Journal of Alloys and Compounds 695 (2017) 3621e3631

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Journal of Alloys and Compounds

journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jalcom

Microstructure, tensile properties and wear resistance correlations on

directionally solidified Al-Sn-(Cu; Si) alloys

Cheung a, Maria A. Arenas c, Ana Conde c,
Felipe Bertelli a, b, Emmanuelle S. Freitas a, Noe
Juan de Damborenea c, Amauri Garcia a, *
a
Department of Manufacturing and Materials Engineering, University of Campinas, UNICAMP, 13083-860, Campinas, SP, Brazil
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Postgraduate Program of Mechanical Engineering, Santa Cecília University e UNISANTA, 11045-907, Santos,
Brazil
c
National Center for Metallurgical Research (CENIM-CSIC), Avda Gregorio del Amo 8, 28040, Madrid, Spain

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The development of alloys suitable for engine bearings demands not only reducing the amount of wear
Received 3 November 2016 as well as increasing the load carrying capability due to both engines stop/start systems and sudden rise
Received in revised form in load or velocity. Al-Sn based alloys are well-known for having excellent tribological and mechanical
24 November 2016
properties fulfilling these requirements: Sn is a self-lubricating component and addition of third ele-
Accepted 29 November 2016
ments should increase the strength of the Al-rich matrix. The current study focuses on interrelations of
Available online 2 December 2016
microstructure of directionally solidified Al-Sn(Cu; Si) alloys and mechanical/tribological properties. In
order to analyze the influence of alloy Sn content on the tribological behavior of these ternary alloys,
Keywords:
Al-Sn alloys
ball-on-disc wear tests were performed under dry sliding conditions. Correlations between tensile
Directional solidification strength, elongation and wear volume and the primary dendritic arm spacing (l1) have been determined.
Microstructure The worn samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy
Tensile properties (SEM-EDS) and the wear scar topographies by a confocal profilometer. The analysis of the worn surfaces
Wear revealed a change from abrasive to adhesive wear mechanism for Al-Sn-Cu alloys and only adhesive one
for Al-Sn-Si alloys. For Al-Sn-Cu alloys, the best wear resistance was observed to be related to coarser
microstructures whereas refined microstructures improved the tensile properties, indicating an inverse
trend between tensile and tribological properties. The wear resistance of the Al-Sn-Si alloys were shown
not to be affected by the size of l1, however the tensile strength is shown to increase significantly with
the decrease in l1.
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The main trend in automotive engineering is improving engine
efficiency and fuel economy. This includes engine downsizing via
lower weight requiring new materials for lightening structures
with improved mechanical properties. Enhancing load-carrying
capability needs bearing alloys with advanced tribological proper-
ties. The conventional white metal babbitt alloys do not hold up
well for most applications in automobile engines due to their poor
strength. Most bearing alloys consist of hard phases uniformly
embedded in a soft matrix, soft phases in a hard matrix or a
contiguous mixture of both. Such structure patterns have been
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: amaurig@fem.unicamp.br (A. Garcia).
found to possess the mechanical, friction and wear behavior that
technically justify their bearing applications: the soft constituents
behave as solid lubricants reducing friction at the tribocontact
while the hard ones carry the load [1,2]. Traditionally, both Al-Pb
and Al-Sn alloys have been used as self-lubricant bearing alloys,
but, due to the environmental restrictions to the use of Pb in
manufactured products, the search for alternative alloys has been
concentrated on AleSn based alloys [3e5]. In selecting wear-
resistant materials, it is of great importance to designers and en-
gineers the understanding of the influence of the local micro-
structure on the wear resistance. Several experimental studies have
investigated the dependence of wear mechanisms on microstruc-
ture features [6e12].
Bearing performance of Al-Sn based alloys is strongly affected by
the casting method as it affects the microstructures and properties
of the alloy. Generally, during solidification, the Al-rich phase

