Beryllium Effects on the Morphology of Iron Intermetallics in the A356 Aluminium Casting Alloy

주조용 A356합금에서 Fe계 금속간화합물의 형상에 미치는 Be의 영향

Microstructure of A356 aluminium alloys cast in a permanent mold was investigated by optical microscope and image analyzer, with particular respect to the shape and size distribution of iron intermetallics known as ${\beta}-phase$ ($Al_5FeSi$). Morphologies of the ${\beta}-phase$ was found to change gradually with the Be:Fe ratio like these. In Be-free alloys, ${\beta}-phase$ with needlelike morphology was well developed, but script phase was appeared when the Be:Fe ratio is above 0.2:1. With the Be:Fe ratios of 0.4:1-1:1, script phase as well as Be-rich phase was also observed. In case of higher Be addition, above 1:1, Be-rich phase was observed on all regions of the specimens, and increasing of the Be:Fe ratios gradually make the Be-rich phase coarse. It was also observed that the ${\beta}-phase$ with needlelike morphology was coarsened with increase of the Fe content in Be-free alloys. However, in Be-added alloys, length and number of these ${\beta}-phases$ were considerably decreased with the increased Be:Fe ratio. It was concluded that Fe impurity element to be crystallized into needlelike intermetallics was tied up by Be addition element, and new phases were crystallized into script or Be-rich intermetallics.