Investigation on the modification behavior of A356.2 alloy with Yb-La composite modifier

In this work, an investigation was conducted to evaluate the influence of the Yb + La addition on the microstructures and mechanical properties of A356.2 alloy. The results show that the the grain size was refined and morphological structure of Si changed from needle-like to fine spheroidal particle by adding Yb + La. The eutectic temperature decreased from 589 °C to 581 °C and the freezing range of primary α-Al become wider after adding Yb + La. The mechanical properties showed great improvement after T6 heat treatment. The ultimate tensile strength and microhardness of the composites were increased to 279.0 MPa and 99.2 HB after T6 heat treatment which increased by 28.2% and 47.3%, respectively. The fracture mechanism was analyzed using the scanning electron microscopy and proved to be a transgranular/intergranular fracture modes.