Flow properties of an aluminum alloy processed by equal channel angular pressing

Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP) process is an important process for producing ultrafine-grained microstructures in bulk metals and alloys. In the present work, aluminum alloy AA 6063 samples were subjected to ECAP for up to three passes using an ECAP die with a die angle of 105°. The strain imparted to the specimen after three passes was approximately 2.64. Compression testing of the ECAP specimens was carried out to determine the subsequent flow behavior. Two types of compression test specimen orientations, one parallel to the axis of pressed sample and the other at 45° to the axis of the pressed sample, were used for the study. The strain path change (SPC) parameter was used to quantify the strain path change involved in straining by ECAP followed by straining by uniaxial compression. Higher flow strength values were observed in compression in specimens machined at 45º to the axis of the ECAP specimens. Flow softening and anisotropic behavior have been studied with respect to the number of passes and processing routes.     

等径角挤压对Al-Cu-Mg-Ag合金组织性能的影响

为研究大塑形变形对耐热铝合金的作用,采用铸冶金工艺制备了新型的Al-Cu-Mg-Ag耐热铝合金,通过显微组织观察、差热分析及硬度测试等方法,研究了等径角挤压对耐热铝合金显微组织与力学性能的影响.结果表明:通过对挤压态的Al-Cu-Mg-Ag耐热铝合金在固溶淬火后时效前进行等径角挤压变形,可获得晶粒尺寸低于2μm的块体超...     

Pure copper processed by extrusion preceded equal channel angular pressing

High purity copper (99.99%) was severely plastically deformed by miniaturized extrusion preceded ECAP at 200 °C. A partially recrystallized microstructure was detected by TEM observations due to the relative high processing temperature. Isochronal annealing was performed to investigate the material's behavior by measuring the development of Vickers microhardness. As copper is a metal with a relative low stacking fault energy, recovery does not occur readily and only recrystallization takes place.     

Texture simulation of aluminum rod during equal channel angular pressing

A general procedure for texture simulation in multi-pass equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) with capability of applying different processing routes is proposed. The program inputs are the initial texture and the loading condition and the output is texture after deformation. Deformation texture in ECAP of aluminum rod was predicted based on simple shear model for deformation and Visco plastic self consistent model for texture simulation. The simulation was done for two consecutive passes of ECAP and the results were compared with experimental texture measurements. The initial texture of the sample before ECAP was found to play a key role in formation of the final texture and a good agreement between the simulated and the experimental texture was obtained.     

The role of grain orientation in microstructure evolution of pure aluminum processed by equal channel angular pressing

A new approach describing the role of crystallographic orientation in the microstructural refinement of commercially pure aluminum during the successive passes of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is introduced. The study is based on analysis of X-ray diffraction texture data that is used to calculate the geometrical position of crystallographic slip planes with respect to the shearing plane of the ECAP die. The angular deviations of {111} slip planes from the macroscopic deformation plane for different processing routes were calculated and compared. The microstructure evolution was investigated using electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD). The grain size and grain boundary character distribution obtained for each processing route are related to the angles between {111} planes and the shearing plane. It was shown that the more effective routes in grain refinement have higher angles between {111} slip planes and the shearing plane.     

Microstructure investigation and thermal stability of 99.1% aluminum processed by equal channel angular extrusion

Microstructure evolution of 99.1% aluminum after equal-channel angular extrusion (ECAE) and subsequent heat-treatment was investigated. After deformation the samples were annealed at different temperatures. The deformed and annealed states were characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and microhardness tests. It was shown that the observed microstructure changes during subsequent annealing have to be associated with recovery and cells formation. The initial stages of recovery were investigated using weak-beam technique. The microstructure obtained after annealing for 1 h at 100 °C consists of some arrangements of the dislocations into sub-grain boundaries within the wide preexisting grains. Annealing at 300 °C led to the appearance of a duplex microstructure consisting of bands of slightly coarsened grains associated with refined grains. No growth of dislocation cells was observed up to 400 °C. In XRD measurements, the lattice parameter increase with subsequent heating. This indicates a continuous grain growth during annealing. This is due to the important increase of coherency length, D observed parallel to a substantial decrease of rms-strain, ε.     

