搅拌铸造SiCp/2024复合材料热挤压-轧制变形组织及性能

利用搅拌铸造-热挤压-轧制工艺制备SiCp/2024复合材料薄板。通过金相观察(OM)、扫描电镜(SEM)及力学测试等手段研究了该复合材料在铸态、热挤压态及轧制态下的显微组织及力学性能,分析了材料在塑性变形过程中显微组织及力学性能的演变。结果表明,该复合材料铸坯主要由80～100μm的等轴晶组成,粗大的晶界第二相呈非连续状分布,SiC颗粒较均匀地分布于合金基体中;热挤压变形后,晶粒沿挤压方向被拉长,SiC颗粒及破碎的第二相呈流线分布特征;轧制变形后,基体合金组织进一步细化,晶粒尺寸为30～40μm,SiC颗粒破碎明显,颗粒分布趋于均匀,轧制变形对挤压过程中形成的SiC颗粒层带状不均匀组织有显著的改善作用。数学概率统计指出,塑性变形有利于提高颗粒分布的均匀性。力学测试表明,塑性变形后,复合材料的抗拉强度、屈服强度和延伸率显著提高。SiCp/2024铝基复合材料主要的断裂方式为:合金基体的延性断裂、SiC颗粒断裂及SiC/Al界面脱粘。     

Effects of calcium on the microstructures and tensile properties of Mg-5Li-3Al alloys

The as-cast Mg-5Li-3Al-xCa (x = 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 wt.%) was prepared with vacuum induction melting furnace, then processed by hot extrusion. The microstructures and tensile properties were investigated. The results show that the grains of as-cast alloys were refined gradually with the increase of Ca content from 0.5 wt.% to 1 wt.%, while the Ca content increases to 1.5 wt.%, the grain size increases. The microstructures of investigated alloys were further refined after hot extrusion. Both as-cast and as-extruded Mg-5Li-3Al-0.5Ca alloys have the highest mechanical properties, which is mainly attributed to the grain refinement caused by the addition of Ca and the formation of strengthening phase, Al₄Ca. When the addition of Ca is up to 1-1.5 wt.%, the tensile properties of alloys are worsened due to the excessive (Mg, Al)₂Ca eutectic phase forming at grain boundary.     

Effect of multidirectional forging on microstructures and tensile properties of a particulate reinforced magnesium matrix composite

A particulate reinforced magnesium matrix composite prepared with stir casting was subjected to multidirectional forging (MDF). The results showed that after 1 MDF pass the grain size of matrix in the composites decreased compared with as-cast composite, and increased with increasing the MDF temperature from 370 °C to 450 °C. With increasing the MDF passes at 370 °C, the particle distribution of the composite was improved until 3 MDF passes while the grain size of matrix in the composite reached a minimum after 4 MDF passes. Both the yield strength and the ultimate tensile strength of the composite were enhanced with increasing the MDF passes.     

Elevated-temperature plasticity and mechanical properties of a rare earth-modified Mg-Zn-Al alloy

The elevated-temperature plasticity and flow behavior of an Er-modified, heat-resistant ZA73 alloy was evaluated by thermal simulation. The results showed that the addition of Er to ZA73 alloy notably improves the deformability and higher strain rate and temperature favors hot deformation. Bars with sound surface quality were successfully extruded at 350 °C and a strain rate of ~ 0.1 s^− 1. Furthermore, dynamic precipitation of nano-sized spherical τ phase was found to occur uniformly in the α-Mg matrix during hot extrusion, which is considered helpful to both strength and plasticity enhancement. The yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of the as-extruded bars reached 240-265 MPa and 355-360 MPa, respectively, while maintaining a large elongation rate of 18-19.5%.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg–Zn–Ca alloy processed by equal channel angular pressing

An ultrafine-grained (UFG) Mg–5.12 wt.% Zn–0.32 wt.% Ca alloy with an average grain size of 0.7 μm was produced by subjecting the as-extruded alloy to equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) for 4 passes at 250 °C. The fine secondary phase restricted the dynamic recrystallized (DRXed) grain growth during the ECAP processing, resulting in a remarkable grain refinement. A new texture was formed in the ECAPed Mg alloy with the {0 0 0 2} plane inclined at an angle of 58° relative to the extrusion direction. The yield stress (YS) was decreased in the as-ECAPed alloy with finer grains, indicating that the texture softening effect was dominant over the strengthening from grain refinement. The ductility of the as-ECAPed alloy was increased to 18.2%. The grain refinement caused an obvious decrease in work hardening rate in the as-ECAPed alloy during tensile deformation at room temperature.     

