Int J Adv Manuf Technol
DOI 10.1007/s00170-015-7586-0
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Effects of vibration frequency on microstructure, mechanical
properties, and fracture behavior of A356 aluminum alloy
obtained by expendable pattern shell casting
Wenming Jiang 1,2 & Xu Chen 2 & Benjing Wang 2 & Zitian Fan 1 & Hebao Wu 2
Received: 6 November 2014 / Accepted: 12 July 2015
# Springer-Verlag London 2015
Abstract A simple, economic, and effective mechanical vibra-
tion method was introduced into the solidification process of
A356 aluminum alloy during the expendable pattern shell casting
process, and the effects of vibration frequency on microstructure,
mechanical properties, and fracture behavior of the A356 alloy
were investigated. Obtained results showed that the sizes and
morphologies of -Al primary phase and eutectic silicon parti-
cles were significantly improved by the mechanical vibration,
and the mechanical properties and density of the A356 alloy
greatly increased. With increasing vibration frequency, the grain
size and secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) continuously
decreased, and the shape factor increased, and the mechanical
properties and density of the A356 alloy gradually increased.
With a vibration frequency of 100 Hz, the grain size and SDAS
decreased by 32 and 19 %, respectively, and the shape factor
increased by 262 %, and the average length, width, and aspect
ratio of the silicon particles decreased by 45, 6, and 42 %, re-
spectively, compared to that of the sample without vibration.
Meanwhile, the tensile strength, yield strength, elongation, and
hardness of the A356 alloy sample were, respectively, 35, 42, 57,
and 28 % higher than those of the sample without vibration. In
addition, the mechanical vibration changed the fractograph of the
A356 alloy from a clear brittle fracture nature of the alloy without
vibration to an obvious dimple fracture nature, and with the
increase of vibration frequency, the dimples were very deep
and well distributed with a high density.
* Wenming Jiang
jwenming@163.com
1
State Key Laboratory of Material Processing and Die & Mould
Technology, School of Material Science and Engineering, Huazhong
University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
2
School of Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, Wuhan Institute of
Technology, Wuhan 430073, China
Keywords A356 aluminum alloy . Vibration frequency .
Microstructure . Mechanical properties . Fracture behavior .
Expendable pattern shell casting
1 Introduction
The complicated and thin-walled aluminum alloy precision
castings are widely used in the aircraft and automotive indus-
tries due to their excellent castability, weldability, corrosion
resistance, and high strength-to-weight ratio [15]. The expend-
able pattern shell casting process is a compound precision cast-
ing technology and suitable for producing complicated and
thin-walled aluminum alloy precision castings [68], which
combines the foam pattern preparation of the lost foam casting
(LFC) and thin shell precision fabrication of the investment
casting. There are many advantages for this compound casting
process, such as flexible design and low cost of foam pattern,
high precision of investment casting, and good forming ability.
The porosity and slag inclusion defects in the LFC process from
the decomposition of the foam pattern during casting process
can be fully avoided because the foam pattern has been re-
moved before pouring. Moreover, the filling ability and feeding
capacity of the molten metal can also be improved because the
filling and solidification of the molten metal are carried out
under vacuum. Unfortunately, the microstructures of aluminum
alloy precision castings obtained using the expendable pattern
shell casting process show a coarse dendrite structure with an
inhomogeneous distribution, and the eutectic silicon particles
exhibit a coarse plate-like structure, resulting in a sharp de-
crease of the mechanical properties.
In general, the refinement of microstructure mainly has the
following methods, such as chemical elements modification
[911], electromagnetic vibration [12], ultrasonic vibration
[13], and mechanical vibration [14]. The mechanical vibration

