Effect of sodium modification on microstructure and mechanical properties of thick-walled AlSi6Cu2.5 rheocast component

The microstructure and tensile properties were investigated in a thick-walled section （approximately 45 mm×43 mm） of a rheocast component produced by the RheoMetalTM process. Due to the long solidification period of such components, it is expected that the A1-Si eutectic formed will be coarse. Therefore, sodium （Na） was used as a modifying agent to reduce the coarseness of the eutectic. Tensile test bars were machined from three different sets of materials： 1） non-modified melt, 2） modified melt cast directly after Na addition, and 3） modified melt cast 30 min after Na addition. The alloy used was a secondary AlSi6Cu2.5 alloy （STENAL Rheol）, specially developed for rheocasting. The material was studied in the as-cast condition as well as after a T6 heat treatment. The results show that the Al-Si eutectic is significantly refined by the Na addition, even after a fading time of 30 min. However, it is observed that the Na modification generally has a detrimental effect on the mechanical properties, despite the structure refinement. This is especially true in the T6 heat treated condition, where the yield strength is reduced by more than 30%. Some possible mechanisms for the degradation of mechanical performance are discussed.