Dynamic recovery: sufficient mechanism in the hot deformation of Al (<99.99)

A recent OIM study of the substructure in hot compressed Al has observed an increase in the fraction of boundaries both of 15–20° and above 20° as strain rises from 0.9 to 1.5. This was interpreted as evidence of continuous dynamic recrystallization being the mechanism for the steady state deformation. However, when the original grain boundaries and transition boundaries between deformation bands are discounted, the fraction of 15–20° boundaries is reduced to less than 20% and would be much lower if subboundaries less than 0.5° visible in TEM were taken into account. The present authors argue that dynamic recovery maintains the subgrains of constant size, low misorientation and equiaxed to produce a steady state and can permit a limited number of discrete segments with higher misorientation notably as temperature falls. Moreover, continuous dynamic recrystallization is not appropriate terminology because it is far from reaching the completion observed in other instances of continuous recrystallization.     

Effects of Mg17Al12 phase on microstructure evolution and ductility in the AZ91 magnesium alloy during the continuous rheo-squeeze casting-extrusion process

In this study,a high-ductility AZ91 magnesium alloy was fabricated by the novel continuous rheo-squeeze casting-extrusion(CRSCE)process.The semi-solid slurry was prepared by ultrasonic vibration(UV)treat-ment,then solidified under pressure,and finally hot extruded.UV treatment can reduce the Al element content in primary grains and increase it in secondary grains.The refined Mg17Al12 phase was scattered along secondary grain boundaries and then stretched into narrow,fibrous bands during the hot extrusion.The fibrous bands with proper separation distances can accelerate the dynamic recrystallization(DRX)process and suppress the growth of DRXed grains.Microcracks were initiated inside the brittle Mg17Al12 phase and tended to propagate along the continuously distributed Mg17Al12 phase during the tensile test.Thus,the tiny Mg17Al12 phase in the billet and narrow,fibrous bands in as-extruded rods can prevent cracks from spreading and enhance ductility.Therefore,excellent comprehensive mechanical properties were obtained,with an ultimate tensile strength of 326.3 MPa and an elongation of 16.46％.The CRSCE method offers a novel way to fabricate high-ductility and high-alloyed magnesium alloys without ho-mogenization.Microstructure regulation mechanisms of CRSCE,microstructural hereditary laws,and the effect of the Mg17Al12 phase on mechanical properties were further discussed.     

Spark plasma sintering and hot compression behaviour of AZ91 Mg alloy

Abstract

In the present investigation, the microstructural characterisation of the AZ91 Mg alloy produced by spark plasma sintering (SPS), as well as the evaluation of its hot compression behaviour, has been performed. Based on the differential scanning calorimetry analyses of the starting powders, three SPS cycles are investigated, using temperatures of 400 and 450°C, and at 450°C with previous solubilisation soaking at 420°C. Despite different microstructural and hardness characteristics, the three alloys display similar hot compression behaviour. At 200°C, the formation of an unstable crack, which propagates at 45° with respect to the loading axis, is observed after the occurrence of the peak load. At higher testing temperatures, after reaching the peak stress, the flow stress decreases slowly with increased strain of ～0·51. Such behaviour corresponds with the observation of an accelerated cracking due to the propagation of decohesions at the interparticle regions. Ultimately, SPS allowed for attainment of high relative density; however, the sintering degree of the materials was quite low.     

Microstructural evolution of AZ61 magnesium alloy during hot deformation

Abstract

The microstructural evolution of AZ61 magnesium alloy during hot compression at various temperatures was investigated. The experimental results show that dynamic recrystallisation occurs over a wide temperature range. Grains can be greatly refined through dynamic recrystallisation. The mean size of the recrystallised grains increases with a decrease of temperature or value of Z (Zener – Hollomon parameter), while the reciprocal of the recrystallised grain size has a good linear relationship with the natural logarithm of the Z value, as well as the hyperbolic term of the flow stress. Basal and non-basal segments have been found in both recrystallised grains and primary grains, whereas dislocation pileups exist only in recrystallised grains when the temperature is lower than 673 K. The occurrence of twins is dependent on temperature and strain. When the strain increases, primary twins evolve into secondary twins. However, secondary twins grow with an increase of temperature; some secondary twins evolve into subgrains.     