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2016.11.399
0925-8388/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
3622 F. Bertelli et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 695 (2017) 3621e3631
growths dendritically and Sn, due to its extremely low miscibility in
Al, is contained within the interdendritic region forming discrete
pools or pockets. Additions of Cu and Si to the Al-Sn alloys have
potential to enhance the mechanical strength, wear resistance and
the performance in seizure resistance [13e16]. Recent works have
demonstrated that the refinement of microstructures is usually
beneficial to mechanical properties in aluminum castings, justified
by a homogeneous distribution of second/intermetallic phases
acting as reinforcement components along the interdendritic and
interphase areas [17e22]. Similarly, in terms of tribological
behavior, it has been reported that a more homogeneous distri-
bution of the self-lubricating particles of Al-Bi based alloys leads to
lower wear volume, i.e. to optimum bearing properties [10,23]. For
the binary Al-Sn hypoeutectic alloys, an opposite trend has been
observed as shown by the work of Cruz et al. [9]: when the den-
dritic network becomes coarser and consequently a higher amount
of Sn is interdendritically segregated, the wear resistance was
shown to improve. A similar behavior has been reported by Freitas
et al. for Al-Pb and Al-In alloys, for which coarser droplets of the
lubricating phase provided a more extensive protective film during
the wear tests [10,11]. Therefore, with the increase of complexity
caused by the addition of a third element to the Al-Sn system, a
more thorough investigation needs to be performed on the
perspective of a deeper understanding of the effects of micro-
structure features on the wear mechanisms.
In a previous study [24] a careful investigation on the micro-
structural evolution of Al-Sn-(Cu; Si) ternary alloys, under a range
of solidification cooling rates, was undertaken by the some of the
present authors. These alloys were shown to be characterized by an
Al-rich matrix of dendritic morphology, having the interdendritic
regions formed by segregated Sn pockets and Al2Cu intermetallics
or Si particles, respectively. The evolution of a representative length
scale of the microstructure (primary dendritic arm spacing, l1)
along the growth direction of the directionally solidified (DS) alloys
castings has been correlated with solidification thermal parame-
ters, such as the growth rate (VL) and the cooling rate (TR), and
experimental growth laws have been proposed, i.e.:
Al-10 wt%Sn-10 wt%Cu: l1 ¼ 84V1.1 L ; l1 ¼ 145T0.55
R /Al-20 wt%
Sn-10 wt%Cu: l1 ¼ 73V1.1 L ; l1 ¼ 194T0.55
R ; Al-15 wt%Sn-5wt%Si:
l1 ¼ 80V1.1
L ; l1 ¼ 123T0.55
R /Al-25 wt%Sn-5wt%Si:l1 ¼ 125V1.0 L ;
l1 ¼ 204T0.55
R , where l 1 [m m]; VL [mm/s] and TR [K/s].
The aim of the present investigation is to evaluate the effects of
such parametric microstructural length scale (the primary den-
dritic arm spacing) of Al-Sn-Cu and Al-Sn-Si alloys on both tensile
properties and tribological behavior under dry sliding conditions.
Furthermore, experimental expressions correlating the ultimate
tensile strength, yield tensile strength, elongation and wear volume
with the primary dendritic arm spacing will be derived.
2. Experimental
2.1. Directional solidification process and specimens for tensile tests
The nominal compositions of the ternary alloys investigated in
this work are: Al-15 wt%Sn-5wt.%Si, Al-25 wt%Sn-5wt%Si, Al-10 wt
%Sn-10 wt%Cu and Al-20 wt%Sn-10 wt%Cu. The compositions of
Table 1
Chemical composition (wt%) of metals used to prepare the alloys.
Element Al Sn Si Cu
Al balance 0.005 0.055 0.010
Sn 0.005 balance e 0.004
Si 0.110 e balance e 0.320
Cu e e e balance
metals used to prepare these alloys are shown in Table 1. Solidifi-
cation was carried out in a water-cooled apparatus, which pro-
motes transient directional solidification. The casting assembly
(upper part of Fig. 1: left side) and mold details have been described
in the literature in previous studies by some of the present authors
and collaborators [9,24]. The solidification setup permits a signifi-
cant range of solidification microstructures to be obtained at
different cooling rates in a single casting experiment. This is shown
schematically in Fig. 1 (upper part/right side), where higher cooling
rates are associated with fine dendritic microstructures and vice-
versa. As detailed in a previous study [24], the thermal data
around the liquidus temperature of each alloy, provided by the
cooling curves recorded by each thermocouple positioned along
the length of the directionally solidified (DS) castings, were used to
determine the coefficients of a 5th-order polynomial via the least
square method. This has permitted temperature (T) vs. time (t)
functions: T ¼ f(t) to be generated. The derivative of these functions
with respect to time yielded cooling rate functions TR ¼ f(t). The
experimental time corresponding to the liquidus front passing by
each thermocouple is then inserted into the TR ¼ f(t) function
permitting the experimental cooling rate to be determined. The
growth rate (VL) was based on the time-derivative of a fitting
function representing a plot of position of each thermocouple
