M. Amne Elahi - M.Sc. Student Center of Excellence for High Strength Alloys Technology (CEHSAT),School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering
H. Gheisari - M.Sc. Student Center of Excellence for High Strength Alloys Technology (CEHSAT),School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering
S.G. Shabestari - Professor Center of Excellence for High Strength Alloys Technology (CEHSAT), School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering

The SIMA (Strain Induced Melt Activated) process is a simple process to produce globular microstructure in aluminum alloys. This paper presents the influence of deformation on the globularization of α-Al in A356 aluminum alloy by SIMA process. The alloy was modified with Al-10%Sr and cast in permanent mold. Samples were cut and rolled with the amount of 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% reduction at 300OC. The samples were heat treated at 590ºC for various holding time to spherodize the microstructure. The results showed that, the grains became smaller, spherical shape and having a homogenous distribution by increasing the deformation ratio. The globular grains grew with increasing holding time. In this investigation; the optimum condition was obtained in the samples were 20% warm rolled and heat treated for 15 minutes at the semi-solid temperature. The results indicated that the hardness and resistance to the deformation decreased through semi-solid heat treatment in SIMA process. Therefore, the necessary force for the deformation of the alloy has significantly been decreased.

A356 alloy; SIMA ; Deformation ; Semi-solid process