Shouxun Ji, SF J Met Sci, 2017, 1 :1

SciFed Metallurgical science

Research Article Open Access

Improvement of mechanical properties in a high silicon Al-Si-Mg alloy

through effective grain refinement in sand casting

1
Xixi Dong, 1Yijie Zhang, *1Shouxun Ji
*
Institute of Materials and Manufacturing, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH, United Kingdom.

Abstract
The microstructure and mechanical properties of a high silicon Al9Si0.45Mg alloys refined by
Al5Ti1B and Al3Ti3B master alloys were investigated under sand casting condition. The results showed
that the primary α-Al grain sizes were 750±220 μm in the Al5Ti1B refined alloy, and that was significantly
decreased to 443±125 μm in the Al3Ti3B refined alloy. After T6 heat treatment, with the change of grain
refiner from Al5Ti1B to Al3Ti3B, the yield strength was increased from 289±2 MPa to 300±1 MPa, the
ultimate tensile strength was increased from 320±4 MPa to 335±5 MPa, and the elongation was increased
significantly by 88 % from 2.4±0.4 % to 4.5±0.6. β'' phase was found precipitated from the α-Al matrix for
the peak strengthening of the T6 heat-treated alloy. The inoculation of AlB2 and TiB2 in Al3Ti3B results
in the superior grain refinement in sand castings. The increase of strength in the Al3Ti3B refined alloy is
attributed to the enhanced refinement of the primary α-Al grains, while the increase of ductility results from
the reduced defect levels as well as the decreased grain size.

Key Words: melt treatment during casting aluminium alloys in order to

Aluminum alloys; Sand casting; Microstructure; reduce or eliminate the casting defects, which can improve
Mechanical properties; Heat treatment; Grain refinement

1. Introduction
Al-Si-Mg cast alloys have been widely used for
making high integrity castings with a combination of *Corresponding author: Shouxun Ji, Institute of Materials and
good castbility, strength, ductility and corrosion resistance Manufacturing, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3PH,
United Kingdom.. E-mail: shouxun.ji@brunel.ac.uk, Tel: +44 1895 266663
[1-3], which are necessary for transport manufacturing
to provide light weighting components. Sand casting is Received September 10, 2017; Accepted October 01, 2017; Published
widely applied for the casting of Al-Si-Mg cast alloys. October 15, 2017

The most commonly used Al-Si-Mg cast alloy is A356/ Citation: Shouxun Ji (2017) Improvement of mechanical properties in a high
A357 [4]. However, sand castings usually provide inferior silicon Al-Si-Mg alloy through effective grain refinement in sand . SF J Met
Sci 1:1.
mechanical properties because of the existence of defects
formed during solidification with a relatively low cooling Copyright: © 2017 Shouxun Ji. This is an open-access article distributed
under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
rate. unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
Grain refinement has been proved as an important original author and source are credited.

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 Citation: Shouxun Ji (2017) Improvement of mechanical properties in a high silicon Al-Si-Mg alloy through effective grain refinement in sand . SF J Met
Sci 1:1.

