Heat treatment of gravity cast aluminium components normally involve a solution heat treatment followed by quenching and subsequent ageing, either naturally or artificially. The mechanical properties of aluminium castings containing Cu and Mg are clearly improved by heat treatment but there are still some uncertainties and contradictions about the phase dissolution, formation of precipitates and the influence of natural and artificial ageing parameters such as time and temperature, on the peak strength of these materials. The present paper reviews over 60 papers in attempt to clarify and map out the influence of each and every sequence that is involved in the heat treatment process on the evolution and kind of precipitates, which in turn determines the mechanical properties of cast aluminium components.

The influence of solidification rate on the solution treatment response for an Al–8Si–3.1Cu alloy has been investigated. The alloy was cast using the gradient solidification technique to produce samples with three different solidification rates. The samples were solution treated at 495 C for various times between 10 min and 10 h. The concentration of copper in the matrix was measured using the wavelength dispersive spectroscopy technique, WDS.

The results show that the coarseness of the microstructure clearly affects the solution treatment time needed to dissolve particles and obtain a homogenous distribution of copper in the matrix. A short solution treatment time of 10 min is enough to achieve a high and homogenous copper concentration for a material with a fine microstructure (secondary dendrite arm spacing, SDAS of 10 μm), while more than 10 h is needed for a coarse microstructure (SDAS of 50 μm). A model was developed to describe the dissolution and homogenisation process. The model shows good agreement with the experimental results.

The influence of solidification rate on the solution-treatment response has been investigated for an Al-7Si-0.3Mg alloy and an Al-8Si-3Cu-0.5Mg alloy. The concentrations of Mg, Cu, and Si in the matrix after different solution-treatment times were measured using a wavelength dispersive spectrometer. All Mg dissolves into the matrix for the Al-Si-Mg alloy when solution treated at 803 K (530 C) because the π-Fe phase is unstable and transforms into short β-Fe plates which release Mg. The Q-Al₅Mg₈Cu₂Si₆ phase do not dissolve completely at 768 K (495 C) in the Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloy and the concentration in the matrix reached 0.22 to 0.25 wt pct Mg. The distance between π-Fe phases and Al₂Cu phases was found to determine the solution-treatment time needed for dissolution and homogenization for the Al-Si-Mg alloy and Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloy, respectively. From the distance between the phases, a dimensionless diffusion time was calculated which can be used to estimate the solution-treatment times needed for different coarsenesses of the microstructure. A model was developed to describe the dissolution and homogenization processes.

The T6 heat treatment is commonly used for gravity cast Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloys. The influence of the alloying elements Cu and Mg and the artificial ageing temperature on the age hardening response were investigated. Artificial ageing was conducted at 170°C and 210°C for various times for three alloys, Al-7Si-0.3Mg, Al-8Si-3Cu and Al-8Si-3Cu-0.5Mg, cast with three different solidification rates (secondary dendrite arm spacing of about 10, 25 and 50μm). The coarseness of the microstructure has a small influence on the yield strength, as long as the solution treatment is adjusted to obtain complete dissolution and homogenisation. The peak yield strength of the Al-Si-Mg alloy is not as sensitive to the ageing temperature as the Al-Si-Cu and Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloys are. The ageing response of the Al-Si-Cu alloy is low and very slow. When 0.5 wt% Mg is added the ageing response increases drastically and a peak yield strength of 380 MPa is obtained after 20 h of ageing at 170°C for the finest microstructure, but the elongation to fracture is decreased to 3%. The elongation to fracture decreases with ageing time in the underaged condition as the yield strength increases for all three alloys. A recovery in elongation to fracture of the Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloy on overageing is obtained for the finest microstructure, while the elongation remains low for the coarser microstructures. The quality index, Q= YS +Kε, can be used to compare the quality of different Al-Si-Mg alloys. This is not true for Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloys, as K depends on the alloy composition. Overageing of the Al-Si-Mg alloy results in a decrease in quality compared to the underaged condition

The plastic part of true stress – true strain curves of three Al-Si casting alloys was evaluated using the Hollomon and Ludwigson equations. Three coarsenesses of the microstructure, two ageing temperatures and a number of ageing times were used. The Hollomon equation was able to describe the true stress – true strain curves for microstructures containing shearable precipitates, while the Ludwigson equation was needed for microstructures containing a supersaturated solid solution. A two bump shape appeared on the double logarithmic plot for the Al-Si-Cu alloy and the overaged Al-Si-Cu-Mg alloy. These curves could not be well described by the Hollomon or the Ludwigson equations.

The plastic deformation behaviour of three Al–Si casting alloys was investigated using the Kocks–Mecking strain hardening theory. Three coarsenesses of the microstructure, two aging temperatures and a number of aging times were used. For Al–Si–Mg and Al–Si–Cu–Mg alloys,the dislocation storage rate decreases while the dislocation recovery rate increases with agingtime during underaging, whereas the concentration of alloying elements in solid solution decreases. The storage rate reaches a minimum at the peak aged condition and increases at overaging. The storage and recovery rates of the Al–Si–Cu alloy increase with aging time in the underaged condition and start to decrease during overaging, which indicates that a mixture of shearable and non-shearable precipitates are present during underaging, whereas all precipitates become non-shearable on overaging.

A model for the yield strength of artificially aged Al–Si–Mg casting alloys has been developed. The model includes Mg concentrations between 0.2 and 0.6 wt-% and aging temperatures between 150°C and 210°C. Spherical precipitates with the composition Mg₅Si₆, which grow by diffusion of Mg from the surrounding α-Al matrix, are assumed in the model. Nucleation is assumed to be instantaneous and growth of the precipitates is modelled using Fick’s second law and mass balance. When supersaturation is lost the continued precipitate growth is modelled using the Lifshitz–Slyozov–Wagner coarsening law. An average precipitate radius is calculated and a precipitate size distribution is introduced by using a relation between the average radius and its standard deviation. The strength contribution from precipitates is calculated using coherency strengthening and Orowan strengthening. The agreement between the model and experimental data is generally good; however, modelling the underaged condition needs further refinement.