The Effect of Heat Treatment Parameters and Grain Refinement On Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of A357 Alloy

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Volume 1, Issue 2, Mar 2017 Available at: www.dbpublications.org
International e-Journal For Technology And Research-2017
THE EFFECT OF HEAT TREATMENT

PARAMETERS AND GRAIN
REFINEMENT ON MICROSTRUCTURE
AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF
A357 ALLOY
Sandeep Hegade 1, Shrishaila 2, Sunil Kumar S3, Prashanth M4, Hemanth Kumar
N5, Avinash L6
UG Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NMIT Bangalore, Karnataka, India1, 2, 3, 4
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NMIT Bangalore, Karnataka, India 5, 6
Abstract: Aluminium A357 alloy is widely used automobile, aerospace and marine sectors on
account of their light weight, good surface finish,
at automobile and aircraft industries in the form of
resistance to wear and corrosion high strength-to-
cast component with varying section size. This study
weight ratio. Since components with complex
investigates how the microstructure and mechanical
geometries can be produced cost effectively, they
properties of A357 alloy before and after heat
find enhanced utility particularly in Aerospace
treatment processes. Solutionising at 5000C-5h
sectors. Large aluminium extrusion components can
followed quenching in water at room temperature
be produced with fewer joints, resulting in less
and Ageing at 1700C-3h alloy. Aluminium ingot is
welding. Reduction in weight due to low density
melted using a furnace and poured in to the mold
leads to increased load capacity, increased mileage,
having mold cavities of varying dimensions. In
reduced pollution of environment and higher profits
order to investigate the effect of heat treatment and
to the manufacturers. The low melting temperature,
aging processes microstructure and mechanical
ease of handling, easy formability, easy recycling
properties such as hardness, and tensile strength
has led to increased demand for aluminium alloy
were analyzed as-cast condition and after solution
components.
treatment process. The aim of present study is to
Further Aluminium alloys are classified into one of
evaluate the effect on the microstructure and
the following three groups namely Wrought, non-
mechanical properties of Combined Grain Refined
heat treatable alloys. Wrought, heat treatable alloys,
and Modified aluminum alloy A357
and Cast alloys. Primarily, cold working is
Keywords: A357 alloy, grain refiner, grain
employed for heat treating non-heat treatable alloys
modifier, heat treatment, hardness,
such as commercial pure aluminium series (1xxx)
microstructure.
which have good corrosion resistance, thermal
conductivity, exceptionally high formability, and
1. INTRODUCTION can be easily joined by soldering, welding and
brazing. The aluminium-manganese series (3xxx)
Aluminium-Silicon alloys are known for their have high formability, corrosion resistance and can
excellent combination of characteristics namely, low be joined by all commercial procedures. The
density, excellent castability, formability, good aluminium-silicon series (4xxx) have good flow
mechanical properties, cryogenic properties and characteristics, good tensile strength and can be
good machinability. Aluminium and its alloys have easily joined by conventional methods such as
wide range of applications particularly in Brazing and soldering.
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The aluminium-magnesium series (5xxx) are easily Table 1.1: Chemical composition of Al357 alloy (weight
percentage)
weldable, have superior corrosion resistance and
find application in automotive, cryogenic and
marine sectors. Few of the 4xxx alloys are hardened
by heat treatment, while others hardened by cold
working. Fine dispersion of precipitates for alloys
that respond to ageing have dominant effect in
inhibiting dislocation motion resulting in increased 2. OBJECTIVES
yield and tensile strength. Dislocation produced by Based on the problem definition the objectives of
cold working in substructure in case of wrought
this work has been listed below
alloys and the grain size of cast alloys are of prime
To fabricate A357 alloy using permanent
importance.
mould.
Precipitation hardening is adopted to develop high
Heat Treatment of the above alloy.
strength levels in wrought heat treatable alloys such
Combined grain refinement and modification of
as 2xxx series (Al-Cu and Al-Cu-Mg).They have
A357 alloy.
high strength at room and at elevated temperatures
Heat treatment of combined grain refinement
and some of them are weldable. The heat treatable
and modification of A357 alloy.
Al-Mg-Si alloys (6xxx series) have excellent
extrudability, weldability and high corrosion Microstructural characterization of the heat
resistance. The 7xxx series (Al-Zn-Mg and Al-Zn- treated, combined grain refined and
Mg-Cu) are heat treatable, have very high strength modification alloy using Optical microscope
especially, high toughness. The heat treatable, and scanning electron microscope.
Aluminum-Lithium alloys (8xxx series) have high Evaluation of the mechanical properties of the
conductivity, hardness and strength. above alloy.
Cast alloys in comparison with wrought alloys Drawing Conclusion based on the obtained
contain higher proportions of alloying elements such result.
as silicon and copper, which result in a largely
heterogeneous cast structure. These alloys produced
by various casting processes such as sand casting, 3. METHODOLOGY
permanent mould casting etc., have low tensile
strength compared to wrought alloys but have wide
acceptability on account of its attractive combination
of physical properties and exceptional castability.
Wrought products are generally produced in the
form of round rods and rectangular sections
whereas; cast products can be produced with
complex geometries. Cast alloys have inferior
mechanical properties, particularly ductility when
compared to wrought alloys with similar chemical
composition. Porosity and relatively high shrinkage
are the other major problems with cast alloys.
Material Selection and sample
preparation
Al357 is having good castability, high corrosion
resistance and low density and is having lot of
applications in automotive and aeronautical industry
is selected as a matrix material having a chemical
composition given in Table 1.1.
Figure 3.1: Flow Chart of Experimental
Work