has the potential to be a simple, economic, and effective method
to refine microstructure and improve mechanical properties [15,
16], which was first applied on the steel by Chernov [17]. In this
study, a simple and economic mechanical vibration method was
first introduced into the solidification process of the A356 alu-
minum alloy during the expendable pattern shell casting pro-
cess in order to improve the microstructure and mechanical
properties of the A356 aluminum alloy. It should be noted that
the vibration frequency is a key factor for the refinement of
microstructure during the mechanical vibration process. The
main objective of the present work is to investigate the effects
of vibration frequency on the microstructure, mechanical prop-
erties, and fracture behavior of A356 aluminum alloy obtained
by the expendable pattern shell casting process.
2 Experimental procedures
The foam pattern samples were first prepared, and the ceramic
shell was then fabricated by coating the foam pattern with the
ceramic slurry and using refractory to form the stucco on the
coated pattern. The foam pattern was heated in a furnace at
250 C for 30 min, and melted off the ceramic shell. The
ceramic shell was then heated at 500 C for 30 min to remove
any residual foam, and it was roasted at 800 C for 60 min for
enhancing the strength of ceramic shell. Subsequently, the
ceramic shell prepared was placed inside a sand flask. The
sand flask was filled with 40/50 unbonded loose sand, and it
was compacted using a three-dimensional (3D) vibration ta-
ble, and the sand flask was finally covered with a plastic film.
Commercial A356 aluminum alloy was used in this study,
and its chemical composition is shown in Table 1. The stain-
less steel crucible was first preheated at 300 C in an electrical
resistance furnace, and the preheated A356 aluminum ingot
was placed inside the crucible to melt. When the temperature
of the molten metal reached 740 C, the melt was refined
using the argon gas, and the slag was then skimmed. After-
ward, the molten metal was ready for pouring, and the pouring
temperature of the molten metal was 730 C. Before the mol-
ten metal was poured, the mechanical vibration and vacuum
equipment were simultaneously opened. The different vibra-
tion frequencies were investigated for 0, 5, 35, 50, 100, and
120 Hz, respectively, and the vacuum level was 0.03 MPa.
Figure 1 presents a schematic illustration of experimental ap-
paratus for the mechanical vibration during the expendable
pattern shell casting process.
Table 1 The nominal chemical composition of experimental alloy
(wt%)
Element Si Mg Ti Fe Al
Content 7.10 0.31 0.23 0.17 Balance
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Fig. 1 Schematic illustration of experimental apparatus for the
mechanical vibration during the expendable pattern shell casting process
Metallographic samples were etched using 0.5 %
hydrofluoric acid solution after polishing. Microstructures of
the samples were observed using an OLYMPUS-MG3 metal-
lographic microscope. The secondary dendrite arm spacing
(SDAS), average length of silicon particles, and average width
of silicon particles were measured by using an Image Tool
metallographic analysis software. The aspect ratio of eutectic
silicon particles was taken as the ratio of the average length of
silicon particles to the average width of silicon particles. The
grain size and shape factor of the -Al primary phase were
defined using the following equations [18, 19]:
r
A
D2 1
4A
F 2
P2
where A and P are the average area and average perimeter
of -Al primary grains, respectively, which were measured
using the Image Tool software. F value varies from 0 to 1,
and the sectional shape of -Al grains approaches to a circle
when it is close to 1.
Densities of the A356 aluminum alloy castings were mea-
sured by using Archimedes method. Tensile tests of as-cast
and T6 heat treatment specimens were performed using a
ZwickZ100 universal testing machine at room temperature
with a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. T6 heat treatment of
the tensile specimens was carried out as follows. The solution
treatment was first carried out at 538 C for 12 h, followed by
quenching into hot water at 80 C. The subsequent aging
treatment was performed at 165 C for 6 h, and the samples
were finally cooled in the air. Figure 2 depicts the shape and
dimensions of the tensile specimens. The hardness of A356
aluminum alloy was measured using a HBE-3000A hardness
test machine, and the load and holding time were 250 kg and
15 s, respectively. The fractured surfaces of A356 aluminum
alloy tensile samples were observed using a QUAN TA-400
scanning electron microscope (SEM).
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Fig. 2 Shape and dimensions of tensile specimens (unit: mm)
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Microstructure
Figure 3 shows the optical microstructures of A356 aluminum
alloy obtained by different vibration frequencies. As can be
seen, in the microstructure obtained from the sample without
vibration (0 Hz), a typical coarse dendrite of the -Al primary
phase is observed, and the -Al primary phase shows a non-
Fig. 3 Optical microstructures of
A356 aluminum alloy obtained
by different vibration frequencies:
a 0 Hz, b 5 Hz, c 35 Hz, d 50 Hz,
e 100 Hz, and f 120 Hz
uniform distribution, as shown in Fig. 3a. With the application
of mechanical vibration, in the microstructure obtained from
the sample with a low-frequency vibration, the grain sizes of
-Al primary phase begin to decrease. However, some den-
drites still can be observed, as shown in Fig. 3b. With increas-
ing vibration frequency, the grain sizes of -Al primary phase
gradually decrease. When the vibration frequency reaches
100 Hz, it is evident that the grain sizes of -Al primary phase
are much finer than that of the sample without vibration, and
the coarse dendrites have disappeared, and the microstructure
mainly consists of fine equiaxed grains with a uniform distri-
bution, as shown in Fig. 3e. However, by further increasing
vibration frequency to 120 Hz, the grain sizes of -Al primary
phase slightly increase, and the morphology of -Al primary
phase gives rise to a deterioration.
For the quantitative metallography characterization, the av-
erage grain size and morphology of -Al primary phase as
well as SDAS are measured and summarized in Figs. 4 and 5.

