Effect of Erbium Addition on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Aluminium Alloy

摘要

The effects of rare earth metal erbium (Er) modification on the microstructure and mechanical properties of aluminium alloys (A380) were investigated. The results were characterized using Optical Microscope (OM), Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM) attached with Electron Dispersive Scanning (EDS), Vicker's hardness test and Ultimate Tensile Test (UTS). The unmodified alloys have a coarse and plate-like morphology compared to the rare earth addition. The results show that the addition of Er reduces the size of the silicon particle and improves mechanical properties of the aluminium alloy. In addition, by adding 0.1 wt. % of Er, the mean area (um~2) and aspect ratio value decreased. The coarse plate-like existed in the unmodified alloy transformed into fine particle and short rod. The mechanical properties were investigated by using tensile test and Vicker's hardness test. The ultimate tensile strength test shows that the tensile and the elongation increased to 1.32 % and 9.1 % with 0.1 wt. % Er content of the aluminium alloys, respectively. The hardness improved from the addition of 0.1% Er aluminium A380 alloy.