Author : Kavin.S, Bhagyanathan.C, Ravi.M

Aluminium alloys with silicon as the alloying element is one of the major alloy being cast widely across the world. This is because of the primary reason that intricate components can be cast out easily with this composition. And this is due to the high fluidity imparted by the eutectic Si phase. Most of the attractive properties found in A356 aluminium alloy are governed by the microstructures. Hence controlling the microstructure will allow us to directly control the various interlinking properties. An attempt has been made to control the microstructure of eutectic silicon phase of the A356 aluminium alloy. Squeeze casting of Al-7.0wt% Si-0.3wt% Mg were made with and without the addition of strontium. Microstructural modifications has been observed and it is found that strontium provides a positive effect that is been expected.

Keywords: Aluminium alloy, Squeeze casting, Modifications, Microstructure refinement.

Article published in International Conference on Advances in Mechanical Sciences 2014, Special Issue-2 (Feb 2014)