Fig. 4 Effects of vibration frequency on grain size of the -Al primary
phase and SDAS
For the sample without vibration, the average grain size and
shape factor of -Al primary phase as well as SDAS are up to
326.29 m, 0.21 and 77.36 m, respectively. With the appli-
cation of mechanical vibration, both the grain size of -Al
primary phase and the SDAS greatly decrease, especially the
grain size, and the shape factor obviously increases. With a
vibration frequency of 100 Hz, both the grain size of -Al
primary phase and the SDAS value are the smallest, and they
are 32 and 19 % lower than those of the sample without vi-
bration, respectively. Meanwhile, its shape factor is the larg-
est, which increases by 262 % compared with that of the
sample without vibration. With the further increase of vibra-
tion frequency beyond 100 Hz, both the grain size of -Al
primary phase and the SDAS slightly increase, and the shape
factor begins to decrease.
Figure 6 shows the optical microstructures of the eutectic
zone obtained with different vibration frequencies in order to
demonstrate a substantial microstructure difference in the size
and morphology of eutectic silicon particles. In the
Fig. 5 Effect of vibration frequency on morphology of the -Al primary
phase
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
microstructure obtained from the sample without vibration, it
is clear that the plate-like silicon particles are observed, and
the eutectic silicon particles show a non-uniform distribution,
as shown in Fig. 6a. In contrast, with the application of me-
chanical vibration, by increasing vibration frequency of up to
100 Hz, the eutectic silicon particles obviously exhibit a short
rod and granular structure, and the coarse plate-like silicon
particles have disappeared, and the sizes of eutectic silicon
particles are much finer than those of the sample without vi-
bration. Furthermore, the eutectic silicon particles are also
found dispersed uniformly in the microstructure, as shown in
Fig. 6e. However, when the vibration frequency continuously
increases beyond 100 Hz, the sizes and morphology of eutec-
tic silicon particles have not been further improved.
Figures 7 and 8 represent the quantitative metallography
assessment for the eutectic silicon particles in the microstruc-
tures of A356 aluminum alloy obtained by different vibration
frequencies. It can be seen that the average length, width, and
aspect ratio of eutectic silicon particles obtained from the sam-
ples with vibration significantly decrease compared to those of
the sample without vibration. Moreover, the average length,
width, and aspect ratio of eutectic silicon particles gradually
decrease with increasing vibration frequency. With a vibration
frequency of 100 Hz, the average length, width, and aspect
ratio of eutectic silicon particles are the smallest, and they are
45, 6, and 42 % lower than those of the sample without vibra-
tion, respectively. With further increasing vibration frequency
to 120 Hz, the average length, width, and aspect ratio of eu-
tectic silicon particles slightly increase.
It is well known that the microstructure of alloy mainly
depends on the nucleation stage and subsequent growth con-
dition, and the sufficient nuclei are essential to the microstruc-
tural refinement. For the without vibration condition, there is
no sufficient nuclei to generate in the melt during the solidifi-
cation process, which promotes a coarser microstructure.
When the mechanical vibration has been imposed during
the solidification process, the significant refinement of final
microstructure can be explained by the following mechanism.
On the one hand, the liquid metal begins to quickly solidify as
it comes in contact with the cold mold wall, and the initial
solidified fine dendrites forming on the cold wall of the mold
are easily broken off by the vibrating forces from the mechan-
ical vibration. Moreover, the vibration energy induces a forced
convection in the molten metal, and flows induced by vibra-
tion insert external forces on dendrite arms in flow direction,
which enhances the fragmentations of the dendrites in the melt
[20, 21]. And, the detached dendrite arms can be carried by the
forced convection into the bulk melt, acting as new nuclei. As
a result, with the further detachments of dendrite arms, the
nucleation rate significantly increases, resulting in a signifi-
cant refinement of the microstructure.
On the other hand, the final microstructure is determined
not only by the nucleation but also by the growth condition.
Int J Adv Manuf Technol

Fig. 6 Optical microstructures at

high magnification to characterize
eutectic silicon particles in the
samples obtained by different
vibration frequencies: a 0 Hz, b
5 Hz, c 35 Hz, d 50 Hz, e 100 Hz,
and f120 Hz

Fig. 7 Effects of vibration frequency on average length and width of the Fig. 8 Effect of vibration frequency on aspect ratio of the eutectic silicon
eutectic silicon particles particles
 Int J Adv Manuf Technol

should be noted that the vibration frequency has an optimum

value for the microstructural refinement, and it means that an
excessive vibration frequency may not be the best choice.

