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The Fracture Characteristics of a Near Eutectic Al-Si Based Alloy Under Compression

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Abstract

The fracture of eutectic Si particles dictates the fracture characteristics of Al-Si based cast alloys. The morphology of these particles is found to play an important role in fracture initiation. In the current study, the effects of strain rate, temperature, strain, and heat treatment on Si particle fracture under compression were investigated. Strain rates ranging from 3 × 10−4/s to 102/s and three temperatures RT, 373 K, and 473 K (100 °C and 200 °C) are considered in this study. It is found that the Si particle fracture shows a small increase with increase in strain rate and decreases with increase in temperature at 10 pct strain. The flow stress at 10 pct strain exhibits the trend similar to particle fracture with strain rate and temperature. Particle fracture also increases with increase in strain. Large and elongated particles show a greater tendency for cracking. Most fracture occurs on particles oriented nearly perpendicular to the loading axis, and the cracks are found to occur almost parallel to the loading axis. At any strain rate, temperature, and strain, the Si particle fracture is greater for the heat-treated condition than for the non-heat-treated condition because of higher flow stress in the heat-treated condition. In addition to Si particle fracture, elongated Fe-rich intermetallic particles are also seen to fracture. These particles have specific crystallographic orientations and fracture along their major axis with the cleavage planes for their fracture being (100). Fracture of these particles might also play a role in the overall fracture behavior of this alloy since these particles cleave along their major axis leading to cracks longer than 200 μm.

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Notes

  1. Similarly, evidence of good interfacial bonding between Si particles and matrix is observed by the fact that several Si particles show multiple fracture, which can only occur under significant load transfer between the matrix and the particle.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank General Motors for providing materials, and the facilities in the India Science Lab, and the financial support for the current study. In particular, we would like to acknowledge the support from the lab's Group Manager Dr. Arun Kumar, and technical discussions with Dr. Sushil Mishra from the General Motors' Global R&D Center at Bangalore.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    Sudha Joseph (Research Scholar) & S. Kumar (Professor)

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India

    Asim Tewari (Associate Professor)

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  1. Sudha Joseph
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  2. Asim Tewari
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  3. S. Kumar
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Correspondence to Asim Tewari.

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Manuscript submitted April 7, 2011.

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Joseph, S., Tewari, A. & Kumar, S. The Fracture Characteristics of a Near Eutectic Al-Si Based Alloy Under Compression. Metall Mater Trans A 44, 2358–2368 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-012-1580-z

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