the toughness, strength, formability and machinability [2, were investigated side-by-side to understand the grain
5-9]. Al-Ti-B master alloys, in particular Al5Ti1B, have refinement, microstructure and mechanical properties of
been widely used as grain refiners over the past several a high silicon aluminium alloy using sand casting. The
decades [10,11]. The Al5Ti1B master alloy essentially efficiency of grain refinement and the strengthening
consist of TiB2 particles with extra Al3Ti and capable of mechanism were assessed in the sand cast samples.
offering remarkable grain refinement and performance The discussion focuses on the relationship between the
improvement in the casting of wrought alloys. It is generally microstructure and mechanical properties of cast alloys.
believed that a layer of Al3Ti is formed on the surface
of TiB2 particles to induce grain refinement. However, 2. Experimental
the grain refinement using Al5Ti1B is hard to meet the 2.1. Alloy preparation
expectations in cast Al-Si alloys, especially with a content The cast Al9Si0.45Mg alloy in the form of ingot
of Si higher than 3.5 wt.% [12-15]. The reason is that Si in was melted in the 12-kg capacity clay-graphite crucible
the melt reacts with Ti to form Ti-Si phases, which poison using an electric resistance furnace. During melting, the
the TiB2 nucleation sites and consumes the Ti dissolved temperature of the furnace was controlled at 750 °C, and
in the melt for grain growth restriction [16, 17]. Thus the a melt of 8 kg was prepared each time. After one hour of
decrease of grain refining efficiency of Al5Ti1B is a severe homogenisation, Al-10 wt.% Sr master alloy was added
problem for high silicon cast aluminium alloys. into the melt to make the defined Sr content of 140 to 350
In order to increase the efficiency of grain ppm, for modifying the morphology of the eutectic silicon
refinement in high Si aluminium alloys, it is necessary phase during solidification. The melt was subsequently
to prevent the formation of Ti-Si phase through reducing degassed through injecting pure argon into the melt by
the Ti content in the master alloy, which can transfer the using a rotary degassing impeller at a speed of 350 rpm
constituent of the master alloy from TiB2 with extra for 4 min. After degassing, the top surface of the melt
Al3Ti to TiB2 with extra AlB2. Consequently, the was covered by commercial granular flux, and the melt
poisoning effect is expected to be significantly reduced. was hold for 10 min for temperature recovery, followed
In particular, the grain refinement can be enhanced under by adding 0.2 wt.% Al5Ti1B or 0.2 wt.% Al3Ti3B master
low cooling rate in sand casting process [18-22]. Al3Ti3B alloys into the melt for grain refinement. After adding the
is developed with this philosophy and is expected to grain refiner, the melt was slightly stirred before casting.
overcome the grain-refining problem accompanied with The chemical compositions of the investigated alloys were
Al5Ti1B in high silicon aluminium alloys processed by measured by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission
sand casting process. spectroscopy (ICP-AES), and the results are listed in Table
Therefore, Al5Ti1B and Al3Ti3B master alloys 1.

Table 1: Chemical compositions of experimental alloys analyzed by ICP-AES (wt.%).

Alloy Si Mg Cu Fe Mn Ti Sr B Al
A1(Al9Si0.45Mg+Al5Ti1B) 8.70 0.45 0.00 0.11 0.06 0.141 0.014 0.002 Bal.
A2(Al9Si0.45Mg+Al3Ti3B) 8.73 0.45 0.00 0.11 0.06 0.134 0.014 0.006 Bal.

2.2. Sand casting and heat treatment indicated by the dashed rectangle box in Fig. 1(b). Four
With the intention of casting tensile test bars, the castings were made for each of the Al5Ti1B refined and
prepared melt was poured at 720 0ᴄ into a British standard Al3Ti3B refined condition. After kept at ambient condition
sand casting mould preheated at 150 0ᴄ, as shown in Fig. for at least 24 h, the cast tensile test bars were subjected
1(a). Fig. 1(b) shows the sand casting made by the sand to T6 heat treatment in an electrical furnace equipped
mould, and four round tensile test bars with the size of with forced air circulation, including solution treatment
ϕ20 mm × 170 mm were made from each casting, as and artificial ageing. Solution treatment was carried out at

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 Citation: Shouxun Ji (2017) Improvement of mechanical properties in a high silicon Al-Si-Mg alloy through effective grain refinement in sand . SF J Met
Sci 1:1.

