Effect of Fe Amount on Microstructure and Fluidity of A356 Alloy

The most important factor affecting the production of quality parts with aluminum alloys is the quality of molten metal. One of the determining factors in molten metal quality is the minimization of trace impurity elements in the alloy. One of the most harmful impurities among these elements is Fe, and its amount is a determining factor in its negative effect. It is known that Fe negatively affects the quality of aluminum, causing a decrease in mechanical properties. Most of the Fe in the alloy forms intermetallic from needle-like to complex Chinese-script structures. In this study, carbon steel and stainless-steel rods were immersed in the liquid metal at casting temperatures of 700°C and 750°C in A356 aluminum casting alloy and were subjected to diffusion for 1, 2 and 5 hours. Subsequently, a 4-channel flow test mold with various section thicknesses was used. All samples were measured by measuring the liquid metal advance distances of all sections in mm. Then, microstructure analyses were performed on the obtained sections. As a result, it is observed that as Fe diffusion increases, liquid metal advancement distances decrease and Fe intermetallics form in the microstructure.