In situ thermomechanical processing to avoid grain boundary precipitation and strength-ductility loss of age hardening alloys

To avoid grain boundary (GB) precipitation during aging, a new strategy of in situ thermomechanical processing for age hardening alloys was proposed. Specifically, high-density nanoscale precipitates were introduced into ultrafine grain (UFG) interiors of 7075Al alloy by equal-channel-angular (ECAP) processing at 250 °C for 8 passes, thus avoiding GB precipitation. Tensile test results indicated that the UFG 7075Al alloy exhibits superior mechanical properties (yield strength of 350 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 500 MPa, uniform elongation of 18% and tensile ductility of 19%) compared with the UFG 1050Al counterpart (yield strength of 170 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 180 MPa, uniform elongation of 2.5% and tensile ductility of 7%). Fracture surface morphology studies revealed numerous homogeneous micro shear bands in necking shrinkage areas of both UFG 7075Al and 1050Al alloys, which are controlled by cooperative GB sliding. Moreover, the introduction of nanoscale precipitates in UFG 7075Al matrix weakened the tendency of shear fracture, resulting in a higher tensile ductility and more homogeneous deformation. Different from the GB precipitation during postmortem aging, in situ thermomechanical treatment dynamically formed GBs after precipitation, thus avoiding precipitation on GBs.     

Predicting the critical pre-aging time in ECAP processing of age-hardenable aluminum alloys

Age-hardenable Al alloys may be successfully processed by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at room temperature, if the processing is carried out immediately after water quenching from the solution treatment temperature. It is important to estimate the critical time for any age-hardenable alloys, since after this time, ECAP processing will cause catastrophic cracking or segmentation at room temperature. In this study, ECAP processing was carried out on two age-hardenable Al alloys (2014 and 7075) at room temperature. The results demonstrated that the critical time could be predicted successfully by using tensile test curves related to different times after quenching. It is also shown that room temperature ECAP processing of these materials for more than a single pass is not possible and causes damage. However, a single pass will have significant effects on the strength of the material.     

等通道转角挤压Mg-3.52Sn-3.32Al合金的组织与力学性能

采用等通道转角挤压（ECAP）Bc路径对固溶态Mg-3.52Sn-3.32Al合金分别挤压1、4和8道次。利用光学显微镜、扫描电子显微镜、透射电子显微镜和X射线衍射仪分析合金的组织和相组成,并测试了其室温拉伸力学性能。结果表明,经ECAP挤压后,固溶态合金组织中析出大量细小的Mg2Sn相和极少量的Mg17Al12相。随挤压道次增加,合金的综合力学性能先提高后降低。经4道次挤压后,合金的综合拉伸力学性能相对较佳,抗拉强度、伸长率和硬度分别达到250 MPa、20.5%和61.3 HV9.8,较未ECAP时分别提高43.7%、105%和26.9%。经ECAP挤压的合金室温拉伸断口均呈韧性断裂。等通道转角挤压Mg-3.52Sn-3.32Al合金的力学性能受晶粒尺寸、析出相以及组织织构的共同影响。     

等通道转角挤压制备超细晶Mg15Al双相合金组织与性能

对高铝双相合金Mg15Al在553K以Bc路线进行了不同道次的等通道挤压(ECAP),获得了超细晶高铝镁合金。通过OM,SEM,TEM分析了ECAP前后合金的微观组织结构及断口形貌,并测试了不同挤压道次后合金的硬度和室温拉伸性能,分析了ECAP细化晶粒机理及其性能改善原因。结果表明,随挤压道次增加,累计形变增强,网状硬脆相β-Mg17Al12破碎,合金晶粒显著细化,但对单相区和两相混合区细化效果不同。在α、β两相共存区内,4道次ECAP后形成100nm～200nm的细晶粒;在α单相区,4道次ECAP后晶粒为1μm以下,且在初晶α-Mg内析出弥散细小的β相,起到细晶强化和弥散强化作用。8道次ECAP后,晶粒略有长大。ECAP使合金的硬度、抗拉强度和延伸率同时得到提高,尤其是4道次ECAP后,硬度提高了32.04%,抗拉强度σb从150MPa提高到269.3MPa,延伸率δ由0.05%提高到7.4%;8道次ECAP后,硬度、抗拉强度略有下降,延伸率略有上升。SEM断口观察显示ECAP使合金拉伸断口形貌由铸态的解理断裂特征转变为延性韧窝断裂特征。     

