The Role of Mn in Aluminium Alloys with a Higher Iron Content

The paper deals with the influence of manganese in AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy with higher iron content. Main aim is to eliminate harmful effect of intermetallic – iron based phases. Manganese in an alloy having an iron content of about 0.7 wt. % was graded at levels from 0.3 to 1.4 wt. %. In the paper, the effect of manganese is evaluated with respect to the resulting mechanical properties, also after the heat treatment (T6). Morphology of the excluded intermetallic phases and the character of the crystallisation of the alloy was also evaluated. From the obtained results it can be concluded that the increasing level of manganese in the alloy leads to an increase in the temperature of the β-Al₅FeSi phase formation and therefore its elimination. Reducing the amount of β-Al₅FeSi phase in the structure results in an improvement of the mechanical properties (observed at levels of 0.3 to 0.8 wt. % Mn). The highest addition of Mn (1.4 wt.%) leads to a decrease in the temperature corresponding to the formation of eutectic silicon, which has a positive influence on the structure, but at the same time the negative sludge particles were also present.