The microstructure,tensile, and shear deformation behavior of an AZ31 magnesium alloy after extrusion and equal channel angular pressing

The shear punch testing (SPT) technique and the uniaxial tension tests were employed to evaluate the mechanical properties of the equal channel angularly pressed (ECAPed) AZ31 magnesium alloy. After extruding, the material was ECAPed for 1, 2, and 4 passes using route B_C. The grain structure of the material was refined from 20.2 to 1.6 μm after 4 passes of ECAP at 200 °C. The 4 pass ECAPed alloy showed lower yield stress and higher ductility as compared to the as-extruded condition, indicating that texture softening has overcome the strengthening effects of grain refinement. The same trends in strength and ductility were also observed in shear punch testing. Similar shear strength and ductility values of the samples taken perpendicular to the extrusion direction (ED) and normal direction (ND) after 4 passes of ECAP indicated that {0 0 0 2} basal planes were inclined (∼45°) to the extrusion axis. The shear punch testing technique was found to be a useful method for verifying directional mechanical properties of the miniature samples of the ECAPed magnesium alloys.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-Al-Zn alloy sheet fabricated by cold extrusion

Cold extrusion of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets was studied in this paper. Microstructure and texture distributions of the as-extruded sheet were investigated by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) method. The grains were significantly refined and the average grain size was 1.6 μm. Dynamic recrystallization has taken place during the extrusion process, which resulted in the high frequency of high angle grain boundaries in the sheet. After the cold extrusion, a weak double-peak type basal texture was formed. The formation of the texture was ascribed to the non-basal <c + a> slips. Tensile tests revealed that mechanical properties were enhanced due to grain size refinement, but mechanical anisotropy was obvious. It is believed that mechanical anisotropy was related to the splitting of basal texture.     

Microstructure development and tensile mechanical properties of Mg–Zn–RE–Zr magnesium alloy

The Mg–5.3 wt.%Zn–1.13 wt.%Nd–0.51 wt.%La–0.28 wt.%Pr–0.79 wt.%Zr alloy prepared by direct chill casting is subjected to hot extrusion. The effects of extrusion ratio and temperature on microstructure and tensile mechanical properties have been studied. The results indicate coarse grains of as-cast alloys are refined with extrusion ratio increasing from 0 to 9. The eutectic constituents are elongated along extrusion direction. However, further increase of extrusion ratio has a little influence on grain refinement and the improvement of mechanical properties of the alloy. Dynamic recrystallisation is the main mechanism of grain refinement during hot extrusion. Raising extrusion temperature results in grain coarsening. Grain shape becomes more equiaxed-like with raising extrusion temperature. At the same time, mechanical properties decrease with the increase of extrusion temperature.     

Heat treatment effect on the microstructure,tensile properties and dry sliding wear behavior of A356–10%B4C cast composites

In present paper, an attempt was made to examine the influence of T6 heat treatment (solution treatment at 540 °C for 5 h, quenching in hot water and artificial aging at 170 °C for 8 h) on the microstructure, tensile properties and dry sliding wear behavior of A356–10%B₄C cast composites. The composite ingots were made by stir casting process. In this work, the matrix alloy and composite were characterized by optical microscope, scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, tensile tests and conventional pin-on-disk experiment.     

Microstructure effect on mechanical properties of in situ synthesized titanium matrix composites reinforced with TiB and La2O3

High temperature titanium matrix composites (TMCs) with different volume fraction of reinforcements were insitu synthesized by casting and hot forging. An effort was made to investigate the mechanical properties as a function of the microstructure of composites. Tensile tests were performed at room temperature, 600 °C, 650 °C and 700 °C respectively. Creep behavior at 650 °C was characterized in the stress range of 200-300 MPa. Results indicated that the composite with 2.11 vol.% reinforcements had the highest tensile strength and lowest steady state creep rate. Morphology of TiB whiskers was critical to mechanical properties of TMCs. TiB whiskers fracture and debonding acted as the dominant failure modes.     

Microstructure of Al–Al2O3 nanocomposite formed by in situ phase transformation during Al nanopowder consolidation

Aluminum/alumina nanocomposites were processed by hot isostatic pressing at 450 °C and 550 °C. In the bulk material sintered at 550 °C, the composite microstructure was formed by in situ phase transformation of the native amorphous layer on the Al particle surfaces into nanocrystalline alumina dispersoids. The microstructure consisted of an aluminum matrix containing both ultrafine and coarse grains as well as embedded γ-Al₂O₃ nanocrystals. The large grains in the matrix stopped the crack propagation during deformation thereby increasing the toughness of the composite. When fracture occurred during deformation at 200 °C in air, the heat released due to oxidation smelts aluminum resulting in filament formation between the fracture surfaces. The samples sintered at 450 °C and 550 °C had similar crystallite size and dislocation density in the matrix while in the former specimen crystallization of the amorphous phase did not occur. Additional annealing of this sample in a calorimeter resulted in the formation of nanocrystalline Al₂O₃ accompanied by an endothermic peak at about 527 °C and mass-reduction of about 3%, probably as result of gaseous products release. The stresses induced by the volume change during crystallization of alumina yielded an increase of the dislocation density in the Al matrix.     

