Influence of strain and strain rate on microstructural evolution during superplasticity of Mg–Al–Zn sheet

Strain-induced abnormal grain growth was observed along the gage length during high-temperature uniaxial tensile testing of rolled Mg–Al–Zn (AZ31) sheet. Effective strain and strain rates in biaxial forming of AZ31 sheets also affected the nature of grain growth in the formed sheet. For the uniaxial testing done at 400 °C and a strain rate of 10^?1 s^?1, abnormal grain growth was prevalent in the gage sections that experienced true strain values between 0.2 and 1.0. Biaxial forming of AZ31 at 5 × 10^?2 s^?1 and 400 °C also exhibited abnormal grain growth at the cross sections which experienced a true strain of 1.7. Uniaxially tested sample at 400 °C and a strain rate of 10^?3 s^?1, however, showed no abnormal grain growth in the gage sections which experienced true local strain values ranging from 1.0 to 2.3. The normalized flow stress versus temperature and grain size compensated strain rate plot showed that the deformation kinetics of the current AZ31 alloy was similar to that reported in the literature for AZ31 alloys. Orientation image microscopy (OIM) was used to study the texture evolution, grain size, and grain boundary misorientation during uniaxial and biaxial forming. Influence of deformation parameters, namely strain rate, strain, and temperature on grain growth and refinement were discussed with the help of OIM results.     

Hot working behavior of a WE54 magnesium alloy

The plastic deformation and recrystallization behavior of the commercial magnesium alloys WE54 was analyzed using the strain rates 0.01, 0.1, 1, and 5 s^?1 in the temperature range from 400 to 550 °C. The dependence of the flow stress on the temperature and the strain rate was modeled using the Garofalo hyperbolic sine equation. Thereby, the activation energy for plastic deformation of 224 kJ mol^?1 was determined considering the flow stress at a strain of 0.5. The analysis revealed a stress exponent of 3.2. Furthermore, processing maps were generated by plotting the efficiency of power dissipation and the instability parameter considering different instability criteria as a function of the temperature and the strain rate. Depending on these parameters the extent of the recrystallization and the localization of the nucleation varied, significantly. At 400 °C, the recrystallization is very limited and was observed at grain boundaries (GB), shear bands (SB), and twin boundaries (TW). Increasing temperatures result in an increased recrystallized fraction, while lower strain rates promote grain boundary nucleation and reduce the amount of SBN and TW. The prediction of the processing map was verified by large scale extrusion trials, which proof that the evaluation of hot compression data can provide an effective tool to establish viable processing parameters.     

A texture and microstructure analysis of high speed rolling of AZ31 using split Hopkinson pressure bar results

This study used very high strain rate uniaxial compression testing to analyze the microstructure and texture evolution during high speed rolling of as-cast AZ31B alloy. A split Hopkinson pressure bar equipped with induction radiation furnace was used to attain a strain rate of 1200 s^?1 in the temperature range of 25–350 °C and the result was compared with low strain rate (0.01 s^?1) behavior. As well, high speed rolling at 500 m min^?1 was employed to successfully roll AZ31 alloy in one pass with 71 % reduction at 200 °C. During rolling, the mill was suddenly stopped and the sheet was withdrawn from rolling gap and the microstructure and texture evolution was observed. Grain boundary misorientation analysis shows that coincident site lattice boundaries related to contraction twins and secondary twins are more numerous in the samples deformed at high strain rate. With increasing strain for both rolling and compression at 200 °C, the splitting of basal poles was observed, indicating the activation of more contraction twins and secondary twins compared to low strain rate deformation. Also, the recrystallized volume fraction increased significantly with strain rate, probably due to increasing the twin-induced recrystallization fraction. On annealing of the samples compressed at 200 °C, secondary twins and their vicinity were observed to be the preferential sites for nucleation and it seems that rapid recrystallization on secondary twins contributes to the basal texture weakening. Therefore, an increasing number of such twins increase the texture weakening.     

