Mechanical and wear properties of rheocast and conventional gravity die cast A356 alloy

A356 alloy produced by means of conventional gravity die casting and rheocasting has been investigated and their microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties were compared. The microstructure of conventional cast sample is fully dendritic in contrast to spheroidal morphology in rheocast sample. The mechanical properties of the rheocast samples are considerably higher than the conventional cast samples. The volumetric wear loss and coefficient of friction in rheocast samples are always less than those in conventional cast samples at all loads. The wear occurs mainly by ploughing mechanism.