单道次ECAP纯铝织构演变的有限元模拟

利用晶体塑性有限元(Crystal Plasticity Finite Element,简称CPFE)子程序和ABAQUS商业软件对多晶体纯铝等径弯曲通道(Equal Channel Angular Pressing,简称ECAP)变形进行了细观三维计算机模拟,获得多晶体纯铝在ECAP变形后各晶粒的取向分布数据,并据此得到晶粒取向的ODF图及极图.通过对结果的分析,初始晶粒取向随机分布的多晶体纯铝在ECAP单道次变形后,靠近模具内角的试样和靠近模具外角的试样由于形变的方式不同而形成了不同的织构形态,靠近模具内角的试样形成剪切织构,靠近模具外角的试样形成扭转织构.因此多晶纯铝在通道夹角Ф=90°、外圆角Ψ=20°模具中的ECAP变形并不是通过理想的纯剪切变形实现的.     

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.     

Texture and mechanical properties of single crystal copper during equal channel angular pressing by route C

Single crystal copper has excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, but the lower strength seriously limited its application. Traditional strengthening methods, such as alloying, will severely damage its conductivity. Severe plastic deformation is the most effective methods for increasing the metals strength and not reducing the conductivity. The microstructure and texture evolution of single crystal copper (99.999 %) during equal channel angular pressing by route C was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, electron backscatter diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, the mechanical properties and conductivity were tested, and the influence mechanism of texture and microstructure on mechanical properties and conductivity were analyzed. The results show that during equal channel angular pressing, the original <111> orientation gradually changed to <001>, accompany lots of low‐angle grain boundaries were formed. With strain increasing, the high‐angle grain boundaries increased gradually, and the deformation bands with <110> orientation was formed in the single crystal structure, which plays a positive role on the conductivity. After 5 passes, the tensile strength of single crystal copper increased from 168 MPa to 415 MPa by route A and 385 MPa by route C, and the elongation declined sharply from 63 % to 30 % and 27.9 %, respectively. After 16 passes, the hardness increased from 60.4 HV to 130.8 HV and the conductivity only slightly down.

     

Thermal stability study on two aluminum alloys processed with equal channel angular pressing

Equal channel angular pressing was used to produce sub-micrometer size grain structures in two aluminum alloys (commercially pure 1200 and Al-Mn-Si 3103). ECAP was conducted at room temperature following the process via route C, which involves a 180° angular rotation between passes and strongly affects material microstructure by reversing the shear strain every second pass. This unique characteristic of route C induced limited build-up of new high-angle boundaries, at least for the first three passes. The equal channel angular pressing was extended to six passes for both alloys; three passes by route C throughout the die were sufficient to produce a very fine-structured material for both alloys. High-resolution electron back-scattered diffraction pattern analysis was carried out to measure boundary misorientation within the deformed structures. Measurements of subgrain and grain spacing revealed a more effective microstructure refining effect in the 3103 than the 1200 alloy. Thermal stability of the severely deformed materials was studied at temperatures of 130, 240, 330°C, corresponding to 0.2, 0.35, 0.5 of the melting temperature. The results showed considerable grain growth in both materials solely at temperatures from and above half of the melting one.     

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...     

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.     

Intermediate annealing of pure aluminum during cyclic equal channel angular pressings

Intermediate heat treatment was employed to anneal pure Al samples subjected to cyclic Equal Channel Angular (ECA) pressing in order to investigate the microstructural change and tensile properties of as-pressed and annealed samples. As-pressed samples were annealed at 200°C for 1 hr after 2 and 4 passages. Some annealed samples were pressed further to compare the changes in the properties of pure Al with the same equivalent strain induced by cyclic ECAP but having different thermal history. Intermediate annealing in the cyclic repetitive ECA pressing appears to be an effective method to form an equiaxed, fine-grained structure with high misorientation angle. It decreases the aspect ratio of subgrains while keeping the grains size unchanged. Annealing followed by further pressing results in an increase in the aspect ratio but small decrease in the grain size. It is speculated that recrystallization of ECA pressed aluminum is responsible for the significant increase in the misorientation angle.     