Enhancing room temperature mechanical properties of Mg–9Al–Zn alloy by multi-pass equal channel angular extrusion

Influence of equal channel angular extrusion on room temperature mechanical properties of cast Mg–9Al–Zn alloy was investigated. The results show that room temperature mechanical properties of Mg–9Al–Zn alloy, such as yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and elongation, can be improved heavily by equal channel angular extrusion. Processing routes, processing temperature and extrusion passes have important influence on room temperature mechanical properties of processed Mg–9Al–Zn alloy by equal channel angular extrusion. The optimum room temperature mechanical properties such as yield strength of 209 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 339 MPa and elongation of 14.1%, can be obtained when Mg–9Al–Zn alloy was processed by equal channel angular extrusion for 6 passes at route B_C at 498 K. Large bulk materials of Mg–9Al–Zn alloy with average grain size of 4 μm and high mechanical properties can be prepared.     

等通道转角挤压变形Mg-1.5Mn-0.3Ce镁合金的组织、织构与力学性能

采用等通道转角挤压(ECAP)工艺以Bc路径在623K温度下对Mg-1.5Mn-0.3Ce镁合金进行变形,观察显微组织与织构,测试了力学性能。显微组织分析表明,镁合金经ECAP变形晶粒尺寸明显得到细化,经6道次ECAP变形后晶粒尺寸由原轧制态的约26.1μm细化至约1.2μm,且细小的第二相粒子Mg12Ce弥散分布于晶内及晶界处;同时经ECAP变形后,原始轧制织构随变形道次的增加不断减小,并开始转变为ECAP织构,织构强度不断增强;力学性能结果表明,由于晶粒细化作用大于织构软化作用,前3道次ECAP变形镁合金强度随道次的增加不断提高,与Hall?Petch关系相符,在第3道次时其抗拉强度和屈服强度达到最大值,分别为272.2和263.7MPa;在4道次之后形成较强的非基面织构,镁合金强度下降,与Hall?Petch呈相悖关系。断口分析表明,轧制态与ECAP变形镁合金的断裂方式都是沿晶断裂,由于6道次变形镁合金晶粒细化,存在更多的韧窝并获得16.8%最大室温伸长率。     

等通道转角挤压Al-10Mg-4Si合金的组织与性能研究

在250℃下以Bc路径对Al-10Mg-4Si合金进行4道次和8道次的等通道转角挤压,以求达到改善合金组织和提高合金力学性能的目的.扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和透射电子显微镜(TEM)对挤压前后的微观组织分析表明:铸态合金基体晶粒比较粗大,第二相Mg_2Si以粗大的汉字状或骨骼状分布于基体晶界处;经ECAP挤压后,基体晶粒得到细化,原粗大的汉字状Mg_2Si被碎化为短棒状或多边形状颗粒,并呈一定的弥散分布.室温拉伸测试结果表明:ECAP4道次挤压后,合金的抗拉强度和伸长率由铸态的166MPa、1.64%提高为322MPa、21.7%;ECAP8道次挤压后,合金的伸长率继续提高为24.7%.但抗拉强度下降到293MPa.     

Damping behavior and mechanical properties of Mg-Cu-Mn alloy processed by equal channel angular pressing

Equal channel angular pressing(ECAP) was conducted at 250℃for 4 passes to the as-extruded Mg-3%Cu-1%Mn alloy with high strength and high damping capacity.After ECAP processing,the grain of as-extruded alloy is significantly refined to about 4μm,both yield strength and tensile strength of the as-extruded Mg-Cu-Mn alloy are decreased,but the ductility is improved.After the ECAP processing,the damping capacity of Mg-Cu-Mn alloy is decreased at room temperature,while is substantially increased at elevated te...     

