Effect of Sr and solidification conditions on characteristics of intermetallic in Al–Si 319 industrial alloys

An experimental study was carried out to determine the effect of strontium (Sr) on the characteristic of intermetallic phases, particularly the Al5FeSi phase which present morphology of platelets or needle-like. The results showed that within the range of variables studied, the modification process caused the disappearance of the needles and only occur the precipitation of phase α (chinese script-like). Refinement of the intermetallic phases occurs in conjunction with the refinement in grain size. Both parameters depend strongly on local cooling rate (T), temperature gradient (G) and apparent rate of solidification front (V). In the case of equiaxed structures the refinement of grain size and intermetallic occurs with increasing local cooling rate and temperature gradient and decrease the apparent rate of solidification front. In the case of columnar structures, refinement of grains and intermetallic requires the increase in values of the three variables indicated. Moreover, the addition of Sr resulted in the modification of silicon eutectic, as noted in others research works.