The Comparison of Effects of Ultrasonic Treatment, SIMA Process and Al-5Ti-1B Grain Refiner on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Al–15%Mg2Si in-situ Composite

The effect of Strain-Induced Melt-Activated (SIMA) Process, ultrasonic treatment (UST) and Al-5Ti-1B refiner on the microstructure and globularity of Al–15%Mg2Si composite was studied. Deformation of 25% were used. After deformation the samples were heated at 560, 580 and 595 °C for 5, 10, 20 and 40 min. The composite was treated with different amounts of the Ti concentrations and ultrasonic treatment with different power. Microstructural study was carried out on the alloy. It was observed that SIMA process, ultrasonic treatment and Al-5Ti-1B refiner has caused the globular morphology of Mg2Si particles. The results showed that for the desired microstructures of the alloy during SIMA process, the optimum temperature and time are 595 °C and 20 min respectively. Optimum amount of Ti refiner is 1 wt.% and power for UST is 1800W. After applying the SIMA process, Al-5Ti-1B master alloy and ultrasonic treatment, the strength and engagement have increased. This means that tensile strength increases from 251 MPa to 303 MPa and elongation percentage improves from 2.1 to 3.4, respectively.