3.2 Mechanical properties

Table 2 shows the mechanical properties of A356 aluminum

Fig. 9 Representative cooling curves of the molten metal recorded with
and without vibration conditions
The vibration also induces a high heat transfer inside the mol-
ten metal to the mold interface as result of the alternated
movement of the molten metal, leading to a high solidification
rate of the molten metal [22, 23]. It can be seen from Fig. 9
that the cooling rate of the molten metal obtained with vibra-
tion method is faster than that of the molten metal without
vibration. The faster cooling rate of the molten metal under
vibration condition gives rise to a larger undercooling and
thereby stimulates more existing nuclei in the molten metal
to start a spontaneous heterogeneous solidification, resulting
in the further refinement of microstructure.
Additionally, the larger vibration frequency promotes the
stronger forced convection. It means that the detachments of
dendrite arms easily generate and the number of nuclei in the
melt obviously increases. Meanwhile, the heat transfer process
of the molten metal is also enhanced. As a consequence, the
refinement degree of microstructure significantly increases
with the larger vibration frequency. When the vibration fre-
quency is 100 Hz, it may generate a resonance phenomenon,
resulting in the best effect on the microstructure. With further
increasing vibration frequency beyond 100 Hz, the effect of
vibration on the microstructure decreases. Consequently, it
alloy obtained by different vibration frequencies. It is evident
that the mechanical properties including tensile strength, yield
strength, elongation, and hardness of the A356 aluminum al-
loy obtained with the mechanical vibration show a significant
improvement compared with those of the alloy without vibra-
tion, particularly T6 state. With the increase of vibration fre-
quency, the mechanical properties of A356 aluminum alloy
continuously increase. With a vibration frequency of 100 Hz,
the tensile strength, yield strength, elongation, and hardness of
A356 aluminum alloy under the T6 state are the highest and
up to 200.82 MPa, 180.75 MPa, 3.42 %, and 86.4 HBS, re-
spectively, and they are 35, 42, 57, and 28 % higher than those
of the alloy without vibration, respectively. However, when
the vibration frequency exceeds 100 Hz, the mechanical prop-
erties of A356 aluminum alloy show a slight decrease. The
advantages of size, morphology, and distribution of -Al pri-
mary phase and eutectic silicon particles as well as SDAS
value are responsible for the improvement of mechanical
properties of the A356 aluminum alloy with vibration com-
pared to that of the alloy without vibration.
Figure 10 shows the densities of A356 aluminum alloy
obtained by different vibration frequencies. It is clear that
the mechanical vibration greatly increases the densities of
A356 aluminum alloy, especially the vibration with a higher
frequency. It can be explained by the fact that the mechanical
vibration promotes the filling ability and feeding capacity of
the molten metal [15, 20, 24], resulting in the improvement of
density of the A356 aluminum alloy. However, the excessive
vibration frequency greatly increases the disturbance of the
molten metal, which may generate porosity defects due to
gas trapping of the molten metal, leading to the decrease of

Table 2 Mechanical properties of the A356 aluminum alloy obtained by different vibration frequencies

Vibration frequency (Hz) As-cast T6

Tensile strength Yield strength Elongation Hardness Tensile strength Yield strength Elongation Hardness
(MPa) (MPa) (%) (HBS) (MPa) (MPa) (%) (HBS)

0 100.62 91.48 2.01 53.4 148.22 127.21 2.18 67.7

5 116.02 98.78 2.61 54.2 173.21 148.32 2.73 79.6
35 122.97 100.66 2.8 55.4 185.42 160.13 3.05 82.6
50 127.69 107.65 2.96 56.6 198.66 171.89 3.18 83.8
100 135.88 110.35 3.21 58 200.82 180.75 3.42 86.4
120 129.75 108..22 3.01 56.9 199.02 175.46 3.21 85.3
Int J Adv Manuf Technol

density of the A356 aluminum alloy. The mechanical proper-

ties of A356 aluminum alloy obtained with vibration can be
further improved because of the increase of density.

