Study of Defect Formation during Solution Treatment of 319S Thixocast Turbo Impellers

Turbocharger impellers undergo extreme cyclic speed conditions and thus fatigue fracture in service. Any kind of defects, even defects with sizes of tens of micrometres, can make significant impact on service life of the impellers. The alloy used for thixocast impellers is the aluminum alloy 319s. T61 heat treatment is used to improve mechanical properties. However, the solution treatment in the standard T61 heat treatment of the 319s alloy can induce incipient melting defects. This paper carried out systematic study of formation of defects caused by the incipient melting during solution treatment in the thixocast and heat treated impellers, using optical and scanning electron microscope. Based on the study, the critical temperature of incipient melting is detected. An optimized two-stage solution treatment is therefore proposed.