Effect of Phosphorous Inoculation on Creep Behavior of a Hypereutectic Al-Si Alloy

Creep behavior of Al-Si hypereutectic alloys inoculated with phosphorus was investigated using the impression creep testing. The results showed that at stress regimes of up to 400-450 MPa and temperatures up to 300 °C, no significant creep deformation occurred in both uninoculated and inoculated specimens; however, at temperatures above 300 °C, the inoculated alloys presented better creep properties. Creep data were used to calculate the stress exponent of steady-state creep rate, n, and creep activation energy, Q, for different additive conditions where n was found varied between 5 and 8. Owing to the fact that most alloys have lower values for n (4, 5), threshold stress was estimated for studied conditions. The creep governing mechanisms for different conditions are discussed here, with a particular attention to the effect of phosphorous addition on the microstructural features, including number of primary silicon particles, mean primary silicon spacing, and morphology and distribution of eutectic silicon.