Deformation mechanism of aluminum–magnesium alloys at elevated temperatures

The study concentrates on the formulation of a reliable constitutive equation for plastic forming of Al–Mg-based alloys above 400 °C and at strain rates above 10^?3 s^?1. The deformation mechanisms of two coarse-grained Al–Mg alloys, also known as AA5182, with grain sizes 21 and 37 μm were investigated. They exhibited optimum extension at 10^?2 s^?1 and at T equal to 425 °C and above 475 °C, respectively, with uniform elongation above 300 %. The strain-rate sensitivity and the stress exponent were equal to 0.25 and 4, respectively, suggesting that the deformation is controlled by the solute drag of gliding dislocations whereas dislocation climb occurs also in grains whose orientation renders them hard. Grain boundary sliding may contribute to a small extent in the deformation process. The threshold stress was found to be small and the activation energy lies between 144 and 136 kJ mol^?1, i.e., that of Al self-diffusion and Mg diffusion in Al. It is concluded that coarse-grained materials may well fulfill the industrial requirements of forming and within this scope, the use of the low purity coarse-grained Al–Mg-based alloys of the AA5182 type would constitute the next step in the course for further cost reduction.     

Thermal Conductivity of Magnesium Alloys in the Temperature Range from −125 °C to 400 °C

Magnesium alloys have been widely used in recent years as lightweight structural materials in the manufacturing of automobiles, airplanes, and portable computers. Magnesium alloys have extremely low density (as low as 1738 kg · m^?3) and high rigidity, which makes them suitable for such applications. In this study, the thermal conductivity of two different magnesium alloys made by twin-roll casting was investigated using the laser-flash technique and differential scanning calorimetry for thermal diffusivity and specific heat capacity measurements, respectively. The thermal diffusivity of the magnesium alloys, AZ31 and AZ61, was measured over the temperature range from ?125 °C to 400 °C. The alloys AZ31 and AZ61 are composed of magnesium, aluminum, and zinc. The thermal conductivity gradually increased with temperature. The densities of AZ31 and AZ61 were 1754 kg · m^?3 and 1777 kg · m^?3, respectively. The thermal conductivity of AZ31 was about 25 % higher than that of AZ61, and this is attributed to the amount of precipitation.     

Superplastic behavior and microstructural stability of friction stir processed AZ91C alloy

Superplastic behavior of a solution treated and friction stir processed (FSP) AZ91C alloy is studied. These studies are conducted in the temperature range of 300–375 °C and strain rates (SRs) in the range of 1 × 10^?4–3 × 10^?3 s^?1. Microstructural stability of the FSP alloy is also studied in comparison to the AZ31, AZ61, and AZ91 alloys processed by various routes. High SR sensitivity in the range of 0.33–0.39 and grain size stability till 350 °C is observed for the FSP alloy. The FSP AZ91C alloy showed better thermal stability in comparison to AZ31 and AZ61 alloys. Kinetics of superplastic deformation of the FSP alloy is found to be slower as compared to AZ31 and AZ61 alloys processed by various routes, which is due to the presence of significant amount of second phase precipitates, such as, β-Mg₁₇(Al,Zn)₁₂, Mg₂Si, and Al₈Mn₅ in the FSP alloy. However, these precipitates contributed for better thermal stability of the microstructure of FSP AZ91C alloy.     

High-temperature deformation behavior of Cu–6.0Ni–1.0Si–0.5Al–0.15?Mg–0.1Cr alloy

The hot compression deformation behavior of Cu–6.0Ni–1.0Si–0.5Al–0.15?Mg–0.1Cr alloy with high strength, high stress relaxation resistance and good electrical conductivity was investigated using a Gleeble1500 thermal–mechanical simulator at temperatures ranging from 700 to 900?°C and strain rates ranging from 0.001?to 1?s^?1. Working hardening, dynamic recovery and dynamic recrystallization play important roles to affect the plastic deformation behavior of the alloy. According to the stress–strain data, constitutive equation has been carried out and the hot compression deformation activation energy is 854.73?kJ/mol. Hot processing map was established on the basis of dynamic material model theories, and Prasad instability criterion indicates that the appropriate hot processing temperature range and strain rate range for hot deformation were 850~875?°C and 0.001~0.01?s^?1, which agreed well with the hot rolling experimentation results.     

漂珠/AZ91D镁合金复合材料的高温压缩变形行为

采用搅拌铸造法制备了漂珠(FAC)/AZ91D镁合金复合材料。研究了该复合材料的高温压缩变形行为,分析了压缩变形温度和应变率对FAC/AZ91D镁合金复合材料压缩变形行为的影响规律,并计算了其热变形激活能。结果表明:FAC/AZ91D镁合金复合材料的高温压缩真应力-真应变曲线分为4个阶段:弹性变形、加工硬化、峰值应力和稳态流变阶段。相同应变率下,FAC/AZ91D镁合金复合材料的峰值应力和稳态流变应力随压缩变形温度的升高而降低;相同压缩变形温度下,流变应力随应变率增大而升高。在相同应变率或相同压缩变形温度下,FAC/AZ91D镁合金复合材料的热变形激活能随压缩应变率或压缩变形温度的升高而增大,其热压缩行为可以用双曲正弦函数形式的Arrhenius关系来描述。压缩变形温度与应变率对FAC/AZ91D镁合金复合材料的高温压缩组织均有重要影响。提高压缩变形温度或增大应变率,均可加速动态再结晶的进程。     