Figure.5.1: Optical Micrographs of A357 alloy (untreated,
4. IMPLEMENTATION heat treated, grain refined and modified)
Automotive industrial applications. Figure 5.1(a) shows the distribution of the primary
Aeronautical applications. dendrite alpha phase (aluminum rich phase) in as-
Internal combustion engine parts. cast alloy which is predominant in the matrix. Grey
Crank case & Brake systems. needle shaped silicon particles seen in and around
Engine blocks. the inter dendrite regions. Figure 5.1(b) shows the
microstructure of the Heat Treated Solutionising at
Transmission cases.
5000C-5h followed quenching in water at room
Cylinder bodies of compressors &
temperature and Ageing at 1700C-3h alloy, in which
pumps..
more even distribution of spheroidised silicon
particles is observed Figure 5.1(c) shows the Optical
5. OUTCOMES microstructure of A357.0 alloy with combined Grain
refinement (0.1% Grain refiner) and modification
Good Microstructure of As-cast due to heat (0.1% modifier). The microstructure consists of
treatment is obtained. partially spherical and well dispersed eutectic Si
Further there is a good improvement in particles at inter-dendritic regions. Few particles of
mechanical properties. intermetallic compounds are also observed in the
Minimization voids and porosity. microstructure. Figure 5.1(d) shows the Optical
Grain refinement resulted in reduction in size of microstructure of A357.0 alloy with combined Grain
primary aluminium grains and fine grain refinement (0.1% Grain refiner) and modification
structure. (0.1% modifier) heat treated (T6).Heat Treatment
Grain modification resulted in fibrous and leads to spheroidision of silicon of particles is
finely dispersed silicon and promotes the observed .
formation of finer particles.
The spheroidal morphology of Silicon particles Scanning Electron Microscopic
and fine precipitates is formed due to heat
treatment. Studies
Heat treatment also strengthens the matrix and
further stabilizes the subsurface.
Optical Microscopic Studies
Fig.5.2: SEM images of of A357 alloy (untreated, heat

treated, grain refined and modified)


