The effect of neodymium on the microcracks generated on the Al-17.5Si alloy surface treated by high current pulsed electron beam

SEM results demonstrate that microcracks are remarkably removed from the Al-17.5Si alloy surface after HCPEB treatment due to Nd element, and they decrease in length at high pulse number, showing a decrease in the stress concentration in the primary Si phase during the cooling process of HCPEB, as shown in Fig. 1. Therefore, the microcrack elimination is attributed to reducing the stress concentration.