Effect of refinement of grains and icosahedral phase on hot compressive deformation and processing maps of Mg-Zn-Y magnesium alloys with different volume fractions of icosahedral phase

The effect of the volume fraction of I-phase on the hot compressive behavior and processing maps of the extruded Mg-Zn-Y alloys was examined, and the obtained results were compared with those of the cast alloys in a previous work. The average grain sizes, fractions of dynamically recrystallized (DRXed) grains, and sizes of DRXed grains of the extruded alloys after compressive deformation were significantly smaller, higher and smaller, respectively, than those of the cast alloys after compressive deformation under the same experimental conditions. This was because the microstructures of the extruded alloys, having much more grain boundaries and more refined I-phase particles than the cast alloys, provided a larger number of nucleation sites for dynamic recrystallization than those of the cast alloys. The constitutive equations for high-temperature deformation of the extruded and cast alloys could be derived using the same activation energy for plastic flow, which was close to the activation energy for lattice diffusion in magnesium. Compared with the cast alloys, the onset of the power law breakdown (PLB) occurred at larger Zener-Holloman (Z) parameter values in the extruded alloys. This was because the extruded alloys had finer initial grain sizes and higher fractions of finer DRXed grains compared to the cast alloys, such that the onset of PLB caused by creation of excessive concentrations of deformation-induced vacancies was delayed to a higher strain rate and a lower temperature. The flow-stress difference between the extruded alloys and the cast alloys could be attributed to the difference in the fraction of DRXed grains. According to the processing maps, the extruded alloys exhibited higher power dissipation efficiency and flow stability than the cast alloys. This agreed with the microstructural observations.     

Role of pre-vertical compression in deformation behavior of Mg alloy AZ31B during super-high reduction hot rolling process

Mg alloy AZ31B plates were processed by hot rolling with different thickness reductions per pass and pre-vertical compression followed by super-high reduction hot rolling (PVCR), respectively. Microstructure evolution, rolling formability variation and mechanical responses were investigated. As reduction per pass increased, the number of shear bands deflecting toward rolling direction increased, resulting in easy crack initiation in and around the bands. With increasing reduction per pass up to 80%, twinning and twinning-induced dynamic recrystallization (DRX) dominated the deformation of the edge material at 350?°C, resulting in local recrystallization with coarse grains and further largest edge-crack degree. Pre-induced {10$\overline{1}$2} tensile twins by pre-vertical compression (PVC) increased number density of nucleation sites for dynamic recrystallization during the subsequent severe rolling, which enhanced the dominant role of continuous dynamic recrystallization. Designed PVCR-b was proved to be a relatively effective method to improve rolling formability of rolled Mg alloy AZ31B plates. With this method, mean grain size of AZ31B plate was significantly refined from ～600?mm to ～14.1?mm and more homogeneous grain size distribution along transverse direction (TD) was achieved. In addition, basal texture intensity was greatly weakened. As a result, tensile anisotropy was distinctly decreased and fracture elongation increased dramatically.     

变形的AZ91D镁合金半固态等温压缩的力学行为

为了了解等径道角挤压(ECAE)的AZ91D镁合金在半固态压缩变形中的力学特征,利用半固态温压缩实验、Gleeble1500实验机和金相显微镜对其在半固态压缩变形中的力学行为进行了研究.结果表明:ECAE的AZ91D镁合金在半固态等温压缩中变形由固相晶粒本身的塑性变形、液相包围着固相晶粒的滑动和转动构成;该材料的真应力-真应变曲线由应力激增阶段、应力下降阶段、稳态阶段和应力增加阶段组成;随保温时间的增加或变形温度的升高,获得相同应变量的真应力明显下降,稳态应力和峰值应力也明显下降;随应变速率的增加,稳态应力增加.     

