But the main disadvantage is the loss of metal to sludge which is about 10% which might be economically unacceptable.

The effect of iron content on the castability

Besides being dependent on the microstructure and other structure-sensitive properties, the mechanical behaviour and soundness of a component are dependent heavily on the casting technology and design and the process control applied during melting and casting. That includes melting practice and molten metal quality, the gating system and risering techniques. All these factors together describe the ability of an alloy to be effectively delivered into the mould and to form a dimensionally accurate casting of acceptable integrity. The aspects that together constitute the total concept of castability are fluidity, feedability, volumetric shrinkage, casting porosity, hot tearing and die soldering. The influence of iron on these properties is summarized above.

The effect of iron on the machinability

The machinability and surface finish of aluminium alloys depend on the morphology of the Si phase and the intermetallic compounds. Usually, the increase of the Si causes a decrease of the machinability due to the large eutectic or primary silicon particles that precipitates during the solidification process. On the other hand Mg and Cu, in little amounts, can improve it. With the presence of iron in cast aluminium alloys, the machinability is decreased due the formation of sludge in the microstructure as alloying elements such as Mn and Cr are present in the melt. These are common iron neutralizers that are likely to contribute to the formation of hard sludge particles, if being in amounts that exceeds the recommended sludge factor value, presented above. The hardness is one of the most important factors that affect the machinability of the alloy. Therefore, the harder the material is, the more difficult is the machinability. Those alloys with high content of iron increase the hardness, with the consequent reduction of the machinability, especially tool wear. Moreover, the internal strength created by the large Al5FeSi-needles also cause machining difficulties. Despite tool wear, according to other related research however, Fe can be expected to improve the overall machinability by facilitating the chip breaking due to their shape and brittleness.

Conclusions, recommendations and guidelines for Al-Si casting alloys

To control the iron level is technically important especially when producing critical details as for instance safety components. The formation of the hard brittle iron-rich platelet is particularly deleterious to mechanical properties and its formation should be avoided or at least minimized. The morphology and size of these intermetallics are highly dependent on the solidification conditions and iron content in the melt. Besides acting as stress raisers in the alloy matrix, the formation of these needles result in higher fraction of shrinkage porosity which remarkably reduces the overall static and dynamic properties. There are some practical rules that help to cast friendly, avoiding the detrimental influence of iron on the mechanical properties, especially the ductility [57]: Minimize the iron contamination through careful selection of for instance ingots, silicon etc. and the maintenance of good refractory coatings on all steel tools used when preparing and handling the melts. The critical iron content (in wt %) for an alloy can be calculated using Fecrit0.075x [%Si]-0.05.

The iron level above the critical level for the silicon content of the alloy should be avoided as these might cause serious loss of the ductility and results in a reduction of the casting productivity through increased rejects due to shrinkage porosity and particularly leakers. At high cooling rates super critical iron contents may not be detrimental. The overall mechanical and microstructural performances of an alloy may be improved by heat treatment. Care should be taken when adding iron neutralizers. The benefits of Mntreatments are not often apparent. Excess Mn can lead to formation of hard spots leading to machining difficulties. Mn additions do not always improve castability and reduce the porosity in high Fe-alloys. Exceeding the value of the sludge factor and using low melt temperatures may cause serious problems for the die-casters.

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