Mechanical properties of rolled A356 based composites reinforced by Cu-coated bimodal ceramic particles

Three kinds of A356 based composites reinforced with 3 wt.% Al₂O₃ (average particle size: 170 μm), 3 wt.% SiC (average particle size: 15 μm), and 3 wt.% of mixed Al₂O₃–SiC powders (a novel composite with equal weights of reinforcement) were fabricated in this study via a two-step approach. This first process step was semi-solid stir casting, which was followed by rolling as the second process step. Electroless deposition of a copper coating onto the reinforcement was used to improve the wettability of the ceramic particles by the molten A356 alloy. From microstructural characterization, it was found that coarse alumina particles were most effective as obstacles for grain growth during solidification. The rolling process broke the otherwise present fine silicon platelets, which were mostly present around the Al₂O₃ particles. The rolling process was also found to cause fracture of silicon particles, improve the distribution of fine SiC particles, and eliminate porosity remaining after the first casting process step. Examination of the mechanical properties of the obtained composites revealed that samples which contained a bimodal ceramic reinforecment of fine SiC and coarse Al₂O₃ particles had the highest strength and hardness.     

A356‐T6 wheels: Influence of casting defects on fatigue design

Rotating bending fatigue tests were executed on A356‐T6 wheels. The tests were performed both on components containing only the casting defects and on wheels in which artificial holes were machined. Results show the detrimental effect of sub‐superficial porosities on fatigue endurance. A predictive model was proposed. It resulted in a useful tool for the designer because knowing the applied stress, it is possible to estimate the number of cycles for crack nucleation considering the size of the defect, whereas knowing the endurance target requested it is possible to find the maximum defect size acceptable considering the applied stress.     

旋转直管浇注法制备A356铝合金半固态浆料

采用旋转直管浇注法制备A356铝合金半固态浆料,在不同浇注温度和转速下进行了系列试验,并与直管法进行了对比分析。结果表明,在不同转速条件下,浇注温度越低,得到的浆料凝固组织晶粒尺寸就越小,颗粒球化程度越高。与直管法相比,同一工艺参数下,旋转直管法制备的坯料的晶粒更为细小和圆整,并且随着旋转速度的增加,可得到理想浆料组织的浇铸温度区间也随之增大。本实验条件下,当转速为300r/mim时,浇注温度为670℃也能得到较理想的半固态凝固组织。     

铝基复合材料薄带中SiC分布均匀性的研究

本文研究了用双辊铸机生产的SiCp/A356复合材料薄带中SiC的分布规律,着重分析了SiC颗粒的体积分数(3%～16%)和薄带的铸造速度(0.5～10m/min)对SiC颗粒分布均匀性的影响,结果表明,较高的SiC含量或较高的铸造速度均可抑制薄带表面贫SiC层的形成。     

Effects of reinforcement distribution on low and high temperature tensile properties of Al356/SiCp cast composites produced by a novel reinforcement dispersion technique

A major challenge for full utilization of the potentials of SiC_p reinforced metal matrix composites is the uniform dispersion of very fine SiC particles in the matrix alloys. In this study, a novel method for gradual in situ release of properly wetted SiC particles with average size of less than 3 μm in the liquid metal was employed which greatly overcame this challenge. SiC particles were injected into the melt in three different forms, i.e., untreated SiC_p, milled particulate Al-SiC_p composite powder, and milled particulate Al-SiC_p-Mg composite powder. The resultant composite slurries were then cast in either a fully liquid state (stir casting) or semisolid state (compocasting). Subsequently, the effects of the type of the injected powder and the casting method on the microstructural and mechanical characteristics of the cast composites at room temperature and 300 °C were investigated. The results demonstrated that distribution of SiC particles in the matrix were greatly improved by injecting milled composite powders instead of untreated SiC particles into the melt. Also casting the composite slurries in a semisolid state instead of fully liquid state slightly improved the distribution. The ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and elongation at room temperature of Al356/5 vol.% SiC_p composite manufactured by compocasting of the (Al-SiC_p-Mg)_cp-injected melt were increased by 113%, 90% and 135%, respectively, compared to those of the composite manufactured by stir casting of the untreated-SiC_p injected melt. The improvements in these properties at 300 °C were about 100%, 103% and 129%, respectively. Almost all the composite samples retained more than 90% of their strengths at 300 °C, whereas the monolithic samples lost more than 25% of their strength at this temperature. The composites manufactured by compocasting of (Al-SiC_p-Mg)_cp-injected melts exhibited a typical ductile fracture surface with equiaxed dimples at both room temperature and 300 °C.     

