The influence of cooling rate and manganese content on the β-Al5FeSi phase formation and mechanical properties of Al–Si-based alloys

The present study investigates the influence of manganese level and cooling rate on the formation of iron compounds and mechanical properties of Al–9%Si alloys containing 0.3%Fe. It has been established that high cooling rates and Mn additions are not able to totally nullify the formation of β-Al5FeSi-needles onto α-Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2-Chinese scripts even at Mn:Fe ratio of 2:1, but produces improvement in tensile strength unlike the ductility which suffers a loss with the increment of Mn concentrations.