Fig.5.2 (a) and 5.2 (b) shows the SEM treated alloys which is combined with grain
microphotographs of A357 alloy in as-cast refinement and grain modification. From Figure
condition, as well as heat treated condition. there is an increase in hardness of 5.45BHN of heat
The eutectic AlSi alloys in an untreated condition treated A357 alloy.
Heat treated combined grain refined and modified
should consist only a eutectic mixture (a-Al+
A357 alloy has highest hardness of
eutectic Si) and spherodization takes place after heat
54.45BHN(~29.33%) compared combined grain
treatment.
Fig.5.2(c) & 5.2(d) shows the SEM refined and modified alloy without heat treatment
microphotographs of A357 alloy with combined which has an hardness of 51.56BHN (~22.47%) and
as-cast alloy has the least hardness of 12.94BHN .
Grain refined and modified alloy in untreated and
heat treated condition.
Tensile Test Result:
The addition of master alloy to A357 alloy resulted
in fine equiaxed a-Al dendrites due to the presence Table 5.2: Tensile Test Result of A357 alloy (untreated, heat
of Al-5Ti-1B particles present in the master alloy, treated, grain refined and modified)
which acts as heterogeneous nucleating sites during
solidification. The toughness and strength of the
alloys increases with the presence of grain refiner
and or modifier due to change in microstructure,
which leads
to decrease in wear rate as compared to the absence
of grain refiner and or modifier.
Hardness Test Result:

Table 5.1: Hardness of A357 alloy (untreated, heat treated,
grain refined and modified)
Fig.5.4: UTS Values of A357 alloy (untreated, Heat

Treated, Grain refined and Modified)
Fig.5.5: % Elongation Values of A357 alloy (untreated, heat

treated, grain refined and modified)
Figure 5.5 shows the plot of UTS values versus

Fig.5.3: Hardness of A357 alloy (untreated, heat solutionising temperature of as-cast and solution
treated, grain refined and modified) treated alloys which is combined with grain
refinement and grain modification. From Figure
Fig 5.3 shows the plot of hardness versus there is an increase in UTS of 10.9 Mpa (i.e. 7.71%)
solutionising temperature of as-cast and solution of heat treated A357 alloy.


Heat treated combined grain refined and modified larger and uneven distribution of dimples left by
A357 alloy has highest UTS of 171.6 Mpa (i.e. silicon particles during fracture in as-cast alloys in
21.52%) compared combined grain refined and untreated condition and smaller and more evenly
modified alloy without heat treatment which has an
distributed dimples in peak Heat Treated alloys.
UTS of 164.6 MPa (i.e. 16.57%) and as-cast alloy
has the least UTS of 141.2 MPa .
Figure 13 shows the plot of % Elongation (ductility)
values versus solutionising temperature of as-cast
and solution treated alloys which is combined with CONCLUSION
grain refinement and grain modification. From The key findings of the present investigation are:
Figure there is an increase in ductility of about a) It can be noted that the Mechanical properties
4.29% of heat treated A357 alloy. Heat treated like hardness & tensile strength of the A357
combined grain refined and modified A357 alloy has alloy increased by heat treatment & adding
highest ductility of about 5.09 % compared Grain Refiner & Grain Modifier and then
combined grain refined and modified alloy without decreased in both untreated and heat treated
heat treatment which has an ductility of about condition without added Grain refiner &
4.81% and as-cast alloy has the least ductility of modifier compare to untreated as-cast A357
4.03% . alloy. This may be due to more frequent
Fractography Studies of A357 alloy nucleation results in larger number of smaller
grains & Modifier produces a silicon phase that
(untreated, Heat Treated, Grain
is fibrous & finely dispersed.
refined and Modified)
b) The adding of Grain refiner, Grain Modifier &
Heat treatment (Solution treatment , Quenching
& ageing) had a significant increase in hardness
and tensile strength .
c) From the optical Micrographs & SEM images it
is observed that the distribution of Silicon
particles in A357 alloy is found to be uniform.
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The Effect of Heat Treatment Parameters and Grain Refinement On Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of A357 Alloy

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International e-Journal For Technology And Research-2017