Preparation of semi-solid billet of magnesium alloy and its thixoforming

Preparation of semi-solid billet of magnesium alloy and thixoforming was investigated by applying equal channel angularextrusion to magnesium alloy.The results show that mechanical properties of AZ91D alloy at room temperature,such as yieldstrength(YS),ultimate tensile strength(UTS)and elongation,are enhanced greatly by four-pass equal channel angularextrusion(ECAE)at 573 K and microstructure of AZ91D alloy is refined to the average grain size of 20μm.Through using ECAE asstrain induced step in SIMA and completing melt activated step by semi-solid isothermal treatment,semi-solid billet with finespheroidal grains of 25μm can be prepared successfully.Compared with common SIMA,thixoformed satellite angle framecomponents using semi-solid billet prepared by new SIMA have higher mechanical properties at room temperature and hightemperature of 373 K.     

Mg-Al系镁合金半固态坯料制备及触变挤压研究

采用拉伸试验机、金相显微镜和等径道角挤压等试验方法对Mg-Al系镁合金半固态坯料制备及触变挤压过程进行了研究.结果表明,等径道角挤压工艺对Mg-Al系镁合金有很好的应变诱导效果.经过等径道角挤压的Mg-Al系镁合金力学性能高,晶粒细小.等径道角挤压+等温处理方法制备的Mg-Al系镁合金半固态坯的微观组织晶粒细小,球化程度高,微观组织非常均匀.生产的AZ61、AZ80、AZ91D和AM60镁合金角框零件的微观组织细小,抗拉强度分别达到306.8、308.3、299.8、321.6MPa.伸长率分别达到21.6%、28.4%、14.6%和29.6%.     

Reheating microstructure of refined AZ91D magnesium alloy in semi-solid state

By means of equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) test, upsetting test and metalloseope, reheating mierostruetures of raw casting ingots, materials prepared by SIMA and materials extruded by ECAE in semi-solid state were investigated. The results show that compared with those of raw casting ingots and materials prepared by SIMA, reheating microstrueture of materials extruded by ECAE is the best and the final grain size is the finest. With increasing holding time, a growing phenomenon occurs in reheating microstrueture of materials extruded by ECAE, which can be described by Ostwald ripening law. The average grain size increases firstly, subsequently decreases and the shape factor of grains approaches to 1 as the reheating temperature increases. With increasing equivalent strain, the average grain size decreases. This demonstrates that reheating material extruded by ECAE technology is a good method to prepare AZ91D magnesium alloy semi-solid billets.     

等径道角挤压预变形AZ61镁合金在半固态等温处理中的微观组织演变(英文)

利用金相显微镜和图像分析设备对等径道角挤压预变形AZ61镁合金在半固态等温处理中的微观组织演变进行研究。先利用等径道角挤压对AZ61镁合金铸坯在310℃进行应变诱导,然后将其在半固态进行不同时间的等温处理。研究结果表明:挤压道次、等温处理温度和变形路径影响预变形AZ61镁合金在半固态等温处理中的微观组织演变过程。在将等温处理温度从530℃升高至560℃的过程中,合金的平均晶粒尺寸从22μm增大到35μm。当等温处理温度为575℃时,平均晶粒尺寸减小。当等径道角挤压的变形路径为BC时,预变形AZ61镁合金在半固态等温处理中获得的微观组织晶粒尺寸最小。     

添加0.5%富铈混合稀土AZ91D镁合金半固态组织的形成

半固态浆料的固相颗粒尺寸、形态和分布主要取决于熔化过程中液相的形成与演化过程。采用添加0.5%富铈混合稀土来改善AZ91D镁合金的铸态组织,研究在半固态等温热处理中的组织演变以及非枝晶组织制备与控制的机理。结果表明:稀土合金化处理可促进初生相在等温热处理过程中由枝晶向粒状晶的转变,可获得更加细小、均匀的球状固相颗粒,并且其粗化速度较慢。半固态等温热处理过程中,整个系统处于熔化和结晶的动态平衡,铸态组织中枝晶根部高溶质浓度区或系统的温度、浓度起伏是固相颗粒内液相形成的内在和外在条件。     

