Tensile and fatigue properties, machinability and machined surface roughness of Al-Si-Cu alloys

ABSTRACT In this paper, the aim was to determine if ASC91 (9 % Al, 1 % Cu) could be replaced with ASC73 (7 % Al, 3 % Cu) aluminium alloy, with presumably improved machinability due to lower silicon content (9 to 7 %) and retained mechanical properties due to a higher copper content (1 to 3 %). The test samples were excised from cylinder heads produced by the lost-foam casting technique in industrial conditions. The tensile properties (proof strength, ultimate tensile strength, elongation and modulus of elasticity), fatigue performance, microstructure and machinability of two as-cast aluminium ...