Influences of Directions and Magnitudes of Static Electrical Field on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties for Al–Si Eutectic Alloy

The aim of this article was to investigate the influences of directions and magnitudes of static electrical field (E) on eutectic spacings (λ), Brinell hardness (HB) and ultimate tensile strength (σ_UTS), yield strength (YS) and % elongation (%El) in the Al–12.6 wt.% Si alloy. For this purpose, the Al–12.6 wt.% Si molten alloy was solidified with different directions and magnitudes of E. Directions of E were chosen to be parallel (E₊) and antiparallel (E₋) to the solid–liquid (S–L) growth direction, and the magnitudes of E were in the range of 14.1–17.9 kV cm^–1. The E₊ and E₋ provided an increment or decrement in the atomic mass flux of liquid Al atoms at S–L interface during the solidification. Thus, the value of λ increased as 100% and the values of HB and σ_UTS decreased as 6.3 and 6.2%, respectively, with increasing the E₊. But the λ value decreased as 34% and the values of HB and σ_UTS are increased as 8.5 and 5.6%, respectively, with increasing E₋. The dependence of λ, HB and σ_UTS on the E₊ and E₋ was determined by regression analysis.