The influence of Mn and Cr on the tensile properties of A356–0.20Fe alloy

In the present work, Mn and Cr were added to a commercial A356 (Al–7.0Si–0.38Mg–0.12Ti–0.02Sr in wt.%)–0.20Fe cast alloy to control the crystallization of β-Al5FeSi. The tensile properties are compared in terms of the way the microstructures changed before and after the addition of 0.20Mn and 0.13Mn–0.13Cr. The addition of 0.20Mn causes the acicular β-Al5FeSi to be replaced by granular or skeletal α-Al(Mn,Fe)Si in solidification, and the additions of 0.13Mn–0.13Cr acts as an effective replacing element of β-Al5FeSi. Moreover, the addition of 0.20Mn functionally improves the strength, and the addition of 0.13Mn–0.13Cr improves the strain as well as the strength compared to a commercial A356 cast alloy.