Effects of grain size on compressive behaviour in ultrafine grained pure Mg processed by equal channel angular pressing at room temperature

Ultrafine-grained pure magnesium with an average grain size of 0.8 μm was produced by refining coarse-grained (980 μm) ingot by multi-pass equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at room temperature with the application of a back pressure. The compressive deformation behaviour at room temperature depended on grain size, with deformation twinning and associated work hardening observed in coarse-grained Mg, but absent in the ultrafine grained material as decreasing grain size raised the stress for twinning above that for dislocation slip. The ultrafine grained Mg showed good plasticity with prolonged constant stress after some initial strain hardening.     

Finite element modelling of plastic instability during ECAP processing of flow-softening materials

A finite element analysis of the equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) of flow-softening materials is presented in this paper. A very fine mesh was used in the simulations, allowing a detailed analysis of the development of localized shear phenomena. Two different flow curves were used in the simulations; one displayed an initial flow-softening followed by perfect plastic behavior, whereas the other followed a constant flow-softening behavior. The flow-softening rate affects the intensity of shear localization. The deformation zone, that is usually concentrated around a fixed shear plane during processing of perfect plastic or strain hardening materials, splits into two parts and its position varies cyclically during the process, leading to oscillations in the punch load during processing. A comparison of the finite element predictions with those from the slip line field theory is also presented.     

The effect of anodising on the fatigue performance of self-tapping aluminium screws

Self-tapping aluminium screws are an innovative joining technology for the assembly of lightweight components in industrial scale. It has been established in the past that porous anodic oxide coatings in many cases reduce the fatigue strength of specimens without notches. In the present work, the fatigue behaviour of notched specimens, i.e. self-tapping screws made from aluminium alloys EN AW-6056, 6082 (both in a conventional state and in a fine-grained state produced by equal channel angular pressing – ECAP) and 7068 with and without oxide coatings is examined. The coatings are produced by hard anodising and are necessary for the thread-forming process during assembly. While the coatings do not affect the static tensile strength, they reduce the fatigue strength for the specimens of the 6056 and the 6082 alloy. For the 7068 alloy a slight increase in fatigue strength is discovered on a low load horizon. The scatter of endured fatigue cycles until fracture of specimens is generally reduced by the anodic oxide coatings.     

Effect of initial microstructure on the processing of titanium using equal channel angular pressing

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is a metal processing technique that is used to produce materials with ultrafine (<1 μm) grain sizes. In this work, the effect of the initial microstructure on ECAP of commercially pure titanium (CP Ti), a material used in many industrial applications, was investigated. To produce different initial microstructures, samples of CP Ti were exposed to different annealing conditions: no annealing (Material 1), annealed at 1033 K for 2 hr (Material 2), or annealed at 1173 K for 4 hr (Material 3). Each material was subjected to one pass of ECAP and the resulting microstructures were analyzed using XRD, SEM, and TEM, and compared to the microstructures before ECAP. It was found that each material developed a unique microstructure after one pass of ECAP, which was attributed to the varying microstructural characteristics before ECAP. Microhardness values before and after ECAP varied with each microstructure.     

Stored energy of a severely deformed interstitial free steel

A Ti-stabilised IF steel subjected to room temperature equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) for 8 passes, route B_C was further cold rolled to 25, 50 and 95% thickness reductions. The evolution of bulk stored energy (350–600 J mol⁻¹) and the associated thermal behaviour was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Local stored energy (5–140 J mol⁻¹) was measured using microhardness, electron back-scattering diffraction (EBSD) and X-ray line profile analysis. The higher stored energy values via calorimetry correspond to energy release from all sources of strain in the material volume as well as Ti precipitation during annealing. An apparent activation energy of 500–550 J mol⁻¹ suggests sluggish recrystallisation due to excess Ti in solid solution.     

Effect of deformation temperature on microstructure evolution in aluminum alloy 2219 during hot ECAP

The effect of deformation temperature on microstructure evolution during equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) was studied in a coarse-grained aluminum alloy 2219 in a wide temperature interval from 250 to 475 °C. The structural changes taking place during ECAP up to strains of 12 are classified into the following three stages irrespective of deformation temperatures: i.e. (1) an incubation period for formation of the embryos of deformation bands (DBs) at low strains; (2) development of large-scale DBs followed by grain fragmentation at moderate strains; (3) rapid development of new grain at high strains. Microstructure development in stages 1 and 2 is hardly influenced by temperature, while that in stage 3 is most significantly affected at higher temperature. An increase in the pressing temperature leads to decreasing the volume fraction of new grains and increasing the average grain size in stage 3. This can be attributed to relaxation of strain compatibility between grains due to frequent operation of dynamic recovery and grain boundary sliding at higher temperature. The mechanism of grain refinement is discussed in detail.     

