Effects of T5 and T6 Heat Treatments Applied to Rheocast A356 Parts for Automotive Applications

The correlation between the evaluation of the mechanical and of the fatigue behaviour of the rheocast, T5 and T6 heat treated SSM A356 aluminium alloy with respect to the microstructures of the component has been investigated. The study has been carried out on a suspension arm injected in a rheocasting 800 tons plant in Stampal S.p.A. The new rheocasting is a process that allows obtaining the alloys in a semisolid state directly from the liquid state, by controlled cooling of the molten alloys. The resulting microstructures are very fine, free from defects and homogeneous: these characteristics improve the mechanical properties of the alloys and specially the response to cyclic stress, an important issue for a suspension component. After a preliminary tensile test analysis, axial high frequency fatigue tests have been carried out at room temperature on specimen cut out from the suspension arm to determine the Wöhler curve and the number of cycles to failure. The results of this work allow a comparison of the effects of heat treatment process, T5 or T6, on Semi-Solid components for industrial applications in the automotive field. On the basis of these analysis the correlation between microstructure and mechanical performances can be established.