Effect of Mg17Al12 precipitates on the microstructural changes and mechanical properties of hot compressed AZ91 magnesium alloy

During hot compression, Mg₁₇Al₁₂ (β) precipitates show strong influence on the microstructural changes of 415 °C-24 h homogenized AZ91 alloy. When compressed at 300 °C and 350 °C, dynamic recrystallization (DRX) only occurs near grain boundaries with discontinuous β precipitate pinning at the newly DRXed grain boundaries. With increasing compression temperature and decreasing strain rate, the β-precipitating region expands; however, the amount of pinning precipitates decreases, resulting in increases in the DRX ratio and average DRXed grain size. With a compression ratio of only 50%, the specimen compressed at 350 °C and a strain rate of 0.2 s⁻¹ (designated 350 °C-0.2 s⁻¹ compressed specimen) shows an ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 334 MPa, a 0.2% proof stress (PS) of 195 MPa and an enough elongation of 17.9%. After a subsequent aging treatment at 180 °C, due to the large number of β precipitates, the strength of the compressed specimens are further improved, and the specimen peak aged after compression at 400 °C and 0.2 s⁻¹ shows UTS of 364 MPa and PS of 248 MPa with a moderate elongation of 7.7%.     

Microstructure evolution and texture development during high-temperature uniaxial compression of magnesium alloy AZ31

Texture development in magnesium alloy AZ31 was studied by uniaxial compression tests at temperatures, strain rates and final strains ranging from 573 to 773 K, 1.0 × 10⁻³ to 5.0 × 10⁻⁵ s⁻¹ and −0.2 to −1.5, respectively. Fiber texture was formed in all of the deformation conditions. The main component of the texture varied depending on deformation conditions; it appeared about 33–38° away from the basal pole after the deformation at higher temperatures and lower strain rates. This can be attributed to the increased activity of the secondary pyramidal slip system. With a decrease in temperatures and an increase in strain rate, the tilting angle of the main component (compression plane) from the basal pole decreased down to about 20°. Construction of a basal fiber texture was detected after deformations at the lowest temperature and high strain rates.     

ZK60稀土镁合金高温塑性变形行为研究

为了研究镁合金高温塑性变形行为,采用Gleeble-1500型热/力压缩模拟机对ZK60-RE稀土镁合金在423~673 K及0.002~0.1 s-1应变速率进行不同变形程度的高温压缩模拟试验,分析了实验合金在高温压缩变形时流变应力、应变速率以及变形温度之间的关系,推导并计算了不同应变速率和不同温度下的变形激活能,并观察了不同变形程度的显微组织.结果表明:试验合金在一定变形速度下,较低的温度压缩时以加工硬化为主,较高的温度下以动态再结晶为主.峰值应力随变形速度的降低和温度的升高而下降.合金的变形激活能在523~623 K内迅速上升.     

Effect of initial texture on dynamic recrystallization of AZ31 Mg alloy during hot rolling

Wedge-shaped AZ31 plates with two kinds of initial textures were rolled at 573 K to investigate the effect of initial texture on dynamic recrystallization (DRX). The results indicated that the initiation and nucleation of DRX were closely related to the initial texture. The initiation and completion of DRX in the TD-plate were significantly retarded compared with that in the ND-plate. Twin related DRX nucleation was mainly observed in the ND-plate samples; while gain boundary related DRX nucleation was mainly observed in the TD-plate samples. The different DRX behavior between the TD- and ND-plates was attributed to the different deformation mechanism occurring before DRX initiation. For the ND-plate, dislocation glide was considered as the main deformation mechanism accompanied with {1 0 −1 1}-{1 0 −1 2} double twin, which led to the increment of a faster increasing stored energy within the grains. And {1 0 −1 1}-{1 0 −1 2} double twin was mainly found to be DRX nucleation site for the ND-plate. For the TD-plate, {1 0 −1 2} extension twin was the dominant deformation mechanism which resulted in a basal texture with the c-axis nearly parallel to ND. The stored energy caused by dislocation motion was relatively small in the TD-plate before a basal texture was formed, which was considered as the main reason of that DRX was retarded in the TD-plate compared with that in the ND-plate. Based on the difference in deformation mechanism and DRX mechanism caused by the different initial texture, the variation in grain size, micro-texture and misorientation angle distribution in the ND and TD plates were discussed.     

