Influence of Sludge Particles on the Tensile Properties of Die-Cast Secondary Aluminum Alloys

The effects of sludge intermetallic particles on the mechanical properties of a secondary AlSi9Cu3(Fe) die-casting alloy have been studied. Different alloys have been produced by systematically varying the Fe, Mn, and Cr contents within the composition tolerance limits of the standard EN AC-46000 alloy. The microstructure shows primary α-Alx(Fe,Mn,Cr)ySiz sludge particles, with polyhedral and star-like morphologies, although the presence of primary β-Al5FeSi phase is also observed at the highest Fe:Mn ratio. The volume fraction of primary compounds increases as the Fe, Mn, and Cr contents increase and this can be accurately predicts from the Sludge Factor by a linear relationship. The sludge amount seems to not influence the size and the content of porosity in the die-cast material. Furthermore, the sludge factor is not a reliable parameter to describe the mechanical properties of the die-cast AlSi9Cu3(Fe) alloy, because this value does not consider the mutual interaction between the elements. In the analyzed range of composition, the design of experiment methodology and the analysis of variance have been used in order to develop a semi-empirical model that accurately predicts the mechanical properties of the die-cast AlSi9Cu3(Fe) alloys as function of Fe, Mn, and Cr concentrations.