Effect of Cd Additive on the Hardness and Tensile Properties of Al-Mg-Si Alloy

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the effect of adding Cd element to aluminum alloy series (6000) on the mechanical properties (hardness & ultimate tensile strength ) which have been studied  .A permanent  mold casting method was used for preparing the specimens of alloys by adding Cd at (0.1,0.3,0.5)% wt . to (Al-Mg-Si ) alloy. Heat treatment homogenous alloy ingots were carried out at (550ºC) for (24 hours) .These heat treatments for all specimens were conducted after cutting the ingots to the required dimensions ,solution heat treatment at (500ºC) for (1 hour) and then quenching in the water at room temperature. Then natural aging was carried out at room temperature for (90 days) ,whilst with in this period the hardness of alloys were measured at subsequent equal interval . The artificial aging for the prepared alloys was carried out, at (160and 180) ºC for an interval ranging between (5 mins. & 35 hours) .The Vickers  hardness and ultimate tensile strength were measured .The hardness and ultimate tensile strength of Cd alloys have relative improvements  by natural aging.

Keywords: Cd element, (Al-Mg-Si ) alloy, homogenous, artificial& natural aging.