Comparison of superplastic forming abilities of as‐cast AZ91 magnesium alloy prepared by twin roll casting and WE43 magnesium alloy

This paper describes and compares the superplastic behaviour and microstructural evolution of twin roll cast AZ91 and WE43 rolled sheet alloys. Tests were carried out in uniaxial tension on both alloys across a range of temperatures (300 °C–525 °C) and strain rates (1?10^‐4 s^‐1–1?10^‐1 s^‐1). In the case of WE43 gas bulge testing was employed at 400 °C and 0.6 MPa to offer a better analogy to superplastic forming than uniaxial tensile testing. Elongations of over 400 % were observed within WE43 when tested at 450 °C and 1?10^‐3 s^‐1 strain rate, and over 200 % within AZ91 when tested at 350 °C and 1?10^‐3 s^‐1 strain rate. A peak cone height of 41 mm was achieved with WE43 at a temperature of 400 °C and pressure of 0.6 MPa. Electron back scattered detection technique was employed to analyse the microstructural evolution of the two alloys during the forming process. Both WE43 and AZ91 were observed to undergo dynamic recrystallization during elevated temperature tensile testing and failed at low strain rates mainly by means of coalescence of cavitation, in the case of AZ91 at high strain rates cracking of Al₁₂Mg₁₇ intermetallic particles was the dominating failure mechanism. Both alloys were seen to achieve good levels of superplastic ductility over 200 % elongation, which would be industrially useful in niche vehicle and aerospace manufacturing.     

Hot deformation behavior and processing maps of iron‐nickel based superalloy

Hot deformation behavior of iron‐nickel based superalloy (multimet N‐155) was investigated by hot compression tests, carried out in the deformation temperature of 850 °C–1150 °C with strain rates of 0.001–0.1 s^?1. The results showed that during the hot deformation of the alloy, under the same temperature, the flow stress rises with the increase of strain rate. At the same strain rate, the flow stress decreases with the increase of the temperature. The constitutive equations of the alloy that describe the flow stress as a function of strain rate and deformation temperature were established and the calculated apparent activation energy was 584.996 Kj/mol. The results of metallographic analysis showed that the amount of dynamic recrystallization in the peak efficiency domain is higher than the other domains. The results also showed that by increase of deformation temperature and/or decrease of strain rate, the volume fraction of dynamic recrystallization increases. Processing maps under different strains were constructed for evaluation of flow instability regime and optimization of processing parameters. The optimum hot working window for alloy was obtained at the temperature range of 925 °C–1050 °C and strain rate of 0.001–0.003 s^?1, with peak efficiency of 28 %.     

Zwillingsbildung bei der thermischen Ermüdung der Mg‐Basislegierung AZ31

Twinning at thermal fatigue of magnesium alloy AZ31 In this paper results of thermal fatigue tests of the magnesium base alloy AZ31 carried out in a temperature range between ‐50 °C and +290 °C are presented. Specimens were loaded under constant total strain and uniaxial homogeneous stresses. The resulting materials behaviour is described by stress amplitudes, plastic strain amplitudes and mean stresses as a function of the number of thermal loading cycles. It is well known that AZ31 shows different stress‐strain behaviour during tensile and compressive loading resp. at lower temperatures due to the fact that mechanical twinning depends on the loading direction. However untwinning processes may occur during unloading and reloading in the opposite direction. As a consequence, during the first thermal loading cycles, typical consequences of the formation and the dissolution of twins are observed. The interaction of deformation, recovery and recrystallization processes, characteristic for individual temperature ranges are discussed in detail to analyze the damage progress during thermal fatigue.     

