The influence of Mn, Fe and Si on the work hardening of aluminum alloys

Non-heat-treatable aluminum alloys owe their strength mainly to elements insolid solution. But the effect of the combination of multiple elements on strength is notwell known. Small amounts of Si usually exist in many commercial alloys. Three highpurity based Al-Mn binary alloys and one ternary alloy with addition of Si areinvestigated in this work. The varied solute contents are achieved by cast compositionsand the grain structures are controlled by recrystallization. The strength is measured bytensile tests at room temperature. It is found that the addition of Si to Al-Mn alloysleads to a similar increase in strength as adding a similar amount of Mn.