against time of passage of the liquidus isotherm. The experimental
values of VL and TR from top to bottom of the DS castings of the Al-
Sn-Cu and Al-Sn-Si alloys, were shown to be in the range
VL ¼ 0.4e5 mm/s and TR ¼ 0.5e35 K/s [24].
To analyze effects of microstructural features over mechanical
and tribological properties of ternary Al-Sn-Cu and Al-Sn-Si alloys,
samples were extracted from different positions along the length of
the (DS) cylindrical castings. As shown in Fig. 1, (upper part-right
side) the primary dendritic arm spacing, l1, increases from bot-
tom to top of the DS casting. With a view to permitting a repre-
sentative number of tensile and wear samples to be extracted,
associated with equally representative l1 mean values along the
length of the DS castings, thin perpendicular samples have been
extracted perpendicularly to the growth direction, as shown in the
bottom part of Fig. 1. Physically, this means that the continuous
evolution of l1 along the length of the DS casting is being fitted by a
step function, in which a particular sample is associated with each
step. Thus, each sample will be associated with a different average
value of l1. The specimens for tensile tests were machined ac-
cording to specifications of the ASTM Standard E 8M/04.
2.2. Wear tests
The samples for wear tests were also extracted perpendicularly
along the length of the DS castings, as shown in Fig. 1 (right side of
bottom part) with a view to permitting a single mean primary
dendritic arm spacing, to be associated with each sample, thus
allowing the wear resistance to be correlated with the evolution of
l1. Unidirectional sliding wear tests were conducted using a with a
ball-on-disk configuration. The tribological pair was formed by the
Al-Sn(Si:Cu) alloys and a ceramic alumina ball (Al2O3) of 3 mm
diameter. The normal load applied was 0.5N, which defined a mean
contact pressure of ~0.23 GPa. Such value has been estimated
Fe Zn Ni Pb Ca
0.073 0.05 0.006 0.006 e
0.008 e 0.0001 0.047 e
e 0.010 e e
0.014 e e e 0.002
 F. Bertelli et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 695 (2017) 3621e3631
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the solidification apparatus, length scale of the microstructure (primary dendritic arm spacing) in accordance with position in the DS casting and
relative positions of samples extracted for mechanical tests.
considering the Young modulus and the Poisson ratio for the
alumina of 300 GPa and 0.21 respectively, and for the Al-Sn(Si:Cu)
alloys the values are those described elsewhere [22]: 68 GPa and
0.345, respectively. The diameter of the wear track was 1.5 mm, the
contact frequency 1 Hz and the sliding distance 110m. Wear tests
were performed under dry sliding friction conditions at a room
temperature of 25 ± 2  C and relative humidity of 40%.
The wear volume (V) was measured from the wear scar topog-
raphies obtained by an optical confocal profilometer Sensofar PLm
2300, according to specifications of the ASTM G99-95a standard.
Fig. 2 shows schematically the ball-on-disc tribometer used in the
wear tests and a sequence of images of post-process analysis. Both
the tensile and wear tests were carried out in triplicate.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Microstructure features of Al-Sn-Si and Al-Sn-Cu alloys
To understand the microstructure formation during solidifica-
tion of ternary Al-Sn-based alloys, two factors have to be taken into
account: firstly, the solid solubility limit of Sn in Al is below 0.09 wt
%, which is extremely low; the second is the non-equilibrium ki-
netics of solidification that occurs under the transient heat flow
conditions associated with the present directional solidification
3623
experiments. The microstructure of these alloys is characterized by
a dendritic Al-rich matrix having tin pockets in the interdendritic
regions. More details on the microstructural evolution of these al-
loys can be found in a previous study by some of the present au-
thors [24], which correlates solidification thermal parameters and
microstructure features. With the addition of a third alloying
element, e.g. copper or silicon, monotectic/eutectic reactions give
rise to the Al2Cu intermetallics or Si particles, respectively, which
are also located in the interdendritic regions, as shown in optical
(Fig. 3a/Fig. 4a) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images
(Fig. 3b/Fig. 4b) for Al-Sn-Si and Al-Sn-Cu alloys, respectively. These
microstructures have also been reported in the literature for Al-Sn-
Si alloys [3,6], where Si was generally found in the interdendritic
regions surrounded by the Sn-rich phase, either as precipitated Si
particles or in a connected scaffold formation.
3.2. Tensile properties vs. primary dendritic arm spacing
A number of studies reported in the literature highlighted the
role of the length scale of cellular and dendritic microstructures on
tensile properties of Al-based alloys. Refined microstructures hav-
ing lower dendritic/cellular or interphase spacings, which are
related to high growth/cooling rates during solidification, were
shown to be associated with higher values of mechanical
3624 F. Bertelli et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 695 (2017) 3621e3631

