Effects of Grain Refinement, Eutectic Modification, and T6 Heat Treatment on Tribological Properties of Al8Si3Cu Alloys

Abstract

In this study, the effects of grain refinement and eutectic modification on the wear behaviour of Al8Si3Cu cast alloys produced both before and after degassing were investigated in detail. Grain refinement and eutectic modification were conducted by adding AlTi5B1, Al3B, and AlSr15, respectively. Following the casting process, half of the samples were T6 heat-treated to evaluate the impact of heat treatment on their wear rate. Adhesive wear testing was conducted using a steel ball under a load of 3 N, at a speed of 8 mm/s over 20 m in dry and oily mediums. Microstructural characterisation was performed using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results revealed that grain refinement enhances wear resistance by reducing the secondary dendrite arm spacing and strengthening the aluminium matrix. Conversely, while T6 heat treatment significantly promotes the precipitation of secondary phases and intermetallic compounds, improving wear resistance, it also results in more superficial wear on T6-treated samples, which can be attributed to insufficient surface wettability during the solution treatment stage of T6 heat treatment.