等通道转角挤压对L2工业纯铝力学性能的影响

利用等通道转角挤压(ECAP)技术挤压工业纯铝L2，探讨了挤压次数对其力学性能的影响。结果表明，随挤压次数的增加，L2的抗拉强度和硬度得到显著提高，抗拉强度可提高95％，硬度提高70％。挤压1次后，其伸长率由40％下降至15％，此后伸长率基本保持稳定。     

等通道挤压Mg2Si增强ZK60镁合金的显微组织及力学性能

研究等通道挤压(ECAP)对ZK60+2Si镁合金显微组织、室温力学性能和高温抗蠕变性能的影响。结果表明,合金铸态组织主要由-Mg基体、Mg2Si相和MgZn相组成,等通道挤压可显著碎化原粗大汉字状Mg2Si相并使其趋于弥散分布,同时基体组织也得到细化。挤压4道次后,合金的室温抗拉强度由154.8MPa增加到270MPa,伸长率由4.5%增加到17.5%。挤压6道次后,合金的伸长率进一步增加到21%,而抗拉强度却下降至261MPa;合金的高温蠕变寿命由铸态20h延长到203h,稳态蠕变速率下降了约1个数量级,这主要是因为细小颗粒状MgSi相有效阻止了晶界滑移。     

Mechanical properties of friction stir welded Al alloys with different hardening mechanisms

The mechanical properties of precipitation hardened Al 6061-T651 and Al 7075-T6 and strain hardened Al 5083-H32, friction stir welded with various welding parameters, were examined in the present study. 4 mm thick Al 6061-T651, Al 7075-T6, and Al 5083-H32 alloy plates were used for friction stir welding (FSW) with rotating speed varied from 1000 to 2500 rpm (rotation per minute) and welding speed ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 mpm (m/min). Each alloy displayed slightly different trends with respect to the effect of different welding parameters on the tensile properties of the FSWed Al alloys. The tensile elongation of FSWed Al 6061-T651 and Al 7075-T6 tended to increase greatly, while the tensile strength decreased marginally, with increasing welding speed and/or decreasing rotating speed. The tensile strength and the tensile elongation of Al 6061-T651 decreased from 135 to 154 MPa and 10.6 to 17.0%, respectively, with increasing welding speed from 0.1 to 0.4 mpm at a rotating speed of 1,600 rpm. Unlike the age-hardened Al 6061-T651 and Al 7075-T6, the strain-hardened Al 5083-H32 showed no notable change in tensile property with varying welding parameters. The change in the strength level with different welding parameters for each alloy was not as significant as the variation in tensile elongation. It was believed that the tensile elongation of FSWed Al alloys with varying welding parameters was mainly determined by the coarse particle clustering. With respect to the change in tensile strength during friction stir welding, it is hypothesized that two competing mechanisms, recovery by friction and heat and strain hardening by plastic flow in the weld zone offset the effects of different welding parameters on the tensile strength level of FSWed Al alloys.     

Effects of ECAP and Aging on Mechanical and Superelastic Behaviors of Ti-Mo-Based and Ti-25at.%Nb SMAs

Ni-free Ti-based shape memory alloys (SMAs) are increasingly recognized as promising functional materials for medical applications. The mechanical properties of these metastable Ti-based SMAs are sensitive to aging and thermomechanical treatment. Effects of severe plastic deformation (SPD)-equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and aging on superelastic behavior of Ni-free Ti-based SMAs, Ti-9.8Mo-3.9Nb-2V-3.1Al?wt.% (TMNVA) and Ti-25at.%Nb, have been investigated. The results show that the yielding strength of TMNVA alloy increases sharply with the number of ECAP processes??to greater than 1,400?MPa after two passes ECAP??but elongation of TMNVA alloy decreases severely and the plasticity is lost completely after two passes ECAP. Both ECAP process and flash annealing treatment have weak contribution to the superelastic recoverable strains of Ti-Mo-based alloy. For Ti-25at.%Nb alloy, after one pass ECAP process at 400?°C, the yielding stress increases obviously, and the recovery strain increases a little. With the further increase in the number of ECAP processes, the yielding stress and the recovery strain change little. Aging treatment at low temperature after ECAP process is in favor of superelasticity of Ti-25at.%Nb alloy. An almost completely recoverable strain of 1.5% is obtained in Ti-25at.%Nb alloy after two passes ECAP and aging at 300?°C for 1?h. The mechanisms of the effects of SPD and aging are also discussed.     