Fig. 2. Schematic ball-on-disc tribometer and post-process analysis of confocal profilometer.

Fig. 4. Typical microstructure of ternary Al-Sn-Cu alloys: (a) optical microstructure

Fig. 3. Typical microstructure of ternary Al-Sn-Si alloys: (a) optical microstructure emphasizing the dendritic matrix and (b) SEM image highlighting the interdendritic
emphasizing the dendritic matrix and (b) SEM image highlighting the interdendritic region.
region.

properties, such as hardness and tensile strength for different bi- Ag-Cu [17], Al-Zn-Mg [18], Al-Mg-Si [19], Al-Si-X [21] and Al-Cu-
nary Al-alloys, e.g.: Al-Fe [25], Al-Sn and Al-Si [9] and ternary Al- Co [26].
 F. Bertelli et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 695 (2017) 3621e3631
The addition of either copper or silicon into Al-Sn alloys is
supposed to have a strengthening effect on the Al-rich matrix,
which could be enhanced by an appropriate length scale of the
Fig. 5. Experimental expressions correlating mechanical properties and primary
dendrite arm spacing (l1) for Al-Sn-Si alloys: (a) ultimate tensile strength, (b) yield
strength and (c) elongation. R2 is the coefficient of determination.
3625
dendritic microstructure. The tensile properties of Al-Sn-Si and Al-
Sn-Cu alloys have been investigated as a function of a wide range of
primary dendritic arm spacings. The evolution of l1 with the po-
sition in the castings has been reported in a previous study by some
of the present authors [24]. The tensile specimens were extracted
along the length of the DS castings, associated with the different
Fig. 6. Experimental expressions correlating mechanical properties and primary
dendrite arm spacing (l1) for Al-Sn-Cu alloys: (a) ultimate tensile strength, (b) yield
strength and (c) elongation. R2 is the coefficient of determination.
3626 F. Bertelli et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 695 (2017) 3621e3631
values of l1, as described in the experimental section. Figs. 5 and 6
show the results obtained for ultimate tensile strength (su), yield
strength (sy: 0.2% proof stress) and elongation (d) as a function of
l1, for the Al-Sn-Si and Al-Sn-Cu alloys experimentally examined,
respectively. The graphs are composed by average values of tripli-
cate tests with the error bars representing the range of maximum/
minimum measurements. Furthermore, for comparison purposes
on the effects of adding Cu and Si to these alloys, experimental
growth laws from the literature correlating l1 and mechanical
properties of Al-Sn binary alloys (compositions in the range 15 to
30 wt%Sn) [9], have also been inserted in Figs. 5 and 6.
It can be seen in Fig. 5 that the increase from 15 to 25 wt% Sn in
the Al-Sn-5wt%Si alloys do not show any influence on su, sy and
d with l1, that is, single experimental laws are applicable to both
alloys investigated. It is worth noting that the effect of the size of l1
on su and sy is significant. From the highest experimental l1 value
(lowest l0.5
1 e coarser microstructure) to the lowest one (highest
l0.5
1 - finer microstructure), su and sy experienced increase of
about 50% (80e120 MPa) and 30% (73e95 MPa), as shown in Fig. 5a
and b, respectively. In the same experimental range of l1 the
ductility, represented by the elongation to fracture, shows the same
Fig. 7. Wear scar SEM images of samples extracted from different positions along the length of the DS Al-Sn-Si alloys castings.
trend, i.e. increased from 2 to 5%. When these properties are
compared with the corresponding values of binary Al-Sn alloys, the
increase in the tensile strength of the ternary Al-Sn-Si alloys is
remarkable (e.g. for the lowest experimental l1, su increases from
about 55 MPa to 120 MPa: Fig. 5a). In contrast, the maximum
elongation of the ternary Al-Sn-Si alloys is about 5%, while that of
binary Al-Sn alloys is about 13% (Fig. 5c).
Similar trends can also be observed in Fig. 6 for the evolutions of