Annealing twins in high purity aluminium processed by dynamic equal channel angular pressing

Annealing twins are synthesised in high purity aluminium processed by dynamic equal channel angular pressing during annealing. Annealing twins and recrystallised grains encircling the twins have specific crystallographic orientation relationships with the deformed matrix grains: approximately 35°–50°<110> for the twins and 30°–45°<100> for the recrystallised grains. Stored energy during dynamic pressing, and the crystallographic orientation between annealing twins and the deformed matrix, strongly affect twin growth during annealing.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of pure gold processed by equal channel angular pressing

The microstructure and mechanical properties of pure gold were examined after different number of equal channel angular pressing passes. The hardness and 0.2% proof stress from the compression tests were observed to increase only up to the fourth pass whereas the compressive strength at 40% strain kept increasing gradually with increasing the number of passes. Microstructure with low angle grain boundaries and shear bands were observed until the eighth pass and equiaxed grains with high angle grain boundaries were observed only after the twelfth pass.     

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.     

Microstructure and strength of pure Cu with large grains processed by equal channel angular pressing

The pure Cu rods with an initial grain size of 410 μm were treated by using equal channel angular pressing (ECAP). The deformed microstructure and mechanical properties of ECAPed Cu samples were investigated. Special attention was paid on the refinement of grain size and local micromechanics of ECAPed Cu samples. The original coarse grains were refined to 320 μm after 4 passes. The final grains were composed of dislocation cells with a size of 500 nm–3 μm after 5–8 passes. The yield strength reached a saturation value of 368 MPa after 5 passes. The maps of microhardness distribution illustrated the inhomogeneity of local mechanical properties. The dislocation subdivision was the main deformation mode to refine the grain size, while twin fragmentation was restrained by dislocation slips for the reason of large initial grain size. Furthermore, the strengthening of ECAPed Cu was discussed.     

An investigation on the capability of equal channel angular pressing for consolidation of aluminum and aluminum composite powder

In this study equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) was used as a technique for consolidation of attritioned aluminum powder (45 μm) with varying concentration of nano alumina powders (35 nm) in tube at 200 °C. The effect of ECAP on consolidation behavior of composite powder and mechanical properties of subsequent compacts are presented. It is found that ECAP has the capability of consolidating pure aluminum powder, Al-5 vol% Al₂O₃ and Al-10 vol% Al₂O₃ to near their theoretical density and also declustering of the agglomerated alumina particles after maximum four passes. However full consolidation of Al-15 vol% Al₂O₃ before emanating the cracks on the tube material was not possible and about 7% porosity remains in the compacted composite which degrades the mechanical properties of this composite in comparison to the aluminum composites with 5 vol% and 10 vol% alumina.     

等通道转角挤压自增强等规聚丙烯研究

为了研究等通道转角挤压等规聚丙烯的挤压工艺条件、结构与性能之间的关系,采用90°转角模具及挤压路径A、在熔点以下的160℃制备了不同挤压次数的等规聚丙烯样品,利用广角X射线衍射(WAXD)、差示扫描量热分析(DSC)等手段对其结构进行表征.结果表明,随挤压次数增加,等规聚丙烯分子取向明显增加,材料结晶度提高,试样的力学性能提高十分显著,未挤压试样的抗拉强度为17.13 MPa,经过三次挤压后,抗拉强度提高到59.38 MPa.     

Characterization of aluminum processed by equal channel angular extrusion: Effect of processing route

Equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) of aluminum alloys leads to enhanced strength. However, the effects of processing route on the resulting properties were not extensively investigated, and sometimes neglected. In the present work, an aluminum was processed by ECAE via routes B_C and C using a die formed by two channels connected at an angle Ф = 90°. Coherency lengths D calculated from X-ray diffraction peaks were 85 nm after the first passage. For route B_C, it was kept constant when the number of passages N was increased. For route C, an increase of D was observed when increasing N. The remaining densities of dislocations ρ were calculated using a recently published formula. A decrease of ρ was observed during ECAE in route C but not in route B_C. Mechanical tests allowed us to relate the increase of D and the decrease of ρ to an enhanced recovery during ECAE via route C.     