Creep behavior of nanocrystalline Au films as a function of temperature

Freestanding nanocrystalline Au films, subjected to nominally elastic loads at 25–110 °C, demonstrated high primary (10^?7–10^?4 s^?1) and steady-state creep rates (10^?8–10^?5 s^?1). The deformation mechanisms for creep were strongly temperature dependent: grain boundary sliding-based creep dominated at room temperature and 50 °C, while the contribution of dislocation-mediated creep increased at 80 and 110 °C. The effect of applied stress on primary and steady-state creep strain at different temperatures was captured well by a non-linear model that was based on the kinetics of thermal activation. Multi-cycle creep experiments showed that at room temperature virtually all the primary strain accumulated during each forward creep cycle was recovered upon complete unloading. As the contribution of dislocation-mediated creep increased with temperature, the ratio of strain recovery to primary strain accumulated during each cycle was reduced due to the accumulation of plastic strain at higher temperatures. Notably, at all temperatures, the steady-state creep rate decreased after the first creep cycle. Moreover, the entire creep response remained virtually unchanged in all subsequent cycles, which implies that the first creep cycle resulted in mechanical annealing. This conclusion was further supported by calculations of the activation entropy: A reduction in its magnitude between the first and all subsequent creep cycles at all temperatures pointed out to mechanical annealing of initial material defects during the first loading cycle. The negative values of the calculated activation entropy indicated that entropy changes due to annihilation of defects-dominated entropy changes associated with the generation of new defects. Finally, the activation entropy for steady-state creep was temperature insensitive, but increased with stress, which is consistent with an increase in defect generation at higher stresses.     

Flow behavior and processing map for hot deformation of ATI425 titanium alloy

Flow behavior and processing map play important roles in the hot deformation process of titanium alloys. In this research, compression Gleeble tests have been carried out to investigate the stress–strain relationship at temperatures ranging from 700 to 1000℃ and strain rates ranging from 0.001 to 1 s~(-1) for ATI 425 titanium alloy. Arrhenius type constitutive equation was obtained to describe the compressive flow behavior with modification of additional deformation dead zone, friction model, temperature model and strain rate. The introduction of novel calculation method for value in Arrhenius equation gives more accurate fitting than traditional one. Processing maps were drawn based on the distribution of dissipator co-content, and optimized deformation temperature and strain rate range obtained. It is proven to be accurate and effective through the experimental results. The microstructure analysis shows that more dynamic recrystallization can be achieved in the area with larger value on the processing map.     

Einfluss von Randschichtzustand und Haltezeit auf die thermische Ermüdung der Magnesiumbasislegierung AZ31

In this paper thermal fatigue of magnesium base alloy AZ31 in the temperature range between +50°C and +290°C is investigated. Experiments were carried out under constant total deformation (out‐of‐phase loading) and the resulting stress amplitudes as well as the plastic strain amplitudes were recorded as a function of the number of thermal loading cycles. In particular the consequences of mechanical surface treatments (deep rolling) and of hold‐times were investigated. In both cases no particular influence compared with untreated specimens loaded without hold‐times was observed, which is due to the interaction of deformation and recrystallization processes during thermal fatigue.     

Hot working and crystallographic texture analysis of magnesium AZ alloys

Abstract

The hot working behaviour of magnesium AZ (e.g. AZ31; Al: 3%, Zn: 1%) alloys and their associated crystallographic texture evolution is reviewed. Under hot working conditions, the stress–strain curves show flow softening at all the temperatures and strain rates indicating dynamic recrystallisation (DRX) is predominant. The mean size of the recrystallised grains in all the alloys decreases as the value of Zener–Hollomon parameter Z increases. The hot working range of the alloys dwell between 200 and 500°C and the strain rates between 10^?3 and 5 s^?1. The hot working of AZ series alloy shows discontinuous DRX as the main mechanism. Equal channel angular processing shows continuous DRX. The constitutive equation development shows a linear relationship between the stress and the Z parameter. The activation energy for the alloys ranges from 112 to 169 kJ mol^?1 and Z values range from 10 to 10 s^?1. Textural examinations show basal texture as the predominant orientation.     

Hot deformation and processing map of an as-extruded Mg–Zn–Mn–Y alloy containing I and W phases

The hot deformation characteristics of an as-extruded ZM31 (Mg–Zn–Mn) magnesium alloy with an addition of 3.2 wt.% Y, namely ZM31 + 3.2Y, have been studied via isothermal compression testing in a temperature range of 300–400 °C and a strain rate range of 0.001–1 s^− 1. A constitutive model based on hyperbolic-sine equation along with processing maps was used to describe the dependence of flow stress on the strain, strain rate, and deformation temperature. The flow stress was observed to decrease with increasing deformation temperature and decreasing strain rate. The deformation activation energy of this alloy was obtained to be 241 kJ/mol. The processing maps at true strains of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 were generated to determine the region of hot workability of the alloy, with the optimum hot working parameters being identified as deformation temperatures of 340–500 °C and strain rates of 0.001–0.03 s^− 1. EBSD examinations revealed that the dynamic recrystallization occurred more extensively and the volume fraction of dynamic recrystallization increased with increasing deformation temperature. The role of element Y and second-phase particles (I- and W-phases) during hot compressive deformation was discussed.     

