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Color Metallography and Electron Microscopy Techniques Applied to the Characterization of 413.0 Aluminum Alloys

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 May 2013

George Vander Voort ,
Juan Asensio-Lozano  and
Beatriz Suárez-Peña
George Vander Voort
Affiliation:
Consultant, Struers Inc., 2887 N. Southern Hills Drive, Wadsworth, IL 60083-9293, USA
Juan Asensio-Lozano*
Affiliation:
Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering Department, The School of Mines, The University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Asturias 33004, Spain
Beatriz Suárez-Peña
Affiliation:
Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering Department, The University of Oviedo, Gijón Polytechnic School of Engineering, Viesques Campus, Gijón, Asturias 33203, Spain
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The influence on alloy 413.0 of the refinement and modification of its microstructure was analyzed by means of several microscopy techniques, as well as the effect of the application of high pressure during solidification. For each treatment and solidification pressure condition employed, the most suitable microscopy techniques for identifying and characterizing the phases present were investigated. Color metallography and electron microscopy techniques were applied to the qualitative microstructural analysis. Volume fraction and grain size of the primary α-Al were characterized by quantitative metallographic techniques. The results show that the effect caused by applying high pressure during solidification of the alloy is more pronounced than that caused by modification and refinement of the microstructure when it solidifies at atmospheric pressure. Furthermore, it has been shown that, for Al–Si alloy characterization, when aiming to characterize the primary α-Al phase, optical color metallography observed under crossed polarized light plus a sensitive tint filter is the most suitable technique. When the goal is to characterize the eutectic Si, the use of optical color metallography or electron microscopy is equally valid. The characterization of iron-rich intermetallic compounds should preferably be performed by means of backscattered electron imaging.

Keywords

optical color microscopyscanning electron microscopyquantitative metallographic characterizationcast aluminum alloysgrain refiningeutectic modificationhigh pressure die casting
Type
Materials Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , August 2013 , pp. 1019 - 1026
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2013 

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