3.3 Fractography

Figure 11 shows the SEM fractographs of A356 aluminum

Fig. 10 Densities of the A356 aluminum alloy obtained by different
vibration frequencies
alloy tensile samples obtained by different vibration frequen-
cies. The SEM fractograph of A356 aluminum alloy tensile
sample without vibration reveals a typical brittle fracture na-
ture, and the obvious cleavage planes and secondary cracks
can be observed, as shown in Fig. 11a. It can be explained by
the fact that the sample without vibration has the larger SDAS
value and elongated eutectic silicon particles. The elongated
eutectic silicon particles fracture more frequently than the

Fig. 11 SEM fractographs of

A356 aluminum alloy tensile
samples obtained by different
vibration frequencies: a 0 Hz, b
5 Hz, c 35 Hz, d 50 Hz, e 100 Hz,
and f 120 Hz

spherical particles as they are the main sources of stress
concentration [2527]. Because the eutectic silicon par-
ticles are larger and cluster along both cell and grain
boundaries, there is a nearly continuous wall of eutectic
silicon particles around the dendrite cell. The dendrite
cells behave similar to grains and strong interaction be-
tween particles and slip bands generating at the cell
boundaries during the plastic deformation process. As
a result, the final fracture paths tend to pass through
the eutectic silicon particles, and it displays a brittle
fracture nature, leading to a poor ductility. In addition,
the shrinkage porosity defects can also be obviously
observed from the SEM fractograph of tensile sample
without vibration, as shown in Fig. 12, and the fracture
path may preferentially go through the shrinkage poros-
ity in the case of existence of the excessive shrinkage
porosity defects, resulting in a sharp decrease of the
mechanical properties.
For comparison, the SEM fractographs of A356 alu-
minum alloy tensile samples obtained with vibration un-
der different vibration frequencies show the obvious
morphologies of dimple fracture, particularly the larger
vibration frequency, as shown in Fig. 11df. Further-
more, with an increase in vibration frequency, the dim-
ples are very deep and well distributed with a high
density. With a vibration frequency of 100 Hz, the
smaller SDAS value and finer eutectic silicon particles
in the microstructure make the grain cell boundaries
more discontinuous and thereby produce a stronger in-
teraction between slip bands and plastic flow in the
grain boundaries. The fracture of eutectic silicon
Fig. 12 Shrinkage porosity defects of the tensile sample without
vibration
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
particles then generates in the grain boundaries, and
the final fracture path tends to pass through the eutectic
phase along the grain boundaries of -Al primary phase
[28, 29]. As a consequence, the fracture generates most-
ly by dimple rupture with cracked eutectic silicon par-
ticles and shows a dimple fracture nature, resulting in a
superior ductility.
4 Conclusions
In the present work, the effects of vibration frequency on the
microstructure, mechanical properties, and fracture behavior
of A356 aluminum alloy obtained by the expendable pattern
shell casting process were investigated. The obtained results
can be summarized in the following:
1. In the microstructure obtained from the sample
without vibration, the -Al primary phase and eu-
tectic silicon particles showed a coarse dendrite and
a coarse plate-like structure, respectively. With the
application of mechanical vibration, the size, mor-
phology, and distribution of -Al primary phase,
eutectic silicon particles, and SDAS were signifi-
cantly improved. With increasing vibration frequen-
cy, the grain size and SDAS continuously decreased,
and the shape factor gradually increased, and the
optimum vibration frequency was 100 Hz.
2. The mechanical vibration greatly increased the mechani-
cal properties and density of A356 aluminum alloy, and
they gradually increased with the increase of vibration
frequency. With a vibration frequency of 100 Hz, the ten-
sile strength, yield strength, elongation, and hardness of
A356 aluminum alloy were, respectively, 35, 42, 57, and
28 % higher than those of the alloy without vibration
under the T6 state.
3. The fracture surface of A356 aluminum alloy without
vibration showed a clear brittle fracture nature because
of its coarse microstructure. On the other hand, the
fractographs of A356 aluminum alloy obtained with vi-
bration exhibited the obvious morphologies of dimple
fracture due to the significant improvement in microstruc-
ture, resulting in a superior ductility. With increasing vi-
bration frequency, the dimples were very deep and well
distributed with a high density.
Acknowledgments This work was funded by Project 51204124 sup-
ported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Project
P2015-09 supported by State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing
and Die & Mould Technology, HUST, and Project 2012 M511610 &
2014 T70694 supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation.
The authors would also like to express their appreciation to the Analytical
and Testing Center, HUST.
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
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