The development of superplastic ductilities and microstructural homogeneity in a magnesium ZK60 alloy processed by ECAP

An extruded ZK60 magnesium alloy was processed by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) and then tested in tension at elevated temperatures. The results show the alloy is superplastic at a testing temperature of 473 K with an optimum ductility of 1310% when using an initial strain rate of 2.0 × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹. The results demonstrate that optimum superplasticity is achieved at intermediate strain rates and there are decreases in the elongations to failure at both faster and slower strain rates. Microhardness measurements were taken both on the cross-sectional plane and along the axial direction after processing by ECAP. These measurements show the alloy is essentially homogeneous in the as-pressed condition.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of ZA62 Mg alloy by equal-channel angular pressing

The Mg-6Zn-2Al alloy was processed by ECAP and microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloy before and after ECAP were studied. The results revealed that the microstructure of the ZA62 alloy was successfully refined after two-step ECAP (2 passes at 473 K and 2-8 passes at 423 K). The course bulk interphase of Mg₅₁Zn₂₀ was crushed into fine particles and mixed with fine matrix grains forming “stripes” in the microstructure after the second step of ECAP extrusion. A bimodal microstructure of small grains of the matrix with size of ∼0.5 μm in the stripes and large grains of the matrix with size of ∼2 μm out of stripes was observed in the microstructure of samples after 4-8 passes of ECAP extrusion at the second step. The mechanical properties of the alloy studied were significantly improved after ECAP and the highest yield strength and elongation at room temperature were obtained at the samples after 4 and 8 ECAP passes at the second step, respectively. Tensile tests carried out at temperature of 473 K to 573 K and strain rate of 1 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹ to 3 × 10⁻² s⁻¹ revealed that the alloy after 8 ECAP passes at the second step showed superplasticity and the highest elongation and strain rate sensitivity (m-value) reached 520% and 0.45, respectively.     

Texture modification and mechanical properties of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheet subjected to equal channel angular bending

Analysis of the recently proposed equal channel angular bending(ECAB)process is provided on thin hotrolled AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets.In particular,effects of deformation temperature and strain path on the texture evolution and mechanical properties are systematically investigated under single pass ECAB at various temperatures and multi-pass ECAB process that involves changes in strain paths.It is found that simultaneous activation of multiple twinning types is successfully introduced during ECAB,which results in obvious tilted component of basal texture.Attributed to the domination of extension twins,weaker basal textures are detected after both single pass ECAB at 150℃and three cross passes ECAB at 200℃.After annealing,the basal texture is further weakened via twin-related recrystallization and the annealed microstructure is featured with mixture of basal and non-basal orientated grains.Additionally,the effect of grain orientation on the mode of plastic deformation and the roles of grain orientation and grain boundary on the local strain accommodation are coherently studied.This study reveals that over 60%increase of uniform elongation with marginal reduction of tensile strength less than 5%can be achieved for single pass ECAB at 150℃and three cross passes ECAB at 200℃,which is the result of larger fraction of grains favored with extension twinning and better local strain accommodation.     

Grain refinement in low SFE and particle-containing nickel aluminium bronze during severe plastic deformation at elevated temperatures

The influence of particle size and morphology on grain refinement in low stacking fault energy(SFE)alloys was studied by comparing the grain structures in single-and multi-phase Al-bronze(AB)alloys following equal channel angular pressing(ECAP)between 350 and 500℃.In particular,nickel aluminium bronze(NAB)was chosen as it contained both coarse and fine rounded particles,as well as a lamellar phase which evolved during ECAP.Grain refinement in the single-phase alloy was achieved through dynamic recrystallisation initiated at deformed twin boundaries.By contrast,different mechanisms were observed in the particle-containing NAB.Recrystallisation around the coarse κⅡ particles(～5 μm)was promoted through particle stimulated nucleation(PSN),whereas recrystallisation in the region of the fine κⅣ(～0.4μm)was delayed due to the activation of secondary slip.Grain refinement in areas of the lamellar κⅢ showed significant variation,depending on the lamellar orientation relative to the shear plane of ECAP.As the lamellae deformed,numerous high angle grain boundaries were generated between fragments and served as nucleation sites for recrystallisation,while PSN occurred around spheroidised lamellae.The spreading of the κⅢ particles by ECAP then enhanced the total area of recrystallised grains.     

