The ambient and high temperature deformation behavior of Al–Si–Cu–Mg alloy with minor Ti, Zr, Ni additions

•Characterization on the precipitation of Ni- and Zr-based intermetallics.•High temperature tensile properties of 354 alloy containing Zr and Ni below 0.5%.•Quality index charts as a function of heat treatment.•Yield strength and ductility color contours as a function of aging temperature and aging time.

The principal aim of the present work was to investigate the effects of minor additions of nickel and zirconium on the strength of cast aluminum alloy 354 at ambient and high temperatures. Tensile properties of the as-cast and heat-treated alloys were determined at room temperature and at high temperatures (190 °C, 250 °C, 350 °C). The results show that Zr reacts only with Ti, Si and Al. From the quality index charts constructed for these alloys, the quality index attains minimum and maximum values of 259 MPa and 459 MPa, in the as-cast and solution-treated conditions; also, maximum and minimum values of yield strength are observed at 345 MPa and 80 MPa, respectively, within the series of aging treatments applied. A decrease in tensile properties of ∼10% with the addition of 0.4 wt.% nickel is attributed to a nickel–copper reaction. The reduction in mechanical properties due to addition of different elements is attributed principally to the increase in the percentage of intermetallic phase particles formed during solidification; such particles act as stress concentrators, decreasing the alloy ductility. Tensile test results at ambient temperatures show a slight increase (∼10%) in alloys with Zr and Zr/Ni additions, particularly at aging temperatures above 240 °C. Additions of Zr and Zr + Ni increase the high temperature tensile properties, in particular for the alloy containing 0.2 wt.% Zr + 0.2 wt.% Ni, which exhibits an increase of more than 30% in the tensile properties at 300 °C compared with the base 354 alloy.