To produce prototypes with mechanical properties expectable from EN AC 46000 HPDC components, prototyping related processes such as sand and plaster gravity casting as well as proper alloying and post solidification processes need to be understood and adjusted. Therefore, the influence of process, composition and heat treatment on tensile and fatigue behaviour has been investigated for an EN AC 42100 alloy. Sand cast test samples comprised the base alloy in as-cast condition and T5 treated as well as a 2 wt. % Cu addition in as-cast condition. Plaster cast test samples consisted of the base alloy in ascast condition and T6 treated as well as a 1.7 wt. % Cu addition in as-cast condition. Tensile and fully reversed bending fatigue tests (R=-1) have been performed and the results have been compared to EN AC 46000 HPDC values. Samples in heat treated conditions and with Cu addition exhibited superior tensile properties than the base alloy in as-cast state for both casting processes. Yield strength and elongation values for the sand cast T5 treated and with Cu addition samples were similar to the HPDC ones. In terms of fatigue behaviour, T6 treated and with Cu addition samples exhibited strength improvements for plaster cast samples, while no changes were observed for sand cast samples. Only sand cast samples exhibited similar fatigue behaviour to the HPDC samples. The sand cast T5 treated samples were found to produce the most similar overall mechanical behaviour to EN AC 46000 HPDC.

If high-performance aluminium castings are to be produced, the melt quality needs to be properly assured. Multiple tests for melt quality assessment exist and have previously been analysed. In most studies, the techniques were used separately. In this work, reduced pressure, fluidity, Prefil and tensile tests were evaluated. A commercial EN 46000 alloy was used as the base material with additions of 25 and 50 wt% machining chips to degrade the melt quality. In reduced pressure and fluidity tests, oxides floated to the top of samples, decreasing the reliability. Bifilm index increased with addition level, but not correspondingly. Density index, Prefil and fluidity tests did not present significant variations, and tensile properties only deteriorated with the 50 wt% addition level. The investigated techniques provided information, but measuring the melt quality reliably remains a challenge.

This study aims to clarify the effect of grain size and Si modification on the microstructure and tensile properties of the Al-10Si cast alloy, solidified under various cooling rates. To replicate the effect of cooling rate, directionally solidified samples were produced by remelting of the as-cast cylindrical bars. Tensile properties, grain sizes, Si modification level and chemical composition profiles were evaluated. Results showed that fast cooling rates alone, without the addition of grain refiners (Al-5Ti-1B master alloy), did not lead to equiaxed grain morphologies. On the other hand, for the slowest cooling rate tested, combined additions of the Al-5Ti-1B and the Al-10Sr master alloys resulted in equiaxed grain structures while addition of only grain refiner resulted in columnar grains. The combined additions effectively produced an equiaxed grain structure at all cooling rates tested, and further improved the tensile properties.

The Al-Si cast alloy family is widely used in the production of complex castings for various applications and known for its very good castability and high strength-to-weight ratio. However, early cracking under tensile loading is sometimes a limiting factor. Among other parameters, it is yet controversial whether grain boundaries are dominant strengthening factor in cast alloys, instead of dendrite/eutectic boundaries. This study presents the effect of secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) and grain size on crack initiation and propagation of Al-Si cast alloys under tensile loading. The Al-10Si (wt.%) alloy with modified Si morphology was cast using inoculants (Al-5Ti-B master alloy) under different cooling rates to obtain a range of grain sizes (from below 138 μm to above 300 μm) and SDAS (6, 15 and 35 μm). Conventional tensile test as well as in-situ tensile test in a scanning electron microscope, equipped with an electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was carried out to understand the deformation mechanisms of the alloy. Observation of slip bands within the dendrites showed that in modified Si structure, the interdendritic (eutectic) area takes more portion of the strain during plastic deformation. Besides, only a few cracks were initiated at the grain boundaries; they were mostly initiated from dendrite/eutectic interface. All cracks propagated trans-granularly. Hall-Petch calculations also showed a strong relationship between SDAS and flow stress of the cast alloy. Although statistically correct, there was no physically meaningful relationship between the grain size and the flow stress. Nevertheless, formation of identical slip bands in each grain could be an evidence for the marginal effect of the grain size on the overall strength development of the alloy. Consequently, among other effects, the combinational dominant effect of SDAS and modest effect of grain size shall be considered for modification of the Hall-Petch equation for precise prediction of mechanical properties of cast alloys.