A crystal plasticity finite element analysis of cross-grain deformation heterogeneity in equal channel angular extrusion and its implications for texture evolution

A crystal plasticity finite element (CPFE) method was applied to evaluate cross-grain deformation heterogeneity and its implication on texture evolution during equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) of pure copper. The simulations were conducted for one to four passes of ECAE via route C, assuming simple shear in each pass at the macroscopic level. Analyses of the stress and strain distributions reveal considerable deformation heterogeneities across individual grains in the polycrystal. The grain interactions are found to be remarkable after even-numbered passes and they partly contribute to the retained shear textures. The CPFE model captures very well the experimental textures after odd-numbered passes; however, it is not able to model the measured textures subsequent to even-numbered passes, and the results are only slightly improved as compared to a visco-plasticity self-consistent polycrystal model. These results suggest that dedicated considerations of deformation heterogeneities at both the macro- and meso-levels are necessary in modeling texture evolution during severe plastic deformation.     

Evolution of secondary phase particles during deformation of Al-5Ti-1B master alloy and their effect on α-Al grain refinement

Addition of Al-5Ti-1B alloy to molten aluminum alloys can refine α-Al grains effectively and thereby improve their strength and toughness. TiAl₃ and TiB₂ in Al-5Ti-1B alloy are the main secondary-phase particles for refinement, while the understanding on the effect of their sizes on α-Al grain refinement continues to be fragmented. Therefore, Al-5Ti-1B alloys with various sizes and morphologies of the secondary-phase particles were prepared by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP). Evolution of the secondary-phase particles during ECAP process and their impact on α-Al grain refinement were studied by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Results show that during the ECAP process, micro-cracks firstly appeared inside TiAl₃ particles and then gradually expanded, which resulted in continuous refinement of TiAl₃ particles. In addition, micro-distribution uniformity of TiB₂ particles was improved due to the impingement of TiAl₃ particles to TiB₂ clusters during deformation. Excessively large sizes of TiAl₃ particles would reduce the number of effective heterogeneous nucleus and thus resulted in poor grain refinement effectiveness. Moreover, excessively small TiAl₃ particles would reduce inhibitory factors for grain growth Q and weaken grain refinement effectiveness. Therefore, an optimal size range of 18–22 μm for TiAl₃ particles was suggested.     

等径角挤压过程中材料的流变行为研究

分析了等径角挤压过程中材料流变的原因和特征,认为每道次挤压材料内部发生的剪切变形量与时间的函数曲线呈近似正态分布,适当升高温度和增加背压能有效减小难变形区,降低通道与试样接触面之间的摩擦能减小材料内部的滞变区.通过实验证明,随着挤压道次的增加,材料内部的滞变区将减小,均匀化程度会逐步提高.     

摩擦力在ECAP成形时作用的有限元模拟

应用有限元方法对一种全新的可应用于板料的等通道角挤压(ECAP)方法中摩擦力的作用进行了有限元模拟.计算模拟结果表明,不同于常规的等通道角挤压中摩擦力的负面影响,在板料等通道角挤压方法中一定的摩擦力和尺寸精确的模具结构却是保证此类等通道角挤压正常进行的关键.     

Superplasticity of Mg-Zn-Y alloy containing quasicrystal phase processed by equal channel angular pressing

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) has been conducted on as-cast Mg-4.3 wt.%Zn-0.7 wt.%Y Mg alloy containing quasicrystal phase at a temperature of 623 K. After 8 ECAP passes, the grain size of the as-cast alloy is decreased from ∼ 120 to ∼ 3.5 μm, and the coarse eutectic quasicrystal phases are broken and dispersed in the alloy. Tensile testing has been performed on the ECAPed Mg-Zn-Y alloy at temperatures of 523 K and 623 K with initial strain rates from 1.5 × 10^− 3 to 1.5 × 10^− 4 s^− 1. The ECAPed alloy exhibits a maximum elongation of about 600% when testing at 623 K using an initial strain rate of 1.5 × 10^− 4 s^− 1. Grain boundary sliding is considered to be the dominant deformation mechanism of the Mg-Zn-Y alloy in the temperature and strain-rate range investigated.