• Ultrasonic melt processing + Al-Ti-B have the best grain refinement effect. • The size of Fe-rich phase in ultrasonic + Al-Ti-B is smaller than conventional methods. • Ultrasonic + Al-Ti-B improve the nucleation temperature of α-Al and Fe-rich phases. • The solidification reactions under different conditions are estabilished.

The effect of compound fields of ultrasonic vibration and applied pressure (UV+AP) on three-dimensional (3D) microstructure and tensile properties of recycled Al-Cu-Mn-Fe-Si alloys was systematically studied using conventional two-dimensional (2D) microscopy, synchrotron X-ray tomography, and tensile test. The properties of UV+AP treated alloys with the pouring temperature of 740, 710 and 680 °C were compared when those alloys achieved after gravity casting. After UV+AP treatment, the alloy with pouring temperature of 710 °C show the smallest grain size. Also, the sizes of Fe-rich phases and Al₂Cu are greatly reduced and their 3D morphologies are compacted. The mechanical properties of UV+AP treated alloys are relatively higher than those measured for gravity cast equivalents. This improvement can be explained by the synergistic effect of acoustic cavitation, acoustic streaming, and force-feeding, which resulted in the dendrite fragmentation, uniform solute distribution, and microstructural refinement. The Orowan strengthening and solution strengthening were identified as the main strengthening mechanisms.

The effect of initial Fe content on the iron removal efficiency, morphology evolution of the Fe-rich phase and the mechanical properties of the recycled Al-7Si-xFe-1.2xMn alloy during melt holding was studied using an optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and tensile testing. The results show that with the increase of the initial Fe content, the residual Fe concentration of the alloys gradually increased, and the corresponding removal efficiency of Fe gradually was increased to 77.67%. The type of Fe-rich phase in the alloys changes from α-Al₁₅(FeMn)₃Si₂ to a mixture of α-Al₁₅(FeMn)₃Si₂ and β-Al₅FeSi, and its morphological evolution is as follows: coarse Chinese-script + polygon → dense Chinese-script + polygon → polygonal + dense Chinese-script + plate-like. Furthermore, the morphology of the Fe-rich phase in the slag changes from a polygonal shape to an irregular shape with a two-layer structure. The formation and increase of the inner layer with high Mn-content in the irregular-shape phase is the main reason for the increasing residual Fe content. The plasticity of the alloy increases obviously with the increase of the initial Fe content, but the formation of the β-Al₅FeSi with plate-like morphology in higher Fe-containing alloy may hinder further improvement of the plasticity.