Effect of Fe content and microstructural features on the tensile and fatigue properties of the Al–Si10–Cu2 alloy

As the automotive industry has to meet the requirements of fuel efficiency and environmental concerns, the use of aluminium alloys is steadily increasing. A number of papers have been published about the correlation between microstructure and mechanical properties of the widely used A356/A357 aluminium alloys, while relatively few data are available on others hypoeutectic Al–Si alloys, such as Al–Si–Cu alloys with higher Si content. In this work the effect of different amounts of Fe and Mn on the tensile and fatigue behaviour of the Al–Si10–Cu2 casting alloy was studied. The reason of this study comes from the fact that cast components are mostly made by secondary Al alloys that inevitably contain Fe, which in turn forms intermetallic compounds, negatively affecting the mechanical behaviour of the alloy. Fatigue specimens were subjected to hot isostatic pressing (HIP) before tests, in order to eliminate the internal pores (gas pores and interdendritic shrinkages) and therefore to solely investigate the effect of microstructural features, rather than solidification defects, on the fatigue propagation stage. The microstructural characterisation of the alloy was carried out by optical and scanning electron microscopy. Proof and ultimate tensile strength, as well as fatigue life of the investigated alloy were greatly enhanced by high Fe and Mn content, which reduced the micro-crack propagation rate; on the contrary Fe, without Mn, negatively affected the elongation to failure.