540 0ᴄ for 8 h, followed by immediate water quenching to room temperature. The gauge length of the extensometer
room temperature. Ageing treatment was performed at 170 was 50 mm and the ramp rate for extension was 1 mm/min.
0
ᴄW for 8 h, followed by air cooling to room temperature. Each data reported with standard deviation was based on
The T6 heat-treated tensile test bars were then machined the mechanical properties obtained from 6 to 8 samples.
into the shape shown in Fig. 1(c) for tensile tests, with the
gauge dimension of ϕ10 mm × 50 mm. 3. Results
Figure 1: (a) British standard sand casting mould, (b) sand casting 3.1. As-cast microstructure
made by the mould and (c) machined tensile test bar from the casting. Figs. 2(a) and (b) present the polarized optical
micrographs showing the grain size of primary α-Al phase
in the as-cast sand casting Al9Si0.45Mg alloys refined by
Al5Ti1B and Al3Ti3B master alloys, respectively. The
primary α-Al phase in the Al5Ti1B refined alloy shows
coarse dendritic morphology. The primary α-Al phase in
the Al3Ti3B refined alloy is significantly finer than the
Al5Ti1B refined condition. The grain size of the primary
α-Al phase is 750±220 μm in the Al5Ti1B refined alloy,
while that is 443±125 μm in the Al3Ti3B refined alloy. The
grain size of primary α-Al phase in the Al3Ti3B refined
alloy is reduced by 41 %, when compared with the Al5Ti1B
refined alloy. It could be confirmed that Al3Ti3B is more
2.3. Characterization and tensile test effective grain refiner for the high silicon Al9Si0.45Mg
The microstructure was examined using the cast alloy than Al5Ti1B under the sand casting condition.
Zeiss optical microscopy (OM), the Zeiss SUPRA 35VP
Figure 2: Polarized optical micrographs showing the grain size of
scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with primary α-Al phase in the as-cast sand casting Al9Si0.45Mg alloys
energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), the JEOL- refined by (a) Al5Ti1B and (b) Al3Ti3B.
2100 transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and the D8
X-ray diffraction (XRD) instrument. The specimens for
OM, SEM and XRD analysis were prepared by the standard
technique of grinding. OM observation was conducted after
polishing without any etching. Polarized OM observation
of grain size was performed after anodised with Barker
solution (97 vol.% H2O and 3 vol.% HBF4). Porosity
area percentage was counted from the longitudinal section
of three as-cast bars. SEM analysis was conducted after
etching with 15 vol.% HCl. Post-loading fracture analysis
was also performed via SEM. Thin specimens for TEM Figs. 3(a) and (b) present the SEM morphology
observation were prepared by standard electropolishing. of the as-cast sand casting Al9Si0.45Mg alloys refined by
The electrolytic solution was a mixture of nitric acid and Al5Ti1B and Al3Ti3B, separately. Primary α-Al phase, Al-
methyl alcohol (2:8), used at -20 to -30 0ᴄ and 20 V. TEM Si eutectic phase and β-Mg2Si intermetallic phase were
operating at 200 kV was used for bright field imaging, identified coexisting in the as-cast Al9Si0.45Mg alloys
select area diffraction pattern (SADP) analysis, and high- both refined by Al5Ti1B and Al3Ti3B. β-Mg2Si phase is
resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) located in the eutectic Al-Si eutectic region, and its size is
imaging. XRD analysis was conducted from 2 Theta larger than the eutectic Si phase, as indicated by the arrows
degrees 25° to 100° at a scanning speed of 1°/min. tensile in Fig. 3.Obviously, the primary α-Al phase in the as-cast
tests were conducted following the ASTM B557 standard Al9Si0.45Mg alloy refined by Al3Ti3B is also much finer
using an Instron 5500 Universal Electromechanical than that refined by Al5Ti1B under the SEM observation,
Testing System. All the tensile tests were performed at which is consistent the results shown in Fig. 2.

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 Citation: Shouxun Ji (2017) Improvement of mechanical properties in a high silicon Al-Si-Mg alloy through effective grain refinement in sand . SF J Met
Sci 1:1.