新SIMA法制备铝合金3A21半固态坯料

利用有限元模拟软件模拟不同路径下等径角挤压过程,分析材料等效应变分布情况,通过等径角挤压实验、半固态等温处理实验、金相显微镜、金相检验软件系统等实验方法和分析设备,研究铝合金3A21半固态坯料显微组织晶粒尺寸同等效应变的关系,分析不同工艺参数对晶粒等积圆直径和形状系数的影响。结果表明,随着材料经过ECAE后等效应变的增大,半固态坯料晶粒尺寸减小;随着保温时间的延长,晶粒尺寸增大、圆整度增加。     

等温热处理对AZ91D+Ce镁合金半固态组织的影响

研究了等温热处理对AZ91D+Ce镁合金半固态组织的影响,获得了较理想的球状或类球状晶粒组织。结果表明,在等温热处理的过程中,加入稀土Ce会阻碍原子向固相粒子聚集和结合,抑制固相颗粒的长大,形成细小圆整的半固态组织。随等温热处理温度的升高,原子活动能力增强,熔化速度加快,液相量增加,固相颗粒尺寸先减小后增大。在等温初始阶段,熔化对初生固相颗粒尺寸起决定作用,使得颗粒尺寸减小。但是,随等温时间的进一步增加,由于合并粗化和Ostwald熟化的作用,固相颗粒开始长大。     

Microstructural evolution and tensile mechanical properties of thixoformed AZ91D magnesium alloy with the addition of yttrium

The microstructure evolution of AZ91D magnesium alloy in the semi-solid state has been proposed or reported in previous literature. However, no detailed investigation has been conducted regarding the relationship between the microstructure and tensile mechanical properties of the thixoformed AZ91D magnesium alloy. In this paper, the microstructure of AZ91D alloy with the addition of yttrium was produced by the semi-solid thermal transformation (SSTT) route and the strain-induced melt activation (SIMA) route, respectively. Isothermal holding experiments investigated grain coarsening and the degree of spheroidization as a function of holding time in the semi-solid state. The SSTT route and the SIMA route were used to obtain the semi-solid feedstock for thixoforming. The results show that solid particles of the SSTT alloy are spheroidized to some extent but the previous irregular shape is still obvious in some of them. While the SIMA alloy exhibits ideal, fine microstructure, in which completely spheroidized solid particles contain little entrapped liquid. The microstructure of the SSTT alloy is less spheroidized compared with the SIMA alloy under the similar isothermal holding condition. As the holding time increases, the mean solid particle size of the SSTT alloy decreases initially, then increases, while the mean solid particle size of the SIMA alloy increases monotonously at 560 °C. Compared with the SSTT alloy, the SIMA alloy obtains finer grains under the similar isothermal holding condition. The mechanical properties of the thixoformed AZ91D alloy with the addition of yttrium produced by the SIMA route are better than those of the thixoformed alloy produced by the SSTT route. The ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and elongation for the thixoformed alloy produced by the SIMA route are 303.1 MPa, 147.6 MPa and 13.27%, respectively. The tensile properties for the AZ91D alloy with the addition of yttrium thixoformed from starting material produced by the SIMA route are better than those of the AZ91D alloy with the addition of yttrium thixoformed from starting material produced by the SSTT route.     

镁合金ZK60-RE半固态坯的微观组织演变

采用常规铸造法和等径道角挤压分别制备了镁合金ZK60-RE半固态坯;用金相显微镜研究了2种半固态坯料在等温热处理过程中的微观组织演变。结果表明：与传统铸造方法制备的半固态坯相比,采用等径道角挤压制备的半固态坯的晶粒细小、圆整,适合于半固态成形。在等温热处理过程中,2种坯料晶粒粗化的机制是合并长大和Ostwald长大。铸态坯料晶粒液相来源于非平衡凝固时在晶内产生的共晶组织,以及在随后的合并长大过程中晶粒所包裹的液相。随着保温时间的延长,铸态坯料的晶粒尺寸变化情况是：增大、减小然后又增大;而挤压态坯料的晶粒尺寸呈单一增大趋势。     

Preparation of AZ91D magnesium alloy semi-solid billet by new strain induced melt activated method

1 Introduction AZ91D magnesium alloy has received more attention due to its high specific strength, specific rigidity and good dimensional stability and so on[1]. Thixoforming is one of the best methods with regard to forming AZ91D magnesium alloy compone…     

Effects of holding temperature and time on semi-solid isothermal heat-treated microstructure of ZA84 magnesium alloy