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.     

Modelling of equal channel angular pressing using a mesh-free method

Severe plastic deformation (SPD) processes are widely recognised as efficient techniques to produce bulk ultrafine-grained materials. As a complement to experiments, computational modelling is extensively used to understand the deformation mechanisms of grain refinement induced by large strain loading conditions. Although considerable research has been undertaken in the modelling of SPD processes, most of the studies have been accomplished using mesh-based methods, such as the finite element method (FEM). Mesh-based methods have inherent difficulties in modelling high-deformation processes because of the distortions in the mesh and the resultant inaccuracies and instabilities. As an alternative, a mesh-free method called smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is used. The effectiveness of this technique is highlighted for modelling of one of the most popular SPD techniques, equal channel angular pressing. A benchmark between SPH and FE calculation is performed. Furthermore, a number of simulations under different processing conditions are compared to existing literature data. A satisfactory agreement is found, which indicates that SPD processes can be approached by mesh-free methods, such as SPH.     

Analyses of route Bc equal channel angular pressing and post-equal channel angular pressing behavior by the finite element method

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) process provides an efficient procedure for achieving ultrafine grained microstructures with excellent mechanical properties in metallic materials. In this article, a simulation scheme for predicting the mechanical behavior during and after ECAP was proposed. The proposed scheme was applied for interstitial-free (IF) steels, which are widely used for the automobile body applications. Plastic deformation behavior during several passes of ECAP in route Bc, including such aspect as deformed geometry, corner gap, forming load and strain uniformity, was predicted. Tensile testing responses of the ECAP-processed IF steel, including strain hardening, onset of necking, and post-necking behavior, were analyzed using the finite element method and compared with the experimental results. The predicted tensile curves, ultimate tensile strength, and elongation varying with the number of ECAP passes were in good agreement with experimental results. The computational scheme developed was demonstrated to successfully predict not only the plastic deformation behavior during ECAP but also the mechanical properties of the ECAP-processed material.     

Finite element analysis of the effect of back pressure during equal channel angular pressing

There is an increasing interest in applying back pressure during equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) to improve the process for better control of microstructure and property. The effect of increasing back pressure on deformation characteristics during ECAP such as the plastic deformation zone (PDZ) size and strain rate distribution in the PDZ, size of the corner gap and strain distribution on the longitudinal section were analysed by finite element analysis for both the quasi-perfect plastic and strain hardening materials. This investigation revealed that the back pressure influence very differently the PDZ of the quasi-perfect plastic and strain hardening materials. Many beneficial effects of back pressure were observed in the strain hardening material, with reduced PDZ size, dramatically reduced corner gap, and more uniform strain distribution. For the quasi-perfect plastic material, however, the application of increasing back pressure leads to broadening of PDZ and a decrease in strain rate homogeneity.     

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.     

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.     

Grain refinement of commercial purity zirconium by equal channel angular pressing

Abstract

To develop an ultrafine grain structure in commercial purity zirconium, equal channel angular ECA pressing was carried out at room temperature by varying the number of passes and the rotation methods. It was possible to reduce the grain size to 0.2 μm without fracture of the specimen by the imposition of severe plastic straining on commercial purity zirconium via ECA pressing. Grain size decreased and misorientation between grains increased with increasing number of ECA pressing passes, using processing route B_A in which the specimen was rotated by 90° in the same direction between each consecutive pass through the ECA pressing die.     

Nanostructurization assisted by twinning during equal channel angular pressing of metastable 316L stainless steel

A conventional SUS 316L low carbon stainless steel has been processed by Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) to the equivalent shear strain equal to 2, 4, 6 or 8 at different temperatures ranging from 250 °C to room temperature. The aim of this study is to gain extra control over the “strength-ductility” combination via nanostructure formation, involving twinning and/or strain-induced phase transformation. The resultant microstructure is examined by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD) techniques. Substantial structure refinement down to nanoscale is observed in parallel with significant enhancement of tensile yield and ultimate tensile stress, both exceeding 1GPa. A considerable resistance to fracture during localized plastic flow and a fairly good elongation to fracture in tension is reported.     