Recrystallization of 30Cr2Ni4MoV ultra-super-critical rotor steel during hot deformation. Part I: Dynamic recrystallization

This paper presents an investigation that characterizes the evolution of the dynamically recrystallized structure of 30Cr2Ni4MoV ultra-super-critical rotor steel during hot deformation, as a starting point for studies of the static recrystallization (SRX) and the metadynamic recrystallization (MDRX) behaviors, by hot compression tests which are performed at the temperatures from 1243 K to 1543 K and strain rates from 0.001 s⁻¹ to 0.1 s⁻¹ on Gleeble-3500 thermo-mechanical simulator, and the corresponding flow curves are obtained. A third-order polynomial is then fitted to the work hardening region of each curve. The critical stress for initiation of dynamic recrystallization (DRX) can be calculated by setting the second derivative of the third order polynomial. By regression analysis, the activation energy in whole range of deformation temperature is determined to be Q = 368.45 kJ/mol. The complete DRX grain size (D_drx) of the test steel is a function of Zener-Hollomon parameter (Z) and is independent of the true strain. The relationship of D_drx and Z is found to be described in a form of power law function with an exponent of −0.24.     

High-strength Mg95Y3Zn1Ni1 alloy with LPSO structure processed by hot rolling

Microstructures and mechanical properties of Mg₉₅Y₃Zn₁Ni₁ alloy containing long period stacking ordered (LPSO) phase processed by hot rolling were systematically investigated in the present work. The results showed that the as-cast alloy was mainly composed of α-Mg and network 18?R LPSO phase. The thermal stability of 18?R LPSO phase in the as-cast alloys decreased with the decrease of Ni content. After solution treatment at 773?K for 40?h, network 18?R phase at grain boundary dissolved, while fine lamellar phase identified as 14H LPSO precipitated in the interior of grains. When the solid-solution alloy was hot rolled at 723?K with six passes and thickness reduction of 62%, some LPSO phases broke down and kinking of varying degrees occurred in LPSO phase. Meanwhile, the as-rolled α-Mg and LPSO phase redistributed aligned along the rolling orientation. The alloy exhibited excellent mechanical properties: yield strength of 282?MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 383?MPa, and elongation to failure of 16% at ambient temperature along the rolling orientation. The remarkable improvement of strength was ascribed to the refined microstructure induced by the deformation kinking and the crush of LPSO phase.     

Application of X-ray microtomography to analysis of cavitation in AZ61 magnesium alloy during hot deformation

The efficiency of particles in acting as cavity formation sites during hot deformation was investigated for a fine-grained wrought magnesium-aluminium-zinc (AZ series) alloy using X-ray micro tomography. Two methodologies were developed to determine the particle/cavity association from 3-dimensional data, each clearly demonstrating that particles act as a major formation site for cavitation. The particles forming cavities were identified and characterised. It is shown that progressively smaller particles nucleate cavities as strain increases. This is due to concurrent grain growth which reduces the critical particle diameter for cavity nucleation during testing, leading to a continuous cavity nucleation. Particle agglomerates are shown to be particularly potent sites for cavity formation, leading to large and complex shaped cavities even if the individual particles within the agglomerate are below the critical particle diameter for cavity nucleation.     

Surface coatings for improving the corrosion resistance and cell adhesion of AZ91D magnesium alloy through environmentally clean methods

Two different coatings, Mg-Al hydrotalcite and aragonite (CaCO₃), were produced on die-cast AZ91D Mg alloy (Mg-9wt.%Al-1wt.%Zn) through environmentally clean methods. The corrosion resistance and human mesenchymal stem cell adhesion properties of the coatings on AZ91D were investigated. Results showed that through environmentally clean methods, both Mg-Al hydrotalcite and aragonite CaCO₃ surface coatings could be produced on AZ91D surfaces. These coatings increased the corrosion potential and polarization resistance and decreased the corrosion rate of AZ91D in simulated body fluid. Both surface coatings also improved stem cell spreading and interaction in culture. Further long-term animal testing is suggested before these surface coatings can be recommended for use in clinical applications.     

