Microstructural investigation of Sr-modified Al–15 wt%Si alloys in the range from micrometer to atomic scale

Strontium-modified Al–15 wt%Si casting alloys were investigated after 5 and 60 min of melt holding. The eutectic microstructures were studied using complementary methods at different length scales: focused ion beam-energy selective backscattered tomography, transmission electron microscopy and 3D atom probe. Whereas the samples after 5 min of melt holding show that the structure of eutectic Si changes into a fine fibrous morphology, the increase of prolonged melt holding (60 min) leads to the loss of Sr within the alloy with an evolution of an unmodified eutectic microstructure displaying coarse interconnected Si plates. Strontium was found at the Al/Si eutectic interfaces on the side of the eutectic Al region, measured by 3D atom probe. The new results obtained using 3D atom probe shed light on the location of Sr within the Al–Si eutectic microstructure.