Study on effects of T6 heat treatment on grain refined A319 alloy with
Magnesium and Strontium addition
Gopikrishna. S & Binu. C. Yeldose
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mar Athanasius College of Engineering, Kothamangalam, Kerala, India
E-mail : gopsmech@yahoo.in, binucyeldose@yahoo.com
Abstract Effect of heat treatment on A319 alloy with
0.45%wt Magnesium, 0.02%wt Strontium and grain
refinement using Titanium has been investigated by
hardness measurement and tensile testing. Experiments
have been conducted at ageing temperatures 150C, 160C
and 170C. Hardness has been estimated up to 24 hours
aged samples. The results indicate that hardness of 319
alloy increases with Sr addition and grain refinement.
When Mg is added hardness is again found to be
increasing progressively up to a maximum value and then
varying non uniformly. The tensile strength and
microstructure after Mg modification and heat treatment
have been discussed.
Keywords-heat treatment; precipitation hardening; grain
refinement;
I. INTRODUCTION
The use of aluminum castings in aerospace,
automotive and general engineering industry has
increased dramatically over the past three decades.
Automotive industry strives to achieve light weight
components to reduce fuel consumption, to improve
overall performance and to meet environmental
requirements. Weight reduction can be achieved by
replacing steel and cast iron products by aluminum.
Aluminum readily forms alloys with many elements
such as copper, zinc, magnesium, manganese and
silicon. The alloy known as A319 (Al-6.5%Si-3.5%Cu)
is a commercially popular alloy used in various
applications due to their excellent combination of
properties such as fluidity, low coefficient of thermal
expansion, high wear resistance, high strength to weight
ratio, good corrosion resistance etc.
Chemical and thermal treatments are applied to this
alloy in order to obtain improved mechanical properties.
The morphology of eutectic silicon in A319 alloy has a
strong influence on the mechanical properties of the
casting. The silicon particle morphology can be
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controlled by the addition of strontium containing
master alloy to the melt. The addition of strontium
results in a fine and fibrous silicon structure during the
solidification and produces several benefits. The
strontium modification may improve the ductility,
fracture and impact properties. Furthermore strontium
modification can be effectively used to reduce the
solution treatment time of the alloy. Despite these
benefits there is a degree of apprehension associated
with the modification primarily because of the apparent
increase of porosity in the casting. Strontium addition
can reduce the rejection rate and improves the casting
quality.
In 319 alloy silicon and copper are the major
alloying elements and magnesium is added for
improving mechanical properties. The presence of
magnesium improves strain hardenabilty and enhances
material strength by solid solution. Presence of Ti
enhances grain refinement. In order to improve
mechanical properties of cast components, A319 alloys
are heat treated. The typical heat treatment for A319
alloy is T6 heat treatment. T6 heat treatment comprises
of solution treatment followed by quenching and
precipitation hardening.
II. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
A. Casting Preparation
The 319 ingots were cleaned using acetone to make
it free from moisture. Cast iron moulds are used for
casting. Graphite coatings are provided inside the
moulds for easy separation of the castings from the
mould after solidification. The moulds are then
preheated to a temperature of 250C.
B. Sequence of casting operation
10kg of A319 alloy is weighed using a weight
balance. The pit furnace is heated to 700C to become
red hot and the alloy is charged in the crucible. Coverall
flux of 100gm is also added in to the crucible while
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 International Journal on Theoretical and Applied Research in Mechanical Engineering (IJTARME)
charging the 319 alloy. Hexa chloro ethane tablets were
added to degas the melt after 319 ingots gets completely
melted. 0.45%wt Mg is added in to the melt after
degassing followed by 0.02%wt Sr and TiB addition.
After all the additions are over the melt is subjected to
nitrogen degassing for 1hour.
After degassing the molten metal is poured in to the
pre heated moulds. While pouring the temperature of
melt should be at 720C. Then the moulds are allowed
to solidify as shown in Fig.1. After solidification, the
castings are removed from the mould.
C. Specimen Preparation
Samples are cut from random portions of castings
for metallographic studies.
D. Heat Treatment
T6 heat treatment includes 3 main steps. Solution
treatment at 500C for 8 hours in an air circulated
furnace as per ASTM standards. Next step is quenching.
Quenching is done in water at 60C and then natural
aging for 12 hours. Last step is the artificial ageing. 3
sets of samples were taken and aged at 3 different
temperatures at 150C, 160C and 170C for 24 hours.
E. Metallographic samples
Initially the samples were polished using different
grades of silicon carbide papers of progressively fine
grades of 220, 400 and 600 grits. During paper polishing
water is used as the cleaning agent.
F. Tensile testing
Tensile testing is carried out using computer
controlled universal testing machine. The ends of
specimen were gripped in the UTM and load is applied
till it fractures. The tensile samples were also prepared
according to the ASTM standards.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. Microstructure
The alloy cast in permanent mould is cut to make
samples for evaluating metallographic studies. Fig.1
shows microstructure of unmodified A319 alloy which
consists of aluminum network and eutectic silicon. The
morphology of silicon is plate like structure (acicular
structure). This needle like structure acts as stress raisers
in the microstructure making the material to fracture.
Fig.2 shows microstructure of unmodified A319 alloy
after heat treatment. The structure of silicon is changed
to round structure after heat treatment. Fig.3 shows
microstructure of A319 alloy with 0.02%wt strontium
modification and heat treatment. In the unmodified alloy
the silicon particles had a coarse plate like form.
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Microstructure reveals that addition of strontium
modifies the coarse and acicular silicon to finer fibrous
structure.
Fig.1 shows microstructure of unmodified A319
alloy in which the Al2Cu phase appears in blocky form
and distributed very non-uniformly. Fig.3 shows as cast
microstructure of strontium modified heat treated A319
alloy. The blocky form of Al2Cu has reduced
considerably and the distribution was also found to be
better indicating that Sr addition was effective to some
extent in distributing the Cu atoms in the matrix. As
regards porosity in the casting is concerned, it has been
observed that less than around 1% porosity was present
in both unmodified and modified alloy casting
indicating that Sr addition has no effect on the porosity
content on the casting.
The as cast microstructure of A319 alloy consists of
Al dendrites, needle shaped eutectic silicon, shaped
Al5FeSi inter-metallic and equilibrium Al2Cu. The
morphology of eutectic silicon, namely size and shape
plays an important role in determining the mechanical
properties of this alloy. Under normal cooling
conditions the eutectic Si appears as long acicular
needles which act as stress raisers, thereby decreasing
the mechanical properties. It has been reported that the
addition of elements such as Sr/Na can modify the
morphology of eutectic silicon from needle shaped one
to fibrous one. The modified eutectic Si in fibrous form
will not act as stress concentrator and hence the
mechanical properties of the alloy will be improved.
Strontium addition improves the Cu distribution in the
matrix which will lead to the better distribution of the
hardening Al2Cu precipitate on heat treatment.
B. Hardness
Hardness of A319 alloy increases with strontium
addition and grain refinement. When Mg is added
hardness is again found to be increasing. Hardness
values plotted at 150C of strontium modified and grain
refined alloy is shown in Fig.4. At each ageing
temperature hardness increases with ageing time,
reaches a maximum value and thereafter decreases as
shown in Fig.5. Top hardness is found at 170C for 8
hours. At this time and temperature hardness is 125
BHN. The size, morphology and the distribution of
silicon particles could affect the hardness of the eutectic
mixture. Modified and grain refined A319 alloy without
Mg shows a maximum hardness of 102 BHN at 150C.
Increase in hardness is due to the cooperative
precipitation of Al2Cu and Mg2Si precipitates. So a
solutionisng temperature of 500C is appropriate for the
alloy. Below this temperature solutionisation is
insufficient, whereas coarsening of silicon particles and
melting of Al2Cu may occur at higher temperatures.
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 International Journal on Theoretical and Applied Research in Mechanical Engineering (IJTARME)