Correlation between microstructure and tensile properties in powder metallurgy AZ91 alloys

The ultrafine-grained (0.3–1.3 μm) AZ91 alloys, which were fabricated by powder extrusion in the range of 200 to 350 °C and subsequent aging at 100 °C for 8 h, exhibit a remarkable yield stress of 360–478 MPa and moderate tensile elongations of 6–8%. A composite structure was developed after extrusion with uniform β (Mg₁₇Al₁₂) particles dispersed in magnesium matrix. The extrusion temperature has an indirect role on yield stress since partial dissolution of β particles induced by high extrusion temperature fails to retard grain growth. Moreover, the strength was further enhanced by the formation of nano-scale precipitates during artificial aging. The high strength could be attributed to a combination effect of grain refinement, particle reinforcement and precipitation hardening.     

High-temperature properties of extruded titanium composites fabricated from carbon nanotubes coated titanium powder by spark plasma sintering and hot extrusion

Pure titanium matrix composite reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was prepared by spark plasma sintering and hot extrusion via powder metallurgy process. Titanium (Ti) powders were coated with CNTs via a wet process using a zwitterionic surfactant solution containing 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 wt.% of CNTs. In situ TiC formation via reaction of CNTs with titanium occurred during sintering, and TiC particles were uniformly dispersed in the matrix. As-extruded Ti/TiCs composite rods were annealed at 473 K for 3.6 ks to reduce the residual stress during processing. After annealing process, the tensile properties of the composites were evaluated at room temperature, 473, 573 and 673 K, respectively. Hardness test was also performed at room temperature up to 573 K with a step of 50 K. The mechanical properties of extruded Ti/CNTs composites at elevated temperature were remarkably improved by adding a small amount of CNTs, compared to extruded Ti matrix. These were due to the TiC dispersoids originated from CNTs effectively stabilized the microstructure of extruded Ti composites by their pinning effect. Moreover, the coarsening and growth of Ti grain never occurred even though they were annealed at 573, 673 K for 36 ks and 673 K for 360 ks, respectively.     

Microstructures and mechanical responses of powder metallurgy non-combustive magnesium extruded alloy by rapid solidification process in mass production

Spinning Water Atomization Process (SWAP), which was one of the rapid solidification processes, promised to produce coarse non-combustible magnesium alloy powder with 1–4 mm length, having fine α-Mg grains and Al₂Ca intermetallic compounds. It had economical and safe benefits in producing coarse Mg alloy powders with very fine microstructures in the mass production process due to its extreme high solidification rate compared to the conventional atomization process. AMX602 (Mg–6%Al–0.5%Mn–2%Ca) powders were compacted at room temperature. Their green compacts with a relative density of about 85% were heated at 573–673 K for 300 s in Ar gas atmosphere, and immediately consolidated by hot extrusion. Microstructure observation and evaluation of mechanical properties of the extruded AMX602 alloys were carried out. The uniform and fine microstructures with grains less than 0.45–0.8 μm via dynamic recrystallization during hot extrusion were observed, and were much small compared to the extruded AMX602 alloy fabricated by using cast ingot. The extremely fine intermetallic compounds 200–500 nm diameter were uniformly distributed in the matrix of powder metallurgy (P/M) extruded alloys. These microstructures caused excellent mechanical properties of the wrought alloys. For example, in the case of AMX602 alloys extruded at 573 K, the tensile strength (TS) of 447 MPa, yield stress (YS) of 425 MPa and 9.6% elongation were obtained.     