The feasibility of fabricating ZA84 magnesium alloy with non-dendritic microstructure by a semi-solid isothermal heat treatment process and the effects of holding temperature and time on the semi-solid isothermal heat-treated microstructure of the alloy were investigated. The results indicate that it is possible to produce ZA84 alloy with non-dendritic microstructure by suitable semi-solid isothermal heat treatment. After being treated at 560-575℃ for 120min, ZA84 magnesium alloy can obtain a non-dendritic microstructure with 14.2%-25.6% liquid fraction and an average size of 56-65μm of the unmelted primary solid particles. With the increasing holding time from 30 to 120min or holding temperature from 560 to 575℃, the average size of unmelted primary solid particles decreases and globular tendency becomes more obvious. Under the experimental condition, the microstructural evolution of ZA84 alloy during semi-solid isothermal treatment is mainly composed of three stages of initial coarsening. structulseparation and spheroidization. The subsequent coarsening of spheroidal grains is not observed.     

Microstructure evolution of semi-solid SiCp/AZ91D nanocomposite during isothermal heat treatment process

ABSTRACT

The microstructure evolution of semi-solid SiC_p/AZ91D nanocomposite during isothermal heat treatment process in the mushy-zone was investigated. The results indicate that the nano-size SiC particles in composite are distributed uniformly and the grains are refined significantly by the addition of nano-size SiC particles. The semi-solid microstructure evolution experiences four stages during isothermal heat treatment process: the initial coarsening, structural separation, spheroidization and final coarsening. The grain size of the primary α-Mg phase decreases with the increasing of holding temperature. With the prolongation of holding time, the grain size of the primary α-Mg phase decreases at first and then increases. The optimum isothermal heat treatment parameter is 575℃ for 30min, under which the average grain diameter is 58μm and shape factor is 1.25.     

SEMI-SOLID MICROSTRUCTURE AND ITS EVOLUTION OF WROUGHT ALUMINUM ALLOY BY DIRECTLY HEATING-ISOTHERMAL TREATMENT

Microstructure evolution of wrought aluminum alloy extruded rods and the mechanism of liquid phase formation during reheating were investigated. And the relation between the volume fraction of liquid phase and the recrystallization microstructure was proposed. The results show that increase in reheating temperature and time can augment the volume fraction of liquid phase and accelerate the grain spheroidization, as a result of which the requirement of semi-solid forming can be satisfied. Due to the higher aberration energy of grain boundary, the melting point is lowered as a result of the easy diffusion of atoms. At higher reheating temperature the grain boundary melts, the growth of the recrystallized grain is inhibited and the grain is refined. The composition of the low melt-point phase along the recrystallized grains was determined using EDS. It can be seen from the experimental results that when the extrusion rod of the wrought aluminum alloy is reheated at 610℃ for 20min, perfect fine equiaxial grains can be obtained, the average grain size is about 66.34μm and the volume fraction of solid phase is about 68%.     

Steady state rheological behavior of semi-solid ZK60-RE magnesium alloy during compression

Steady state rheological behavior of semi-solid ZK60-RE magnesium alloy during compression was studied. The alloy was prepared from ZK60 alloy and RE elements by casting, equal channel angular extruding,and liquidus forging. Semi-solid isothermal pre-treatment was carried out to make the grains spherical before compression. The apparent viscosity increases with decreasing the solid content and shear rate. Another very important factor is the grain size. When the solid content is high, the viscosity increases with decreasing the grain size at high strain rates and decreases with decreasing the grain size at low shear rates. Several fitting equations were obtained by using the power law equation, and the method of time-temperature superposition was used to get more information through a small number of experimental data.     

Effect of ECAP process on liquid distribution of AZ80M alloy during semi-solid isothermal heat treatment

Two kinds of semi-solid samples of AZ80?0.2Y?0.15Ca (wt.%) (AZ80M) magnesium alloy were prepared by semi-solid isothermal heat treatment of materials with and without equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) process. The microstructures of initial and semi-solid treated samples were compared and analyzed. The results showed a significant difference in the liquid phase distribution between three-pass ECAP processed (3P) and as-received samples during the isothermal heating process. The semi-solid 3P sample showed a more uniform liquid distribution due to its smaller dihedral angle. Besides, the coarsening processes of solid grains of as-received and 3P samples were dominated by the coalescence and Ostwald ripening mechanism, respectively. The difference of coarsening processes was mainly related to the proportion of the high-angle grain boundaries in materials, which further affected the evolution behavior of the liquid pools.     