An investigation on the reaction mechanism of LiAlH4–MgH2 hydrogen storage system

The mechanism and hydrogen absorption/desorption properties of LiAlH₄ + xMgH₂ (where x = 1, 2.5, and 4) composites have been investigated. With the combination of MgH₂ and LiAlH₄ by mechanical grinding, initial decomposition temperatures of the mixtures can be reduced by about 50 °C. Mechanical grinding treatment makes MgH₂ react with LiAlH₄ to release a certain amount of hydrogen. The final resultants of the composites after thermal decomposition contain Al₁₂Mg₁₇. Intermetallic Al₁₂Mg₁₇ hydrogenated into Al₂Mg₃, MgH₂ and Al firstly, intermediate Al₂Mg₃ then transforms into MgH₂ and Al in the subsequent hydriding process. Hydrogenation of intermediate Al₂Mg₃ is supposed to occur synchronously to that of Al₁₂Mg₁₇, therefore demarcation of the two hydrogenation processes is ambiguous. Al₁₂Mg₁₇ can be totally recovered by complete dehydriding. Formation of Al₁₂Mg₁₇ alters the reaction pathway of LiAlH₄ + xMgH₂ (where x = 1, 2.5, and 4) systems and improves their thermodynamic properties. The dehydrogenation process of LiAlH₄ + xMgH₂ (x = 1, 2.5, and 4) composites contain two stages, their maximum desorption capacity reaches 7.46 wt.%.     

Mathematical model of deformation and microstructural evolution during hot rolling of aluminium alloy 5083

Abstract

A mathematical model to predict the through thickness temperature, strain and strain rate distributions during hot rolling and the subsequent microstructure evolution was developed using the commercial finite element package ABAQUS. Microstructure evolution predictions included the amount of recrystallisation through the thickness of the sheet based on its thermomechanical history during rolling and thermal history after rolling. The equations used to predict the microstructure evolution were based on semiempirical relationships found in the literature for a 5083 aluminium alloy. Validation of the model predictions was done using comprehensive experimental measurements which were conducted using the Corus research multimill, a pilot scale experimental rolling facility, in Ijmuiden, The Netherlands. The results indicate that the through thickness temperature and strain distribution predictions for the rolling operation are reasonable. Hence, the boundary conditions used in the finite element model adequately represent the interface heat transfer and friction conditions. Microstructure predictions using the literature based equations significantly underestimate the amount of recrystallisation occurring in the sheet. A sensitivity analysis indicates that the recrystallisation kinetics are extremely sensitive to the fitting parameters used in the microstructure equation, and that the gradient in the recrystallisation kinetics is the result of the temperature gradient experienced by the specimen during deformation.     

Enhanced mechanical response of hybrid alloy AZ31/AZ91 based on the addition of Si3N4 nanoparticles

The main aim of this study was to simultaneously increase tensile strength and ductility of AZ31/AZ91 hybrid magnesium alloy with Si₃N₄ nanoparticles. AZ31/AZ91 hybrid alloy nanocomposite containing Si₃N₄ nanoparticle reinforcement was fabricated using solidification processing followed by hot extrusion. The nanocomposite exhibited similar grain size to the monolithic hybrid alloy, reasonable Si₃N₄ nanoparticle distribution, non-dominant (0 0 0 2) texture in the longitudinal direction, and 13% higher hardness than the monolithic hybrid alloy. Compared to the monolithic hybrid alloy (in tension), the nanocomposite simultaneously exhibited higher yield strength, ultimate strength, failure strain and work of fracture (+12%, +5%, +64% and +71%, respectively). Compared to the monolithic hybrid alloy (in compression), the nanocomposite exhibited higher yield strength and ultimate strength, lower failure strain and higher work of fracture (+35%, +4%, −6% and +6%, respectively). The beneficial effects of Si₃N₄ nanoparticle addition on the enhancement of tensile and compressive properties of AZ31/AZ91 hybrid alloy are investigated in this paper.