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of Al–40 wt.%Zn alloy processed by equal-channel angular extrusion

The Al-based Al–40 wt.%Zn alloy was subjected to multi-pass equal-channel angular extrusion (ECAE) via route-A and route-B_C. Before and after ECAE processing, microstructural evolution, the tensile properties, impact toughness and fracture behavior of the alloy were investigated.ECAE processing caused to elimination of the as-cast dendritic microstructure and formed a structure consisting of elongated, ribbon shaped α-phase via route-A and mostly equiaxed α-phase via route-B_C. ECAE processing also caused plastic instability as necking at early onset of deformation. As a result of more effective mechanical mixing via route-B_C, softening and necking occurred more apparently. The tensile and yield strength of the alloy increased just after first pass and then slightly decreased with increasing number of passes. On the other hand, its elongation to failure and impact toughness increased with increasing number of passes in both routes. The increase obtained via route-A is more pronounced in both properties. Fracture behavior of the as-cast alloy changed from brittle to ductile mode after multi-pass ECAE. Elimination of dendritic as-cast structure with reduction of porosities and deformation-induced homogenization by the effect of ECAE processing increased the ductility and impact toughness of the alloy and caused formation of a fracture surface consisting of micro-voids and dimples which indicates of ductile fracture. Attained experimental results indicate that multi-pass ECAE processing is very effective in improving the tensile elongation and impact toughness of binary Al–40 wt.%Zn alloy.     

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of Mg95.5Y3Zn1.5 alloy processed by extrusion and ECAP

A Mg_95.5Y₃Zn_1.5 alloy processed via a two-step processing route of extrusion plus ECAP has been investigated. It was found that the ECAP processed Mg_95.5Y₃Zn_1.5 alloy contained ultrafine grains and exhibited excellent mechanical properties. After ECAP, the average grain size of Mg_95.5Y₃Zn_1.5 alloy was refined to about 300 nm. The highest strengths, with yield strength of 444.6 MPa and ultimate tensile strength of 472.7 MPa, were obtained after 1 pass at 623 K. The SAED patterns indicated that the microstructure after ECAP consisted of both high angle and low angle grain boundaries. The fraction of high-angle boundaries increased with increasing numbers of ECAP passes. The Mg_95.5Y₃Zn_1.5 alloy contained a high volume fraction of X-Mg₁₂ZnY phase due to high yttrium and zinc addition. And, it accelerated the growth and coalescence of cracks during tensile testing, resulting in premature fracture and lower elongation of alloy.     

Effect of ageing on microstructure and mechanical properties of bulk, cryorolled, and room temperature rolled Al 7075 alloy

The effect of ageing on mechanical properties and microstructural characteristics of a precipitation hardenable Al 7075 alloy subjected to rolling at liquid nitrogen temperature and room temperature are has been investigated in the present work employing hardness measurements, tensile test, XRD, DSC, and TEM. The solution-treated bulk Al 7075 alloy was subjected to cryorolling and room temperature rolling to refine grain structures and subsequently ageing treatment to simultaneously improve the strength and ductility. The solution treatment combined with cryorolling up to a true rolling strain of 2.3 followed by low temperature ageing at 100 °C for 45 h has been found to be the optimum processing condition to obtain fine grained microstructure with improved tensile strength (642 MPa) and good tensile ductility (9.5%) in the Al 7075 alloy. The combined effect of suppression of dynamic recovery, partial grain refinement, partial recovery, solid solution strengthening, dislocation hardening, and precipitation hardening are responsible for the significant improvement strength-ductility combination in the cryorolled Al 7075 alloy subjected to peak ageing treatment. The cryorolled and room temperature rolled Al 7075 alloy, upon subjecting to peak ageing treatment, have shown higher strength and ductility in the former than the latter. It is due to presence of high density of nanosized precipitates in the peak aged cryorolled sample.     

