The current study aimed at analyzing the response of semisolid A357 aluminum alloys to unconventional thermal treatment cycles of T4/T6/T7 conditions. The mechanical, electrical, and microstructural characterizations of such semisolid alloys were investigated. The microstructure evolutions of Fe-intermetallic phases and strengthening precipitates were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. The mechanical failure of such semi solid A357 aluminum alloys, used for suspension automotive parts, is mostly related to cracking issues which start from the surface due to hardness problems and propagate due to severe load variations. For these reasons, the multiple thermal aging cycles, in this study, are applied to enhance the mechanical properties and to have compromised values compared to those obtained by standard thermal treatments. The results obtained in this work indicate that the heat treatment of this alloy can be optimized. The results showed that the optimum characteristics of A357 semisolid alloys were obtained by applying thermal under-aging cycle, interrupted thermal aging cycles and a T7/T6 two steps aging treatment condition. The electrical conductivity and electron microscopy were applied in this study to analyze the characteristics of hardening phases formed due to different aging cycles applied to the alloys investigated.

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The present work aims to investigate the fatigue characteristics of automotive lower suspension arm made of semi-solid A357 aluminum castings using metallurgical and analytical approaches. The fatigue life calculations of analytical model are used to identify and introduce the model parameters based on the suspension arm material followed by analyzing the load-number of cycles fatigue curve. The critical stress areas capable of initiating cracks during fatigue tests are detected using ABAQUS software followed by the installation of strain gages on the suspension arm to calculate maximum stress. The fatigue experiments are carried out to compare the results of the analytical method with the experimental endurance curves traced by lower suspension arm samples. Microstructure characteristics of the semi-solid A357 under T6 heat treatment conditions are examined using scanning electron microscope. The results show that the fatigue life and the quality index of alloys investigated are affected by casting technique, castings design, microstructural characterization, and heat treatment condition.