等通道角变形对搅拌铸造SiC_P/AZ91复合材料显微组织与室温性能的影响

采用搅拌铸造法成功制备了SiC_P/Mg(AZ91)复合材料并对铸态复合材料进行了等通道角挤压变形(Equal channel angular pressing,ECAP)。结果表明,搅拌铸造态SiC_P/AZ91复合材料的基体组织致密,颗粒与基体结合良好,没有出现宏观团聚;SiC_P大部分聚集在晶界附近区域并呈"项链状"分布。ECAP变形可以有效地消除铸态SiC_P/AZ91复合材料中的SiC_P"项链状"分布,并且随着ECAP道次的增加,SiC_P分布更加均匀;在ECAP过程中,SiC_P发生了一定断裂但并不明显。SiC_P/AZ91复合材料基体晶粒随着变形道次的提高而逐渐细化。基体晶粒细化以及SiC_P分布均匀化是SiC_P/AZ91复合材料屈服强度和抗拉强度随着道次提升而逐渐增加的主要原因。     

Microstructure and strengthening mechanism of bimodal size particle reinforced magnesium matrix composite

One kind of (submicron + micron) bimodal size SiCp/AZ91 composite was fabricated by the stir casting technology. After hot deformation process, the influence of bimodal size particles on microstructures and mechanical properties of AZ91 matrix was investigated by comparing with monolithic A91 alloy, submicron SiCp/AZ91 and micron SiCp/AZ91 composites. The results show that micron particles can stimulate dynamic recrystallized nucleation, while submicron particles may pin grain boundaries during the hot deformation process, which results in a significant grain refinement of AZ91 matrix. Compared to submicron particles, micron particles are more conducive to grain refinement through stimulating the dynamic recrystallized nucleation. Besides, the yield strength of bimodal size SiCp/AZ91 composite is higher than that of single-size particle reinforced composites. Among the strengthening mechanisms of bimodal size particle reinforced composite, it is found that grain refinement and dislocation strengthening mechanism play a larger role on improving the yield strength.     

Microstructure and enhanced mechanical properties of an Mg-10Gd-2Y-0.5Zr alloy processed by cyclic extrusion and compression

The evolution of microstructure and texture of an extruded GW102K Mg alloy processed by cyclic extrusion and compression (CEC) at 450 °C were investigated. Tensile tests were performed at room temperature and strain rate 5 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹. The results show that the microstructure was effectively refined, and the initial fiber texture became disintegrated and developed a new texture after 14 CEC passes. It was found that the strength and ductility were simultaneously increased compared with the as-extruded alloy. In particular, the elongation and yield strength were related in a line relationship having a positive slope. As the texture changed and texture intensity decreased, substantial grain refinement was observed. The hard second-phase particles were considered to be responsible for the uncommon properties of the GW102K alloy processed by CEC.     

Microstructural features, texture and strengthening mechanisms of nanostructured AA6063 alloy processed by powder metallurgy

Nanostructured AA6063 (NS-Al) powder with an average grain size of ∼100 nm was synthesized by high-energy attrition milling of gas-atomized AA6063 powder followed by hot extrusion. The microstructural features of the consolidated specimen were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) techniques and compared with those of coarse-grained AA6063 (CG-Al) produced by hot powder extrusion of gas-atomized powder (without using mechanical milling). The consolidated NS-Al alloy consisted of elongated ultrafine grains (aspect ratio of ∼2.9) and equiaxed nanostructured grains. A high fraction (∼78%) of high-angle grain boundaries with average misorientation angle of 33° was noticed. Microtexture evaluation by plotting pole-figures and orientation distribution function (ODF) analysis showed Copper and P texture components for both the consolidated Al alloys. Tensile test at room temperature and microhardness measurement revealed that a significant improvement in the strength of AA6063 alloy is obtained through refinement of the grain structure. The strengthening mechanisms are discussed based on the dislocation-based models. The role of high-angle and low-angle grain boundaries on the strengthening mechanisms is discussed.     

Tensile strength improvement of an Mg–12Gd–3Y (wt%) alloy processed by hot extrusion and free forging

An Mg–12Gd–3Y (wt%) alloy was prepared by conventional casting method using permanent steel mold. Then this alloy was subjected to hot processing, involving hot extrusion and free forging. Tensile strength at room temperature can be improved, with the highest ultimate tensile strength (UTS) value of 390.2 MPa achieved by hot extrusion in comparison to that of as-cast alloy. Temperature dependence of tensile strength is distinguishable for the as-extruded alloy, while the relative stability in UTS values of the alloy after being freely forged should be ascribed to the inter-crossing among deformation bands located at various orientations and the accommodation effect of twining lamellas resulting from forging process on plastic deformation during tensile test at elevated temperatures. Further annealing after hot processing can only have adequate influence on the tensile strength of as-forged alloy. For the alloy freely forged and annealed at 523 K for 4 h, the highest UTS (441.1 MPa) at room temperature is found, which should be mainly related to an evolution from the original as-forged microstructure with subgrains to a more stable combination of large and refined grains through dynamic recrystallization during free forging, and the stress at offset yield YS (384.3 MPa) is also comparable to that relatively high value of 396.9 MPa after solution treatment and isothermal aging of the as-cast alloy.