su, sy and d with l1 for Al-Sn-10 wt%Cu alloys, i.e. with the decrease
in l1 both su and sy increase (Fig. 6a and b, respectively). However,
as shown in Fig. 6c, the effect of l1 on d is only noticeable for the Al-
20 wt%Sn-10%wt%Cu alloy. It can be seen that Cu has a remarkable
role in the increase of the tensile strength when su and sy of the Al-
Sn-10 wt%Cu alloys are compared with the corresponding values of
binary Al-Sn alloys ((Fig. 6a and b). While the addition of 5 wt%Si to
Al-Sn alloys is shown to increase su in about twice, the addition of
10 wt%Cu promotes increase in su of up to three times along a
similar range of primary dendritic arm spacings.
The observed increase in tensile strength with the refinement of
the dendritic array is related to the way the interdendritic phases
are distributed throughout the alloy microstructure, as also
 F. Bertelli et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 695 (2017) 3621e3631
observed in previous studies [9,17,19,21]. Higher solidification
cooling rates promote simultaneous refinement of both the den-
dritic matrix and second phases. The better distribution of the
reinforcement phases, such as Si and Al2Cu particles, for Al-Sn-Si
and Al-Sn-Cu, respectively, will induce a more efficient blockage
to the displacement of dislocations during the slip process. There-
fore, it can be said that the tensile strength is governed not only by
the amount of Si or Cu in the composition of Al-Sn-(Si; Cu) alloys,
but also by the length scale of the Al-rich matrix.
3.3. Wear and microstructure features
Figs. 7 and 8 show a sequence of SEM images of wear tracks
(same magnification) of samples extracted from different positions
along the length of the DS castings of Al-Sn-Si and Al-Sn-Cu alloys,
respectively. Along with each image, the identification of sample
position (P) from the cooled bottom of the casting, the corre-
sponding solidification cooling rate (TR) and average primary
dendritic arm spacing (l1), can be found. A visual comparison,
shows that the Al-Sn-Cu alloys samples (Fig. 8) experience a
gradual decrease in the wear track for positions farther away from
the cooled bottom of the castings (P ¼ 0). This is more evident at
Fig. 8. Wear scar SEM images of samples extracted from different positions along the length of the DS Al-Sn-Cu alloys castings.
3627
the wear track profiles shown in Fig. 9, in which lower width and
depth of wear tracks can be observed, thus indicating higher wear
resistance. That is, as l1 increases with the increase in P, the tin
pockets located in the interdendritic regions become thicker, and
the wear track decreases. Conversely, for the Al-Sn-Si ternary alloys
(Fig. 7) this is not visually evident and apparently, the wear track is
essentially the same, indicating that both l1 and tin distribution
had little effect over the wear resistance under the experimental
conditions investigated.
For the Al-10 wt%Sn-10 wt%Cu alloy, the friction coefficient (the
resistance to relative motion between the two bodies in contact
during the wear test) for all samples examined was found to be
0.48, however, with the increase in the Sn content of the alloy (Al-
20 wt%Sn-10 wt%Cu alloy) it decreased slightly to 0.42. For Al-Sn-Si
alloys, a same friction coefficient of about 0.52 was found for all
samples of both alloys. There is no direct relationship between the
friction coefficient and the wear rate and it should certainly not be
used as a criterion to explain the wear behavior of a material as
there are other parameters (contact pressure, roughness, hardness,
ductility, oxides formation, lubricant regime, etc), which affects
wear. There is a simple approach saying the higher the coefficient of
friction, the higher the wear. So, it should be used with caution and
3628 F. Bertelli et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 695 (2017) 3621e3631