铸态AZ81镁合金ECAP态组织与性能研究

采用自制的90°模具,经Bc路径在温度为300℃下研究对比了铸态及不同道次的等通道挤压(ECAP)态AZ81镁合金微观组织和力学性能.结果表明ECAP随着挤压道次的增加,AZ81镁合金显微组织和力学性能发生显著变化.当挤压到4道次,平均晶粒尺寸由原来铸态的145um细化为9.6um,拉伸断口韧窝明显增多;抗拉强度从180 MPa提高到306 MPa,延伸率和硬度分别达到15.8%和142HL.分析表明,AZ81镁合金在高温挤压过程中Mg17Al12相粒子被破碎,并部分溶入基体,$-Mg基体与%-Mg17Al12相互相阻碍其晶粒长大,获得细小晶粒组织.     

Grain boundary misorientation and positron annihilation characteristics in steel Eurofer processed by equal channel angular pressing

Electron back-scattered diffraction and positron annihilation lifetime measurements were performed on the ferritic–martensitic 9 %Cr Eurofer steel processed by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at 550 °C. The orientation imaging mapping images reveal ECAP-induced changes toward a more stable texture via rotation around 〈111〉 and 〈110〉 axes. These are accompanied by transformation of martensite into ferrite and a remarkable change in the bimodal distribution of grain misorientations with reduction of the fraction of high-angle grain boundaries. The positron annihilation measurements evidence the release of vacancies retained in the ECAP-processed material and their clustering into nanovoids in samples heat treated at T ≥ 500 °C. It is found that tensile strain applied at 600 °C can inhibit this void formation in the ECAP-deformed material for 1 and 2 passes, but not in the case of 4 passes. A model for accounting the results is proposed.     

Finite element analysis of rotary-die equal channel angular pressing

In this paper, the finite element method (FEM) was applied to analyze the plastic flow and strain hardening behavior of pure copper, subjected to rotary-die equal channel angular pressing (RD-ECAP) up to four passes. The die was rotated 90° counter clockwise between the passes in the simulation. The effective strain distribution and load–stroke curves were investigated. The load was increased with the number of rotary-die equal channel angular pressing passes. The results show that, plastic deformation becomes inhomogeneous with the number of passes due to an end effect, which was not found seriously in conventional equal channel angular pressing (ECAP). Especially, decreasing corner gap with increasing the number of passes was observed and explained by the strain hardening effect.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of ultrafine grain ZK60 alloy processed by equal channel angular pressing

The microstructure evolution and tensile properties of ZK60 magnesium alloy after equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) have been investigated. The results show that the two-step ECAP process is more effective in grain refinement than the single-step ECAP process due to the lower deformation temperature, a mean grain size of ~0.8 μm was obtained after two-step ECAP process at 513 K for four passes and 453 K for four passes. The EBSD examination reveals that ZK60 alloy after two-step ECAP process exhibits a more homogeneous grain size and misorientation distribution than single-step ECAP process. Both alloys after ECAP process present similar strong {0002} texture. The tensile strength of two-step ECAP alloy has also been improved compared with the single-step ECAP alloy. The strengthening effect was mainly ascribed to grain refinement.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-7075 alloy processed by equal channel angular pressing combined with aging treatment

In order to examine the combined effect of plastic deformation and aging process, the Al 7075 alloy was subjected to equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) deformation by route B_C in various ECAP and aging conditions: pre-ECAP aging, post-ECAP aging and dynamic aging during ECAP at 393 K and 423 K. Followed by ECAP and aging treatment, Vickers microhardness and tensile test were performed and microstructural observations were undertaken using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). TEM investigation showed that ultrafine-grained (UFG) materials with grain size less than 500 nm could be obtained after three or four passes of ECAP. Precipitates characterization revealed that maximum mechanical properties are achieved when the microstructure mainly consists of fine dispersion of small η^′ precipitates and minor quantities of GP zones. Dynamic aged specimens at 393 K and 423 K represented maximum and minimum mechanical properties, respectively, due to formation of fine η^′ precipitates plus GP zones and η^′ plus η precipitates, respectively. Dynamic aging during ECAP at 393 K appeared preferable to other procedures for attaining maximum mechanical properties as well as saving time and energy.     

Defect structure and mechanical stability of microcrystalline titanium produced by equal channel angular pressing

It is established that increases in nanoporosity and the proportion of high-angle grain boundaries in the process of equal-channel angular pressing are the main structural factors leading to reduction in mechanical stability (durability) of microcrystalline titanium during long-term tests under creeping conditions.