Estudio y caracterización de la difusión de silicio en aleación 6061 de aluminio.

Abstract

In the following research, the change in the microstructure, surface hardness and microhardness of the 6061-T6 aluminum alloy was studied after performing a silicon diffusion heat treatment at a fixed temperature of 600 C for 2, 26 and 52 hours. The literature review revealed a lack of information on the topic, in addition they are limited to obtain values of temperature, diffusion coefficient and activation energy necessary for the process. According to the methodology described, a solid diffusion treatment was carried out in a box, in which the specimens were placed together with the particulate material (silicon). The specimens were analyzed according to ASTM standards by metallography, hardness, and microhardness testing. The results obtained show that silicon diffuses at the grain boundaries of the alloy, forming accumulations of intermetallic α-AlFeSi compounds around the grains and in areas with higher edge density, these results are more evident when a heat treatment of 2 hours is performed followed by another diffusion heat treatment for 52 hours at 600 °C, where the surface hardness increased up to 28% due to the α-AlFeSi intermetallics, which have a chinese writing morphology, because of the cooling rate, the amount of iron present in the particulate material and because of the type of silicon growth in the aluminum matrix.