Fig. 9. Wear scar profiles of ternary Al-Sn-Si and Al-Sn-Cu alloys samples. The legend indicates the positions of samples from the cooled bottom of the castings and the lateral figure
shows a 3D representation indicating the path from where the wear profile was scanned by the confocal microscope profilometer.

just as an indicator. However, as it has been pointed out by Kato increase in the self-lubricating element has not favored the wear
[27], it is useful to the understanding of wear mechanisms. In this resistance. This result is in agreement with the literature that
sense, the solidification microstructures might drastically alter the pointed out that for Al-Sn bearings the highest scuff resistance is
surface roughness and other physicochemical properties of the associated with a maximum of 20 wt%Sn [28].
surfaces in motion and then the response of the tribo-system. Conversely, for both Al-Sn-Cu alloys examined it can be seen
The total wear volume losses of the Al Sn (Si, Cu) alloys samples that V decreases with the increase in l1. Experimental points in
have been calculated from the topography of the wear tracks ob-
tained by confocal profilometry, Fig. 9. As it can be seen there is a
change in the wear profiles with different positions of Al-Sn-Cu
alloys samples. However, for Al-Sn-Si alloys, the profiles are
rather similar without noticeable effect on the microstructural
features. It can also be seen that Al-Sn-Cu alloys with higher Sn
content (20 wt%Sn) had worn tracks of lower depths, indicating a
better wear resistance.
Figs. 10 and 11 show the evolution of wear volume (V) as a
function of the primary dendritic arm spacing, for Al-Sn-Si and Al-
Sn-Cu alloys, respectively. Four samples, characterized by different
l1 values, were chosen for each alloy composition and subjected to
wear tests under the conditions detailed in the experimental sec-
tion, with a view to evaluating the role of microstructural effects on
the wear behavior.
For the Al-Sn-Si alloys, Fig. 10, the results obtained are in
agreement with the previous observations, which indicated that
both l1 and consequently the distribution of Sn-pockets in the
interdendritic regions had little or no effect over the wear resis-
tance. Furthermore, the increase in the alloy Sn content from 15 wt
% to 25 wt% resulted in slightly higher wear volume, that is, the Fig. 10. Wear volume as a function of the primary dendritic arm spacing for Al-Sn-Si
alloys.
 F. Bertelli et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 695 (2017) 3621e3631 3629

Fig. 11. Wear volume as a function of the primary dendritic arm spacing for Al-Sn-Cu
alloys.

