Fatigue Properties of AlSi7Mg Alloy with Diversified Microstructure

The paper discusses the effect of microstructure on the fatigue strength of AlSi7Mg casting alloy refined conventionally with hexachloroethane without modifying and modified with TiB and Na. Castings made of both alloy variants were subjected to T6 heat treatment. It turned out that the applied refining secured satisfactory compactness of the material. In view of absence of gas and shrinkage porosity in the castings, short cracks nucleated on largest silicon precipitates and largest intermetallic phase precipitations as these were the locations where stress concentrations reached their highest values. Comprehensive modification of the alloy resulted in reduction of the value of SDAS parameter characterizing α(Al) phase dendrites, a decrease of the distance between silicone precipitates in the eutectic λ_E, and a decrease of the maximum size of silicone precipitates l_maxSi. The ultimate effect of these changes was an increase of the fatigue strength.