An investigation into solidification and mechanical properties behavior of Al-Si casting alloys

Aluminum casting alloys with silicon as the major alloying elements are the most important commercial casting alloys because of their superior casting characteristics. This study aimed to investigate solidification and mechanical behavior of Al- Si alloy against both the molding conditions and silicon content (3%- 15% Si). Grain size analysis and x-ray diffraction of the alloys have been studied. Tribological experiments have been carried out by using a pin on disc tribometer to investigate the effect of the alloying element content and the molding conditions on the wear resistance and the coefficient of friction of the alloy. The results showed that. With the increasing of silicon content the solidification time increased, as also a decrease of the liquidus temperature was observed up to 12% and then increased with increasing Si%. However, an increase of both the ultimate tensile strength and the hardness is obtained by the increase of the silicon content. With the increase of silicon content the wear rate decrease and coefficient of friction increase.