12MnNb钢的ECAP变形及组织性能研究

室温下对12MnNb钢进行ECAP变形,累积等效应变达到4.通过光学显微镜、电子拉伸机等试验仪器设备,分析研究ECAP变形试样的显微组织特征及其演变规律,以及力学性能的变化规律.结果表明,C方式ECAP变形时,1道次的组织细化和强化效果最为显著,随后道次主要增加晶粒的取向差.经ECAP变形后,强度随变形道次的增加而增加,4道次后的抗拉强度达到895 MPa,并保持了较好的塑性,伸长率达到12.4%.     

Microstructure evolution and mechanical behavior of AZ31 Mg alloy processed by equal-channel angular pressing

AZ31 Mg alloy bar was subjected to 8-pass equal-channel angular pressing(ECAP) at 623 K. Microstructure evolution was observed by optical microscopy(OM) on cross section and X-ray diffraction analysis. The room temperature mechanical properties of the ECAP processed specimens were also investigated. A fine-grained structure with an average sub-grain size of 9 μm is obtained after 7 ECAP passes. XRD analysis indicates that after ECAP, in placing of planes and become the dominant directions that are favourable for grain refinement. ECAP processed AZ31 Mg alloy exhibits significant improvement in elongation but decrease in strength. The elongation of the specimen increases continuously up to 2 passes and then remains stable at further passes. This improvement can be related to the evolution of crystallographic texture and the scattered orientation of the basal plane (0001).     

冲制用7075-O态铝合金薄板的退火工艺

采用力学性能测试和显微组织观察等方法,研究了Zn含量、退火温度和冷却速率对7075-O态铝合金组织与性能的影响。研究结果表明:随退火温度的升高,7075-O态铝合金板材的强度逐渐减小,伸长率先增大后减小;随冷却速率和Zn元素含量的增加,7075-O态铝合金板材强度逐渐增大,伸长率逐渐减小。为满足冲制用7075-O态铝合金薄板的性能要求,应选择Zn含量≤5.6%,最佳退火工艺为410 ℃×3 h炉冷至100 ℃出炉空冷。     

Influence of Processing Parameters on Microstructural Evolution and Tensile Properties for 7075 Al Alloy Prepared by an ECAPBased SIMA Process

A modified strain-induced melt activation(SIMA) process consisting of homogenization, equal-channel angular pressing(ECAP) and subsequent heating to the semisolid temperatures was introduced to prepare the 7075 aluminum alloy with superior thixotropic behaviors. The effects of both the homogenization and the number of ECAP passes, as well as the isothermal temperatures on the microstructural evolution, were investigated. The results indicate that ideal microstructure wherein fine and globular solid grains surrounded by uniform liquid films can be achieved through ECAP deformation–recrystallization mechanism. Increasing the number of ECAP passes accelerates the recrystallization of strained grains,thus reducing the average grain size and improving the grain sphericity. Moreover, higher holding temperatures and prolonged soaking time can improve the growth of the solid grains. Two main coarsening mechanisms, viz. coalescence and Ostwald ripening, contribute to the growth of the solid grains simultaneously and independently. The tensile strength of the 7075 alloys after four-pass ECAP-based SIMA and T6 heat treatment is relatively lower than the as-received billet,while the elongation of SIMA processed samples is much higher than that of as-received ones. Increasing the number of ECAP passes improves the tensile strength for alloys with and without T6 treatment due to the fine grain strengthening mechanism.     

退火温度对ECAP变形高氮奥氏体不锈钢力学性能的影响

为研究等通道转角挤压(ECAP)+退火对高氮钢力学行为的影响,室温条件下对高氮钢进行1道次ECAP变形,之后分别在700、800、850、900 ℃下对不同N含量的试验钢进行退火处理,分析其力学性能变化规律。结果表明:高氮钢随着退火温度的升高,屈服强度和抗拉强度整体上呈下降的趋势,塑性随退火温度的升高而上升;不同状态高氮钢的抗拉强度与均匀延伸率之间都呈现了传统的强塑性之间的矛盾关系,随N含量的增加,呈现强度和均匀延伸率同步提高的趋势;高氮钢ECAP+低温退火后的拉伸断口呈现沿晶断裂形貌,随N含量的升高,沿晶断裂倾向更加明显。