Achieving superplasticity at high strain rates using equal channel angular pressing

Abstract

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is a processing procedure in which a sample is pressed through a die containing a channel bent into an L shaped configuration. This procedure introduces a high strain into the sample without any change in the cross-sectional area and it may be used to attain an ultrafine grain size with dimensions lying typically within the submicrometer range. This paper describes a series of experiments where ECAP was applied to a commercial Al–Mg–Li–Zr alloy having an initial grain size of ～400 µm. The results demonstrate a refinement in the grain size of this alloy to a size of ～1 µm and it is shown that these small grains are stable up to temperatures >600 K because of the presence of β′-Al₃Zr particles. The stability of these ultrafine grains at elevated temperatures provides an opportunity to achieve superplastic ductilities in this alloy at very high strain rates: for example, the measured elongations to failure under optimum pressing conditions exceed 1000% at a strain rate of 10^-1 s^-1 when testing at temperatures above 600 K.     

Effect of equal channel angular pressing on fracture toughness of Al-7075

In this paper, influence of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) on the fracture behavior of Al-7075 alloy is experimentally investigated. The specimens are successfully processed by ECAP methodology up to four passes using different routes. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images showed that after four passes of ECAP, the average grain size is refined from 40 μm to less than about 500 nm. The percentage increase in yield strength, ultimate strength and microhardness of the specimens after four ECAP passes was 230, 90 and 110 respectively. Standard tests on the disk-shaped compact DC(T) specimens showed that fracture toughness is decreased up to 8% at the first ECAP pass while after four passes, this parameter roused to 17% higher than that of annealed condition. Furthermore, scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs demonstrated that ductile fracture mechanism with large dimples occurred in the annealed samples, changed to limited ductile fracture with fine dimples after ECAP process. This research provides new insights into the effect of ECAP and grain refinement on the fracture behavior of materials.     

Microstructural evolution of bainitic steel severely deformed by equal channel angular pressing

High Si bainitic steel has been received much of interest because of combined ultra high strength, good ductility along with high wear resistance. In this study a high Si bainitic steel (Fe-0.22C-2.0Si-3.0Mn) was used with a proper microstructure which could endure severe plastic deformation. In order to study the effect of severe plastic deformation on the microstructure and properties of bainitic steel, Equal Channel Angular Pressing was performed in two passes at room temperature. Optical, SEM and TEM microscopies were used to examine the microstructure of specimens before and after Equal Channel Angular Pressing processing. X-ray diffraction was used to measure retained austenite after austempering and Equal Channel Angular Pressing processing. It can be seen that retained austenite picks had removed after Equal Channel Angular Pressing which could attributed to the transformation of austenite to martensite during severe plastic deformation. Enhancement of hardness values by number of Equal Channel Angular Pressing confirms this idea.     

Deformation behavior of consecutive workpieces in equal channel angular pressing of solid dies

In this study, consecutive workpiece equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) in solid-dies, where the second workpiece is successively deformed without splitting and reassembling the die after the first workpiece processing, is employed to reduce the processing time in ECAP. The plastic deformation behavior of the two workpieces was investigated in terms of strain homogeneity, load, and defects using the finite element method (FEM). The experimental deformations of the consecutive workpiece during ECAP were compared with the FEM results, and it was found that the deformation was more heterogeneous in the second workpiece when compared with the first workpiece. The primary reason behind these findings is that the deformed geometry of the second workpiece was a back slant type and the first deformed workpiece provided back pressure to the second workpiece. Furthermore, the folding defect was less pronounced in the second workpiece because of the back slant head shape. Despite the less homogeneity in strain, the ECAP of the consecutive workpieces is an effective process for less defective materials and increases process efficiency.