The Effect of Scandium on the Mechanical Properties of A356 Aluminium Alloy

Abstract

In this project, the addition of scandium (Sc) into A356 aluminium alloy was studied for its effect on the mechanical properties after gravity die casting process. Scandium addition was administered at the weight percentages of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3. The results obtained in this work revealed that scandium can significantly enhance the mechanical properties of A356 alloy in terms of tensile strength, hardness and charpy impact strength. In general, the addition of 0.2 wt% Sc in A356 alloy was found to be able to achieve the maximum tensile strength of 172.94MPa as compared to 136.03MPa for sample without Sc. No significant improvement in tensile strength was found when more than 0.3wt% added to the alloy. As for hardness, the sample with 0.3 wt% Sc attained the maximum Vicker’s hardness of 86.60 HV as compared to 76.48 HV for unmodified A356. Similarly, the addition of 0.3wt% Sc in A356 can achieve highest impact energy of 2.71J as compare to 1.09J for unmodified A356.