Fig. 11 have been fitted by appropriate functions in order to permit

experimental equations correlating V to the inverse of the square
root of l1 to be derived. It is worth noting that the dendritic coarser
regions are associated with larger Sn-pockets in the interdendritic
regions, a microstructural arrangement that is shown to increase
the wear resistance when compared with refined microstructures.
This is in agreement with a previous study on binary Al-Sn alloys, in
which higher values of l1 were shown to be associated with
improved wear resistance [9].
Fig. 12 (a) and (b) presents the wear resistance (WR ¼ 1/V) and
su as a function of l1 for Al-Sn-Si and Al-Sn-Cu alloys, respectively.
In this figure, the ultimate tensile strength and wear resistance vs.
l1 are combined in a same plot, thus permitting appropriate ranges
of both WR and su to be associated with the corresponding values
of l1. The wear resistance of Al-Sn-Si alloys is shown not to be
affected by the size of l1 (Fig. 12a), however, a refined micro-
structure (higher l0.5
1 ) for the Al-15 wt%Sn-5wt%Si alloy is shown
to combine highest tensile strength and wear resistance. Further
increase in the Sn content of the alloy to 20 wt% brings no im-
provements. For Al-Sn-Cu alloys (Fig. 12b), the best wear resistance
is observed to be related to coarser microstructures (lower l0.5 ),
1
whereas refined microstructures improve the tensile strength,
indicating an inverse trend between tensile and tribological prop-
erties. The best balance between the two properties can be found
for the Al-20 wt%Sn-10 wt%Cu associated with intermediate values
of l1 (50e60 mm).
3.4. Wear mechanisms
Fig. 13 shows SEM (SE: secondary electrons/BSE: backscattered
electrons) micrographs with details of worn out surfaces of samples
subjected to wear tests. Although the active wear aspect in Al-Sn-
(Cu; Si) alloys has been mostly adhesive, it can be observed for
the Al-Sn-Cu alloys that a transition from abrasive to adhesive wear
occurs (Fig. 13a and b). However, for the Al-Sn-Si alloys all the wear
surfaces examined exhibited only aspects of adhesive wear
(Fig. 13c). The highlighted areas show typical characteristics of each
wear mechanism found in the samples of the alloys examined.
Fig. 13a illustrates the two-body abrasive wear for the samples
extracted from the initial positions of the DS Al-Sn-Cu alloys cast-
ings, region of higher solidification cooling rates. These samples
have refined microstructures with small dendritic spacings and the
hard Al2Cu intermetallic phase well distributed in the
Fig. 12. Wear resistance (1/V) and su as a function of the primary dendritic arm
spacing (l1) for ternary (a) Al-Sn-Si and (b) Al-Sn-Cu alloys.
interdendritic areas. During sliding, the Al2Cu phase is fragmented.
It generates particles that act as abrasive particles on the surface,
which lead to the appearance of two-body abrasive wear, identified
in area 1 of Fig. 13, characterized by parallel scratch marks in the
sliding direction. For higher magnification of area 1, a SE image
shows the characteristic grooves of abrasive wear and plow
grooves, and a BSE image shows the regions containing the Sn-rich
phase (in white). This Sn-rich phase usually act as a solid lubricant
[29e31], however, since it is very well distributed in the inter-
dendritic areas (refined microstructure) it is not able to act as an
efficient lubricating agent. Nevertheless, the Sn-rich phase visibly
minimizes the wear grooves of abrasive action generated by the
Al2Cu particles.
It is worth noting that on samples that undergone abrasive wear,
the occurrence of Sn whiskers can be noted, as shown in Fig. 13a.
The growth of Sn whiskers has been reported in the literature for
Al-Sn-Si alloys [29,32], where the growth mechanism was shown to
be based on a rearrangement of Sn atoms owing to the transfer of
stress from the Si particles. The corresponding process is described
as Sn crystal growth and creep. Therefore, this growth mechanism
can be experienced in samples of both alloys systems (Al-Sn-Si and
Al-Sn-Cu).
Fig. 13b shows the wear behavior of Al-Sn-Cu alloys samples
with coarser microstructures, that is, with evidences of adhesive
wear mechanisms indicated in the highlighted area 1. For coarser
microstructures it can be observed that the lubricating action of the
3630 F. Bertelli et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 695 (2017) 3621e3631

Fig. 13. Morphologies of worn surfaces: (a) abrasive wear mechanisms of refined Al-Sn-Cu alloys samples; (b) adhesive wear mechanisms of coarse Al-Sn-Cu alloys samples, and (c)
adhesive wear mechanisms of Al-Sn-Si alloys samples. SE: secondary electrons/BSE: backscattered electrons.

