Effects of beryllium in Al–Si–Mg–Ti cast alloy

Effects of beryllium (Be) in Al–7Si–0.4Mg–0.2Ti–xFe–xBe cast alloy have been studied in this paper. The results show that beryllium addition changes the shape of iron-rich compound from needle or plate shapes to Chinese scripts or polygons. And the iron-rich compound (named Be–Fe) is aggregated when the composition of Fe is high. The aggregation of Be–Fe phase is the main crack nucleus in the alloy. It is also found that Be–Fe is formed during peritectic reaction on titanium-rich particle and located inside the α-Al. These lead to the higher mechanical properties of the alloy with Be addition.