Author:
Patel D N,Joseph J,Sutaria M P
Abstract
Abstract
In the present research, an attempt has been made to evaluate the effects of addition of Al-3Ti-0.15C (0.05wt%) master alloy with different concentration (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8, 1wt%) of cerium (Ce), a rare earth element on microstructure and tensile properties of Al-Si-Cu 319 alloy. Optical microscopy (OM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) with EDS analysis was employed to study the microstructural modification and existence of intermetallic compounds. Experimental results show that addition of Ce with up to 0.3wt% increases the tensile properties up to 49.13% as compared to base alloy due to refinement of α-Al and modification of eutectic silicon. In contrast, tensile properties decline above 0.3wt% addition of Ce due to formation of needle like intermetallic compounds. These Ce rich needles like intermetallic compounds suppress the effect of modification, decreasing tensile properties of modified alloy.