Effects of Sr-modification, iron-based intermetallics and aging treatment on the impact toughness of 356 Al–Si–Mg alloy

Impact toughness as a property has been acquiring increased importance in recent years, since data regarding this property can provide a means for assessing alloy ductility under high rates of deformation. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effects of Sr-modification, Fe-based intermetallic phases and aging conditions on the impact toughness of widely used 356 alloys. The total absorbed energy was measured using a computer-aided instrumented Instron Charpy impact testing machine. Increasing the level of iron additions decreases the impact energy values of 356 alloys to a noticeable degree (~35–57%). The addition of 0.1 wt% Mn to non-modified 356 alloys seems to have no observable effect on the impact energy, while increasing the Mn addition to 0.4 wt% produces a slight improvement in the impact energy values for non-modified and Sr-modified 356 alloys compared to that of those containing only iron under the same conditions. The application of solution heat treatment in combination with Sr-modification was found to significantly improve the impact energy of as-cast 356 alloys, particularly at low iron additions. Artificial aging of non-modified and Sr-modified 356 alloys at 180 °C diminishes the impact energy values with an increase in the aging time up to 8 h compared to those obtained under the solution heat-treated conditions. On the other hand, aging at 220 °C for 12 h increases the impact energy values of Sr-modified 356 alloy containing 0.12 wt% Fe and combined 0.2 wt% Fe–0.1 wt% Mn to about 20 and 18 J, respectively. The fracture behavior of non-modified 356 alloys containing 0.12 wt% Fe is mainly controlled by the acicular eutectic Si particles whereas β-iron platelets act as crack initiation sites and provide further path for final crack propagation in non-modified 356 alloys containing 0.9 wt% Fe. The β-iron platelets and π-iron phase particles contribute largely to crack initiation and propagation in the Sr-modified 356 alloys containing 0.9 wt% Fe.