Impact tests at low temperatures were carried out, aimed at comparing the response of five spheroidal graphite (SG) cast iron with different microstructures and to analyze the influence of the solidification structure size. "Y" blocks with two different thicknesses (13 and 75 mm) were cast using the same industrial melt. The following matrix microstructures were obtained by applying different heat treatments: pearliticferritic (as-cast condition), fully ferritic (sub-critical annealing), fully pearlitic (normalizing) and two ausferritic matrices (ADI grades 2 and 4). Charpy impact tests were performed on unnotched specimens at temperatures ranging from Ϫ100°C to ϩ200°C. The results showed a little variation of the upper and lower shelf energy values with the solidification structure size for each matrix type. However, there was a strong displacement in the transition temperature towards increasing temperatures as the solidification structure size enlarged. This effect is also related to the matrix microstructure. The highest impact energy values were obtained on ADI grade 2 samples, and the lowest ones on the samples with pearlitic matrix.

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The spheroidal graphite (SG) cast iron fractomechanical response varies with the test temperature and with the microstructure parameters. In the present paper, we analyze this variation performing fractomechanical tests in a temperature range from -40°C to +20°C, doing also Charpy and tensile tests for material characterization. The tests were carried out on as-cast samples and heat treated samples to obtain an ADI grade 1. In both cases, we studied samples taken from two well differentiated "Y" block sizes. The results obtained show that, for the chemical composition analyzed, both castings have a fractomechanical response decrease as the temperature diminishes. Besides, the block size enlargement produce a deterioration of the mechanical properties (the fracture toughness, mainly), for both castings

RESUMEN La Soldadura por Fricción Agitación (FSW) es un proceso en fase sólida que ha generado un fuerte impacto tecnológico en la soldadura de aleaciones de aluminio. Entre sus ventajas, se puede incluir la capacidad de unir materiales que son difíciles de soldar por fusión. Durante la soldadura de las aleaciones de aluminio tratables térmicamente, se observa la degradación de las propiedades metalúrgicas, obteniéndose menor resistencia en la soldadura que en el metal base. Los parámetros de soldadura definen las propiedades mecánicas de la unión. Los ensayos de Punzonado de Mini -Probetas (SPT) permiten el análisis de las propiedades locales en las zonas de soldadura, debido a que se requieren probetas de pequeñas dimensiones. En este trabajo, se prepararon dos lotes de probetas, con diferentes parámetros de soldadura y se estudiaron, mediante ensayos SPT, las propiedades de las diferentes zonas en soldaduras FSW. El metal base seleccionado fue chapa de aluminio AA6061-T6, con espesor de 3 mm. Se registraron los ciclos térmicos, la carga axial y otros parámetros de soldadura. A partir de probetas extraídas de los cupones soldados, las soldaduras se caracterizaron mecánica y metalúrgicamente con ensayos convencionales, para su comparación con los resultados del SPT. El SPT aparece como una herramienta conveniente para la evaluación de propiedades mecánicas locales aplicable a uniones soldadas por FSW.