Wuhan Textile University, Wuhan, China¹ ; National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, Moscow, Russia² ; Vladimir State University named after Alexander and Nikolay Stoletovs, Vladimir, Russia³

V. B. Deev*, Professor, Chief Researcher³, Professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Automation¹,
Professor at the Department of Metal Forming², e-mail: deev.vb@mail.ru

Vladimir State University named after Alexander and Nikolay Stoletovs, Vladimir, Russia

E. S. Prusov, Associate Professor, Department of Functional and Constructional Materials Technology

I. V. Shabaldin, Research Assistant, Department of Functional and Constructional Materials Technology

Pacific National University, Khabarovsk, Russia

E. Kh. Ri, Professor, Head of the Department of Foundry Engineering and Metal Technology

*Correspondence author.

The paper investigates the influence of a strontium modifying additive in the range of 0.05 to 0.3 wt.% on the structure formation and tribological properties of cast aluminum matrix composites based on the pseudo-binary Al – Mg₂Si system (in the hypereutectic composition range). It is shown that strontium modification (0.2 wt.% Sr) of cast aluminum matrix composites Al + 15 wt.% Mg₂Si leads to a reduction in the average size of Mg₂Si reinforcing particles to 24 μm (by Feret diameter) with an aspect ratio of 1.28 and a particle distribution uniformity index in the cast material structure of 0.44. For a highly hypereutectic composition (25 wt.% Mg₂Si), strontium modification in the same amount results in a decrease in the average size of Mg₂Si particles to 44.8 μm and a change in their morphology to blocky, compact, and close to equiaxed, with a distribution uniformity index of 0.24. Further increase in the concentration of the modifying additive lead to some particle coarsening, likely due to the over-modification effect, as well as the precipitation of excess intermetallic phases with needle-like morphology. Tribological tests under dry friction conditions using a ball-on-disc scheme in conjunction with steel reveal a significant reduction in the coefficient of friction (by 25–30%) and mass wear (by more than an order of magnitude) for strontium-modified cast samples of Al – Mg₂Si composites.

This research was funded by the Russian Science Foundation (Project № 20-19-00687-П, https://rscf.ru/project/23-19-45019/).

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