等温处理对挤压态AZ80A镁合金半固态组织的影响

采用应变诱发熔化激活法(SIMA)工艺制备了AZ80A镁合金半固态坯料,研究了保温温度和保温时间对半固态组织的影响。结果表明:随着保温温度的升高和保温时间的增加,AZ80A镁合金的平均晶粒尺寸与液相率都呈上升趋势,形状因子呈先增大后减小的趋势。半固态组织由α-Mg晶粒、Al、Zn元素富集形成的晶界处液相和晶内“小液池”组成,其组织演变分为初始晶粒合并长大,晶粒球化、彼此分离,最终合并粗化3个阶段。采用该种方法制备AZ80A镁合金半固态坯料时合适的保温温度为550 ℃、保温时间为45 min,此时半固态组织的平均晶粒尺寸、形状因子和液相率分别为89 μm、0.795和26.7%。     

Microstructure Evolution of Semi-Solid 7075 Aluminum Alloy During Reheating Process

Microstructural evolution of semi-solid 7075 Al alloy manufactured by strain-induced melt activation (SIMA) process was investigated. The effects of different processing parameters, such as isothermal temperature and holding time on the semi-solid microstructures (the liquid volume fraction, average grain size, and degree of spheroidization of the solid particles) during partial remelting have been investigated on 7075 Al alloy that was extruded by an extrusion ratio of 20 before remelting. Experiments of remelting were carried out in the range of 560-610 °C for 10, 20, and 30 min holding time and then the specimens were quenched in cold water. Microstructure of quenched samples were observed under optical microscope and then analyzed via image analysis. The results showed that high semi-solid isothermal temperature would increase the liquid volume fraction and accelerate the spherical processing of the solid particles. Furthermore at long holding time, the globular grains coarsened slightly and the average grains size are increased. The experimental results showed that the optimum process parameters, should be chosen at isothermal temperature of 580 °C with the holding time, <30 min.     

Effects of semi-solid isothermal process parameters on microstructure of Mg-Gd alloy

The effects of semi-solid isothermal process parameters on the microstructure evolution of Mg-Gd rare earth alloy produced by strain-induced melt activation(SIMA)were investigated.The formation mechanism of the particles in the process of the isothermal treatment was also discussed.The results show that the microstructure of the as-cast alloy consists ofα-Mg solid solution, Mg5RE and Mg24RE5(Gd,Y,Nd)phase.After being extruded with an extrusion ratio of 14:1 at 380℃,the microstructure of Mg-Gd alloy changes from developed dendrites to near-equiaxed grains.The liquid volume fraction of the semisolid slurry gradually increases with elevating isothermal temperature or prolonging isothermal time during the partial remelting.To obtain an ideal semisolid slurry,the optimal process parameters for the Mg-Gd alloy should be 630℃for isothermal temperature and 30 min for the corresponding time,respectively,where the volume fraction of the liquid phase is 52%.     

机械振动法制备铝合金半固态浆料的研究

研究了利用机械振动法制备铝合金半固态浆料的新工艺。首先进行水模拟实验，研究机械振动条件下容器中液体的对流运动情况，然后进行振动制备ZL101铝合金半固态浆料实验，获得了初生晶粒细小、圆整度好的半固态浆料。实验选取振动频率（振幅）和保温时间两个参数，研究了它们对晶粒形状系数以及晶粒尺寸的影响规律。结果发现，初生晶粒的形状系数随着保温时间的延长，先是有所增大，然后由于晶粒的合并长大而下降；振动的振幅越大，晶粒越圆整，形状系数越大。初生晶粒的尺寸随着振幅的增大而减小，随着保温时间的延长而增大。     

Microstructure evolution of semi-solid 2024 alloy during two-step reheating process

A two-step reheating process was proposed and applied to perform reheating experiments on the semi-solid 2024 alloy billet. In this process, the semi-solid billet was firstly heated over liquidus temperature and then isothermally held at solid-liquid zone temperature. Microstructure evolution of the semi-solid billet during two-step reheating was studied by optical microscope and compared with that during isothermal reheating. The results show that the remelting rate of the semi-solid billet during two-step reheating is faster than that during isothermal reheating. Under the same reheating time, the grains of the semi-solid billet reheated by two-step reheating process are finer and rounder than those by isothermal reheating process. The present experimental results indicate that accelerating the formation of liquid phase during the two-step reheating process can restrain the coalescence of grains to a certain extent, and thus refine the grain size and promote the grain spheroidization.