C. Tensile strength
Fig.6, Fig.7 and Fig.8 shows the ultimate tensile
strength, yield strength and elongation of as cast as well
as heat treated samples of base alloy and modified alloy.

IV. CONCLUSION
The work is mainly focused on effect of T6 heat
treatment on Mg added 319 alloy. Heat treatment is
done at different ageing temperatures for 24 hours. Base
alloys show optimum mechanical property at 150C for
12 hours of ageing. Base alloy with Mg is heat treated
at different ageing temperatures. From the ageing curve
it can be seen that hardness values increases, reaches a Fig.3 Microstructure of strontium modified A319 alloy after
heat treatment. Coarse structural silicon changes to fine round
maximum value and then varying non- uniformly. shaped silicon.

Increase in hardness is due to an additional phase

called Q- Al5Mg8Si6Cu2 with the increase in percentage
addition of magnesium. Alloy with Mg shows optimum
mechanical property at 170C for 8 hours of ageing. The
tensile test shows that with the addition of Mg, the
ultimate tensile strength and yield strength increases.

Fig.1 Microstructure of unmodified A319 alloy. Silicon

particles are having needle shape structure which acts as stress
raisers.

Fig.4 Hardness of strontium modified and grain refined alloy

at 150C

Fig.2 Microstructure of unmodified A319 alloy after heat

treatment. Needle shaped silicon structure is transformed to
round shaped structure.

Fig.5 Artificial aging curve of Al 319 + 0.45% Mg

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 International Journal on Theoretical and Applied Research in Mechanical Engineering (IJTARME)

V. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Thanks to Mr. M.C Shaji, NIIST, Trivandrum for his

technical assistance. Technical support got from NIIST,
Trivandrum is gratefully acknowledged.

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