Effects of Cu Content on Thermal Stability and Wear Behavior of Al-12.5Si-1.0Mg Alloy

This study investigates how Cu content affects thermal stability and wear behavior of Al-12.5Si-1.0Mg alloy, by adding 2.55 and 4.53 wt.% Cu. The low-Cu and high-Cu alloys were isothermally heat-treated at 300 °C for 100 h. The results indicated that the amount of eutectic Al2Cu and Al5Cu2Mg8Si6 particles in the high-Cu alloy was more than that in the low-Cu alloy. These hard particles retained in the Al matrices during isothermal heat treatment, maintaining a relatively stable hardness. Therefore, the hardness of the high-Cu alloy was superior to that of the low-Cu alloy in as-cast condition and after isothermal heat treatment. For wear behavior, both isothermal heat-treated alloys showed the same wear rate with 10 N normal load. The wear rate of Al-12.5Si-1.0Mg alloy was independent on the copper content under 10 N load, but the wear rate at a load of 40 N decreased with increasing Cu content in Al-12.5Si-1.0Mg alloy.