Figure 3: SEM micrographs showing the morphology of the as-cast alloys refined by Al5Ti1B and Al3Ti3B, respectively,
sand casting Al9Si0.45Mg alloys refined by (a) Al5Ti1B and (b) after T6 heat treatment. Fig. 5(b) shows the enlarged SEM
Al3Ti3B. fracture morphology of the Al5Ti1B refined alloy, which
comprises uniformly distributed Al dimples and cracked
Si. Fig. 5(d) shows the enlarged SEM fracture morphology
of the Al3Ti3B refined alloy, which is very similar to that
of the Al5Ti1B refined alloy, with uniformly distributed
Al dimples and cracked Si present. It has been claimed
that all the cracks seen in Si are because the material has
formed on a double oxide which has a crack in its centre,
which would explain the large density of ductile dimples
seen on the fracture surfaces [23]. The reason is that
3.2. Microstructure after heat treatment each dimple represents a microscopic oxide defect in a
Figs. 4(a) and (b) present the SEM morphology of Si particle, allowing the particle to fracture, followed by
the sand casting Al9Si0.45Mg alloys refined byAl5Ti1B ductile shearing to form a dimple.
and Al3Ti3B, separately, after solution treatment and Figure 5: SEM morphology of the fracture of the sand casting
ageing treatment. The primary α-Al phase and the Al9Si0.45Mg alloys refined by (a,b) Al5Ti1B and (c,d) Al3Ti3B with
spheroidised Si particles were clearly visible, but the (a,c) low magnification and (b,d) high magnification after T6 heat
treatment
β-Mg2Si intermetallic phase was hardly observed in the
microstructure both refined by Al5Ti1B and Al3Ti3B,
which indicated that the β-Mg2Si intermetallic phase
was well dissolved into the α-Al matrix after the solution
treatment. The saturated solid solution could ensure the
precipitation of nanoscale strengthening precipitates in the
α-Al matrix after ageing treatment, which contributes to
the strengthening of the alloy after T6 heat treatment. The
spheroidised Si particles in the heat-treated alloys refined
by Al5Ti1B and Al3Ti3B are much similar to each other.
Similar to the as-cast condition, the primary α-Al phase in
the T6 heat-treated Al9Si0.45Mg alloy refined by Al3Ti3B
is also much finer than that refined by Al5Ti1B, since T6
heat treatment hardly has any effect on the grain size of the
Figure 6: Tensile properties of the sand casting Al9Si0.45Mg alloys
primary α-Al phase. refined by Al5Ti1B and Al3Ti3B after T6 heat treatment.

Figure 4: SEM micrographs showing the morphology of the sand

casting Al9Si0.45Mg alloys refined by (a) Al5Ti1B and (b) Al3Ti3B 3.3. Mechanical properties after heat treatment
after T6 heat treatment. The Al9Si0.45Mg alloy is heat treatment
strengthening alloy and mainly used after heat treatment, so
its mechanical properties after heat treatment were focused
rather than the mechanical properties in the as-cast state.
Fig. 6 presents the tensile properties of the sand casting
Al9Si0.45Mg alloys refined by Al5Ti1B and Al3Ti3B,
after T6 heat treatment. The yield strength (YS), ultimate
tensile strength (UTS) and elongation (El) of the Al5Ti1B
refined alloy are 289±2 MPa, 320±4 MPa and 2.4±0.4 %,
respectively. The Al3Ti3B refined alloy provides the YS of
Figs. 5(a) and (c) show the low magnification SEM 300±1 MPa, the UTS of 335±5 MPa and the El of 4.5±0.6
fracture morphology of the sand casting Al9Si0.45Mg %. It is clear that the strength could be increased, and the

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 Citation: Shouxun Ji (2017) Improvement of mechanical properties in a high silicon Al-Si-Mg alloy through effective grain refinement in sand . SF J Met
Sci 1:1.

elongation could be significantly increased by 88 % in the MPa of the sand casting Al9Si0.45Mg alloy after T6 heat
Al3Ti3B refined alloy, when compared with the Al5Ti1B treatment.
refined alloy.
Figure 7: TEM micrographs taken along the <001>Al axis showing
the β'' precipitate in the sand casting Al9Si0.45Mg alloy after T6 heat
Figure 6: Tensile properties of the sand casting Al9Si0.45Mg alloys treatment, (a) bright field image, (b) SADP of (a), (c) HRTEM image of
refined by Al5Ti1B and Al3Ti3B after T6 heat treatment. β'' precipitate and (d) FFT pattern of (c).

