Influence of Prior Natural Aging on Subsequent Artificial Aging Response of Aluminium Alloy A356 with Globular and Dendritic Microstructures

Abstract

One of the most widely used alloys for semisolid metal forming is alloy A356. Most of the heat treatment cycles used today for semisolid processed components are also used for dendritic casting alloys. The presumption has been made that these heat treatments are not necessarily the best ones since the microstructure and solidification history of components that have undergone SSM processing varies. The goal of this investigation is to ascertain whether dendritic A356 responds to artificial ageing similarly to globular A356 whether or not there has been prior natural ageing. According to the findings, neither globular nor dendritic microstructures significantly affect how a material responds to heat treatment.It is further demonstrated that, independent of the casting method utilised, there are significant linear relationships between T4 and T6 hardness and wt%Mg of A356