Silicon segregation in aluminium casting alloy

The objective of the present study was to find an explanation for the observation made by earlier researchers that the distribution of silicon across dendrite branches in an aluminium–silicon casting alloy is sometimes anomalous, in that the concentration gradient is in the opposite direction to that predicted by solidification theory. Small specimens of aluminium alloy A356 were solidified to give a similar dendritic microstructure. One specimen was quenched from a temperature just above the eutectic temperature, giving the silicon distribution expected from theory, while a second specimen was cooled more slowly to give the anomalous silicon distribution, suggesting that it is caused by something occurring in the solid state. It was noted that there is a rapid decrease in solubility of silicon in aluminium with decreasing temperature below the aluminium–silicon eutectic temperature, so that a substantial amount of silicon is expected to come out of solution at temperatures above 500°C on cooling. An estimate of the diffusion rate of silicon in aluminium showed that, for normal cooling rates, this can occur by diffusion of silicon to the interdendritic silicon particles formed during the final stages of freezing, thereby removing silicon directionally from the dendrite branches and producing the observed anomalous silicon distribution.