4.2. Effects of grain refinement on microstructure

4. Discussion Fig.8(a) shows the XRD patterns of the Al5Ti1B
4.1. Precipitation strengthening master alloy used for refinement in the present study, Al3Ti
Fig. 7 presents the TEM micrographs taken along and TiB2 particles were found coexisting in the Al5Ti1B
the <001>Al axis showing precipitate in the Al9Si0.45Mg master alloy. It has been well documented that the particles
alloy after T6 heat treatment. Fig. 7(a) shows the bright introduced into the melt through the addition of Al5Ti1B
field image of precipitate in the α-Al matrix, embedded grain refiner are the soluble Al3Ti and the insoluble TiB2
β'' precipitate and lying β'' precipitate were found in the particles, which is consistent with the XRD results in
α-Al matrix when observed along <001>Al axis, which Fig. 8(a). The TiB2 particles that act as heterogeneous
indicates that the β'' precipitate is needle-like, and the nucleation sites could be poisoned by Si by coating the
embedded β'' precipitate and lying β'' precipitate were the surfaces with Ti-Si compounds [12-16,26]. The dissolved
same β'' precipitate in nature. Fig. 7(b) shows the SADP Ti from Al3Ti particles, which also contributes to grain
of α-Al matrix and β'' precipitates in Fig. 7(a), the large refinement under Al5Ti1B by slowing down the growth of
bright points are diffraction points of the α-Al matrix, the freshly formed a-Al crystals while partitioning between
while the grey cross lines between the bright points are the solid and liquid phases, is also rendered ineffective as
diffraction patterns of β'' precipitates, which indicates it also forms Ti-Si compounds and precipitates out of the
that the β'' precipitates are in the metastable state and the melt. It has been reported that solute Ti hardly offers any
heat-treated alloy is in the peak strength state. Fig. 7(c) grain refinement effect in Al-Si alloys with 7 wt.% Si [15].
shows the HRTEM image of the β'' precipitate lying on the The Al9Si0.45Mg cast alloy contains a high level of Si
(001)Al plane, and Fig. 7(d) shows the corresponding FFT at 8.7 wt.%, so the poisoning effect of TiB2 particles is
patterns of the rectangle area in Fig. 7(c), which verifies significant, and the solute Ti might hardly provide growth
that the lying precipitate is β'', and the β'' precipitate restriction for the primary α-Al phase, due to the formation
is fully coherent with the α-Al matrix. As reported in of Ti-Si compounds, which results in the coarse primary
literatures [24-25], the needle-like β'' precipitate provides α-Al grains of 750±220 in the alloy refined by Al5Ti1B.
peak strengthening of the T6 heat-treated Al-Si-Mg alloy, Fig. 8(b) shows the XRD patterns of the Al3Ti3B
which contributes to the high yield strength of above 285 master alloy used for refinement in this article, TiB2 and

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 Citation: Shouxun Ji (2017) Improvement of mechanical properties in a high silicon Al-Si-Mg alloy through effective grain refinement in sand . SF J Met
Sci 1:1.

