In this study, solid solution heat treatment of consolidated nickel-based superalloy powders is carried out by hot isotactic pressing. The effects of the cooling rate of salt quenching, and air cooling on the microstructures and the mechanical properties of the specimens are analyzed . The specimen that is air cooled shows the formation of serrated grain boundaries due to their obstruction by the carbide particles. Moreover, the specimen that is salt quenched shows higher strength than the one that is air cooled due to the presence of fine and close-packed tertiary gamma prime phase. The tensile elongation at high temperatures improves due to the presence of grain boundary serrations in the specimen that is air cooled. On the contrary, the specimen that is salt quenched and consists of unserrated grain boundaries shows better creep properties than the air cooled specimen with the serrated grain boundaries, due to the negative creep phenomenon.
Microstructural and mechanical characteristics of Al-6Si-2Cu alloy for lightweight automotive parts were investigated. The test specimens were prepared by gravity casting process. Solution heat treatments were applied to as-cast alloys to improve mechanical properties. The microstructure of the gravity casting specimen presents a typical dendrite structure, having a secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS) of 37μm. In addition to the Al matrix, a large amount of coarsened eutectic Si, Al2Cu intermetallic phase, and Fe-rich phases were identified. After solution heat treatment, single-step solution heat treatments were found to considerably improve the spheroidization of the eutectic Si phase. Two-step solution treatments gave rise to a much improved spheroidization. The mechanical properties of the two-step solution heat treated alloy have been shown to lead to higher values of properties such as tensile strength and microhardness. Consequentially, the microstructural and mechanical characteristics of Al alloy have been successfully characterized and are available for use with other basic data for the development of lightweight automotive parts.