Hot-deformation characteristics of Waspaloy

Abstract

Specimens of wrought Waspaloy have been reheated to above the γ' solvus temperature and tested in plane-strain compression at constant equivalent tensile strain rates in the range 0.5–50 s^?1, and at initial test temperatures in the range 960–1070°C. The majority of tests were conducted with the tools and test environment at 850°C. Dynamic recrystallization was observed under all test conditions, but was only complete by the strain limit of 2·7 in tests at the highest temperatures. Static (metadynamic) recrystallization initiated rapidly after deformation. Flow stress, either at the peak or at a constant strain, is related exponentially to strain rate, and gives an activation energy of 475 kJ mol^?1 when related to the instantaneous temperature, which changed rapidly during deformation. For practical purposes, the stress-strain-strain-rate-temperature relationships may be treated as equations of state.

MST/96     

Processing Map of AZ31-1Ca-1.5 vol.% Nano-Alumina Composite for Hot Working

A processing map for extruded AZ31-1Ca-1.5NAl composite has been developed, which exhibited four important domains for hot working. The corresponding temperatures and strain rates associated with these domains are: (1) 250–350°C and 0.0003–0.01 s^?1; (1A) 350–410°C and 0.0003–0.01 s^?1; (2): 410–490°C and 0.002–0.2 s^?1; and (3) 325–410°C and 0.6 s^?1 to 10 s^?1. Dynamic recrystallization (DRX) occurred in all the four domains although different slip mechanisms and recovery processes are involved. Basal slip and prismatic slip dominates deformation in Domains 1 and 1A, respectively, with recovery occurring by climb that is lattice self-diffusion controlled. However, because of the high strain rates in Domain 3, recovery occurs through a climb process, controlled by grain boundary self-diffusion. The recovery mechanism in Domain 2 is cross-slip assisted by pyramidal slip along with basal and prismatic slip. The grain size has a linear relation with Zener–Hollomon parameter in all the domains. At high strain rates, the composite undergoes shear fracture at lower temperatures and intercrystalline fracture at higher temperatures. All of the identified DRX domains are suitable for conducting bulk metal forming processes although the one with the highest strain rates (Domain 3) is preferred for achieving high productivity.     

Superplasticity and grain boundary sliding characteristics in two stage deformation of Mg–3Al–1Zn alloy sheet

A ‘Two-Stage Deformation Method’ was proposed to enhance the superplasticity of Mg–3Al–1Zn (AZ31) alloy sheet. This method exploited the capability of the material to undergo dynamic recrystallization (DRX) at optimum DRX conditions of 250 °C and constant strain rate of 1×10⁻⁴ s⁻¹. Stage I was aimed at refining the coarse microstructure of the as-received alloy to result in fine equiaxial grains measuring less than 10 μm, which deformed by grain boundary sliding accommodated by intragranular slip. Subsequently, Stage II was performed at a higher deformation temperature, whereby viscous glide mechanism accommodated by lattice diffusion was predominant. By altering the deformation mechanisms at different strain levels, elongation-to-failure of 320 and 360% was attained at 400 and 450 °C, respectively.     

Microstructural evolution during hot shear deformation of an extruded fine-grained Mg–Gd–Y–Zr alloy

Mg–Gd–Y–Zr alloys are among recently developed Mg alloys having superior mechanical properties at elevated temperatures. Dynamic recrystallization (DRX) and rare earth-rich particles play important roles in enhancing the high-temperature strength of these alloys. Accordingly, the microstructural evolution of a fine-grained extruded Mg–5Gd–4Y–0.4Zr alloy was investigated after hot shear deformation in the temperature range of 350–450 °C using the shear punch testing (SPT) method. The results reveal the occurrence of partial dynamic recrystallization at the grain boundaries at 350 °C while the fraction of DRX grains increases with increasing deformation temperature. A fully recrystallized microstructure was achieved after SPT at 450 °C. The Gd-rich and Y-rich cuboid particles, having typical sizes in the range of ~50 nm to ~3 μm, show excellent stability and compatibility after hot shear deformation, and these particles enhance the high-temperature strength during hot deformation at elevated temperatures. The textural evolution, examined using electron backscattered diffraction, revealed a non-fibrous basal DRX texture after SPT which is different from the conventional deformation texture.