AlB2 particles were found coexisting in the master alloy, it is well known that the relation between yield strength
while no Al3Ti particles were found. AlB2 particles could and grain size for structure materials can be described
also act as heterogeneous nucleation sites for α-Al [19, mathematically by the Hall-Petch equation
27], thus the XRD results indicate that the Al3Ti3B grain
refiner does not supply soluble Al3Ti particles (solute k
σ y =σ0 + )1(
Ti), and relies on the insoluble AlB2 and TiB2 borides to d
promote heterogeneous nucleation. Borides in the Al3Ti3B
grain refiner are nearly three times as many as that in
Al5Ti1B, since the B content dictates the population of Where σy (MPa) is the yield strength, σ0 is a material
boride particles. This was also evidenced by the B content constant for the starting stress for dislocation movement,
listed in Table 1. Furthermore, it has been reported that Si k is the strengthening coefficient, and d (μm) is the grain
promotes the heterogeneous nucleation of primary α-Al on diameter.
AlB2 [27]. Therefore, the performance of the Al3Ti3B for From Fig. 2, the grain size of primary α-Al phase
the refinement of the high silicon Al9Si0.45Mg cast alloy in the Al3Ti3B refined alloy is decreased significantly
is clearly superior with respect to that of Al5Ti1B, under when compared with the Al5Ti1B refined alloy. According
the sand casting condition, with the decrease of size of the to Eq. (1), the decrease in grain size will result in the
primary α-Al grain to 443±125 μm. increase of yield strength, which leads to the increase of
yield strength of the heat-treated alloy by 11 MPa to 300±1
Figure 8: X-ray diffraction patterns of (a) Al5Ti1B and (b) Al3Ti3B MPa under the refinement of Al3Ti3B, when compared
.master alloys used for grain refinement with the condition that refined by Al5Ti1B.
Generally, the ductility of cast aluminium alloys
is dependent on defects, the primary phase, the secondary
phase and strength. From Fig. 4, the spheroidised secondary
Si particles in the Al5Ti1B and Al3Ti3B refined alloys
are much similar to each other both in size and shape.
Moreover, for structural materials, the increase in strength
is inevitably sacrificed by the reduction in ductility, which
is known as the strength-ductility trade-off dilemma [28].
As shown in Fig. 6, the strength of the Al3Ti3B refined
4.3. Effects of grain refinement on strength and alloy is higher than that of the Al5Ti1B refined alloy, so
ductility the increase of strength in Al3Ti3B refined alloy should
Generally, the strength of cast aluminium contribute to the decrease of ductility, from the view
alloys is decided by grain size strengthening, secondary point of strength and strength-ductility trade-off dilemma.
phase strengthening, solution strengthening, precipitate However, the ductility of the Al3Ti3B refined alloy is
strengthening and strain strengthening. So the strength significantly higher than that of the Al5Ti1B refined alloy.
of the sand casting Al9Si0.45Mg cast alloys after T6 Thus the ductility of the T6 heat-treated Al9Si0.45Mg cast
heat treatment is dependent on the grain size of primary alloys is mainly controlled by defects and the primary α-Al
α-Al phase, the spheroidised secondary Si phase and phase.
the β'' precipitation phase in the α-Al matrix. From According to Campbell′s theory, the bi-film oxides
Fig. 4, the spheroidised Si particles in the Al5Ti1B and defect controlled the failure properties of cast aluminium
Al3Ti3B refined alloys are much similar to each other. alloys, the precipitation of inoculation particles from the
Moreover, it was found that there was no difference for addition of Al-Ti-B grain refiners can sediment oxides in
the β'' precipitation phase in the α-Al matrix of Al5Ti1B the melt before pouring into the mould, which will reduce
and Al3Ti3B refined alloys by TEM observation. Thus the content of oxides in the casting, and that is beneficial
when compared with the Al5Ti1B refined alloy, the to the ductility of cast aluminium alloys, since crack is
increase of strength in the Al3Ti3B refined alloy can be easy to start from the oxides defect [23]. As discussed in
solely attributed to better grain refinement of the primary section 4.2, the inoculated particles under the addition of
α-Al phase. When the grain size is above the nanoscale, Al3Ti3B grain refiner were nearly three times as many

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 Citation: Shouxun Ji (2017) Improvement of mechanical properties in a high silicon Al-Si-Mg alloy through effective grain refinement in sand . SF J Met
Sci 1:1.

as that of the Al5Ti1B condition, so the sedimentation of alloy refined by Al3Ti3B is attributed to the reduce defect
oxides under the refinement of Al3Ti3B was significantly levels as well as the decreased grain sizes.
superior to that under the refinement of Al5Ti1B. Thus the
content of oxides in the Al3Ti3B refined alloy is lower Acknowledgements
than that of the Al5Ti1B refined alloy, which contributes Financial support from Innovate UK under project
to the improvement of ductility in the Al3Ti3B refined 131817 is gratefully acknowledged.
alloy, when compared with the Al5Ti1B refined alloy. As
shown in Fig. 2, the grain size of the primary α-Al phase References
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Sci 1:1.

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