THE EFFECT OF MODIFICATION WITH RARE EARTH ELEMENTS ON ZnAl22Cu3 ALLOY STRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

The influence of modification with rare earth elements (RE) on the structure and mechanical properties of alloy ZnAl22Cu3 is presented in the paper. ZnAl22Cu3, ZnAl22Cu3SiM and ZnAl22Cu3Si (modified alloy) alloys were tested. ZnAl22Cu3Si and ZnAl22Cu3 alloys were characterized with heterogeneous, fine-grained, dendritic structure. The structure of the alloy ZnAl22Cu3SiM was much more homogeneous. It was found that the addition of silicon reduces the tensile strength. Addition of rare earth elements to the alloy with silicon resulted in the re-growth of melt strength of alloy. It was also found that the modification performed by using of rare earth elements increases the hardness of the alloy