Combined effect of melt thermal treatment and solution heat treatment on eutectic Si particles in cast Al-Si alloys

The present results showed that in Al-Si alloys, Sr modified (SrM), superheat (SH) and SrM melt thermal treatment (SrMTT) processed castings provide fine eutectic Si particles, with the SrMTT process giving the best modification results. Both size and morphology of the eutectic silicon particles are affected by the modification process used. The SrM, SH and SrMTT castings show well modified fibrous Si particles, whereas the melt thermal treatment (MTT) casting exhibits Si particles that, although refined to a certain extent, still retain their acicular morphology. Cooling rate affects the eutectic Si particle size in that a higher cooling rate produces finer Si particles. However, within the range of cooling rates provided by the end chill mould used in this work, the cooling rate does not affect the morphology of the Si particles. During solution heat treatment at 540°C, the eutectic Si particles undergo fragmentation, spheroidisation and coarsening, affecting the Si particle morphology. The spheroidisation process is determined by the size and morphology of the Si particles in the as cast condition. The SrM, SH and SrMTT processed castings with their refined Si particles require much less solution treatment time for the spheroidisation process to take place than do the non-modified and MTT castings.