Sn-rich phase is more effective than the abrasive action induced by
the Al2Cu phase. This behavior can be attributed to the formation of
pockets with higher fraction of lubricating agent (Sn). During
sliding, these Sn rich pockets are smeared out on the surface and
protect it serving as solid lubricant. The Sn pockets form a film that
minimizes wear because they act involving the abrasive nature of
the particles and change the wear predominant mechanism from
abrasive to adhesive (the smeared Sn phase is highlighted in the
BSE image). The role of solid lubricants are similar to that of liquids:
to separate surfaces and provide shear path within the interface
[33].
For Al-Sn-Si alloys samples (Fig. 13c) it can be observed that only
adhesive wear occurred in all samples examined, represented by
the highlighted area 1. The change in the length scale of the
microstructure, caused by different solidification cooling rates, is
shown not to affect the lubricating action of Sn in samples of both
alloys compositions examined. In the highlighted areas, regions of
adhesive wear with the solid lubricant “Sn” smeared out on the
sample surface can be observed. The wear resistance is shown not
to be affected by microstructural refining and the wear mechanism
is always the same along the entire length of the directionally so-
lidified castings, i.e., adhesive wear.
In Fig. 13 (b) and (c), areas with cracks can be observed, which
resulted from the delamination process of layers formed by transfer
and adhesion of wear particles, which by the combined action of
the solid lubricant/Sn and the sliding process are impregnated on
the surface of the material. These layers, from certain thickness,
give rise to the delamination process, as also reported by some
researchers [12,33e35].
4. Conclusions
The following conclusions can be drawn from the present
experimental investigation:
 F. Bertelli et al. / Journal of Alloys and Compounds 695 (2017) 3621e3631
 Refined microstructures, i.e., regions with smaller primary
dendritic arm spacings and having homogenous dispersion of Sn
and Al2Cu/Si particles for the Al-Sn-Cu and Al-Sn-Si alloys,
respectively, were shown to be associated with higher tensile
properties. The increase from 15 to 25 wt% Sn content in the Al-
Sn-5wt%Si alloy and from 10 to 20 wt%Sn to Al-Sn-10 wt%Cu
alloy was shown not to affect the trend of evolution of su with
l1, that is, single experimental equations were shown to be
applicable to both alloys of each system (Al-Sn-Si/Al-Sn-Cu)
investigated:
0:5
Al  10=20wt% Sn  10wt% Cu : su ¼ 65 þ 917 l1
Al  15=25 wt% Sn  5wt% Si : su ¼ 38 þ 675 l0:5
1 A 403 (2005) 205e2014.
where su [MPa] and l1 [mm].
 While the addition of 5 wt%Si to Al-Sn alloys was shown to in-
crease su in about twice, the addition of 10 wt%Cu promoted
increase in su of up to three times along a similar range of l1.
 The wear resistance, represented by the inverse of the wear
volume, was shown to increase with the increase in l1 for Al-Sn-
Cu alloys, that is, regions with coarser a-Al dendritic phase and
interdendritic regions formed by larger Sn pockets and Al2Cu
particles were shown to be the best microstructural arrange-
ment for wear resistance. Experimental equations relating the
wear volume (V) to l1 have been proposed:
Al  10wt% Sn  10wt% Cu : V ¼ 1:23 l0:5
1  0:11
Al  20wt% Sn  10wt% Cu : V ¼ 0:32 l0:5
1  0:023
where V[mm3] and l1 [mm].
The wear resistance of Al-Sn-Si alloys was shown not to be
affected by the size of l1.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by
FAPESP- S~ao Paulo Research Foundation, Brazil (grants 2012/16328-
2; 2013/15478-3; 2013/23396-7; 2014/50502-5), CNPq - The Bra-
zilian Research Council and CSIC-Spanish National Research
Council (Project i-link0944).
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