The influences of the microstructure morphology of A356 alloy on its rheological behavior in the semi-solid state

In this paper, the rheological behavior of semi-solid A356 alloy with different solid morphology was studied with an improved static shear test method. The results indicated that the rheological behavior of the alloy was significantly influenced by the structural morphology of the alloy. The alloy had quite different rheological properties even though the same fraction of solid existed in the semi-solid state. The rheological behavior of the alloy fitted a five-element model (H₁–[N₁|H₂]–[N₂|S]) for the as-cast microstructure with developed primary (α–Al dendrites, whereas it fitted a six-element model ([H₁|S₁]–[N₁|H₂]–[N₂|S]) for degenerated dendritic or spheroidal primary α–Al, which had been obtained by electromagnetic stirring and spray deposition, respectively. Computation results showed that the deforming capability and shear rate of the semi-solid alloy increased remarkably with the change of primary α–Al from developed dendrites to degenerated dendrites, and then to spheroidal structures. On the other hand, the temperature dependence of the rheological properties of the semi-solid alloy with spheroidal or degenerated dendritic primary α–Al was much less than that with developed primary α–Al dendrites.     

液相线半连续铸造A356铝合金二次加热合金组织与工艺

采用电子显微镜及图像分析仪，研究了液相线铸造A356铝合金在二次加热过程中的组织变化。结果表明，在固液两相区内，随着加热温度的升高，α相的生长和球化的速度变快。二次加热最佳工艺制度的590℃下保温10min，此时，晶粒平均等级圆直径为38．5μm，晶粒平均圆度为1．92。     

Effects of rheocasting and heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of A356 alloy

The effects of the rheocasting process and T5 heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of A356 alloy were investigated. The results show that the temperature range for the solid-liquid state is roughly between 560 °C and 630 °C, and the solid fraction increases from 0% to 100% with decreasing temperature. The finer microstructure in rheocasting in comparison with the one in conventional casting was attributed to pressure breaking down the secondary dendrite arms, especially for specimens around 600-610 °C. It was proved that rheocasting specimens have improved mechanical properties over the conventional casting ones. Furthermore, the result shows that T5 heat treatment can strengthen A356 alloy, while the plasticity was reduced at the same time.     

大尺寸重力铸造A356铝硅合金管坯楔压致密化

为了消除铸造铝硅合金中的孔洞、疏松等缺陷,提高合金性能,采用基于多道次局部小变形累积整体成型的楔压成型工艺,压制出力学性能良好,整体致密化,外形圆整的A356管坯。通过金相组织、室温拉伸、布氏硬度和SEM等手段,对楔形压制致密化的规律及其合金的微观组织和力学性能进行研究。试验结果表明:楔形压制工艺能显著压合甚至消除重力铸造产生的孔洞,力学性能得到显著提高,抗拉强度和延伸率分别从楔压前的148MPa,2.5%提高到224MPa,7.3%。     

Development of Al356/SiCp cast composites by injection of SiCp containing composite powders

One of the great challenges of producing cast metal matrix composites is the agglomeration tendency of the reinforcements. This would normally result in poor distribution of the particles, high porosity content, and low mechanical properties. In the present work, a new method for uniform distribution of very fine SiC particles with average size of less than 3 μm was employed. The key idea was to allow for gradual in situ release of properly wetted SiC particles in the liquid metal. For this purpose, SiC particles were injected into the melt in three different forms, i.e., untreated SiC_p, milled particulate Al–SiC_p composite powder, and milled particulate Al–SiC_p–Mg composite powder. The resultant composite slurries were then cast from either fully liquid (stir casting) or semisolid (compocasting) state. Consequently, the effects of the casting method and the type of the injected powder on the microstructural characteristics as well as the mechanical properties of the cast composites were investigated. The results showed that the distribution of SiC particles in the matrix and the porosity content of the composites were greatly improved by injecting milled composite powders instead of untreated-SiC particles into the melt. Casting from semisolid state instead of fully liquid state had similar effects. The average size of SiC particles incorporated into the matrix was also significantly reduced from about 8 to 3 μm by injecting milled composite powders. The ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and elongation of Al356/5 vol.%SiC_p composite manufactured by compocasting of the (Al–SiC_p–Mg)_cp injected melt were increased by 90%, 103% and 135%, respectively, compared to those of the composite manufactured by stir casting of the untreated-SiC_p injected melt.     

Thermal conductivity of Cu/diamond composites prepared by a new pretreatment of diamond powder

Cu/diamond composites were fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) after the surface pretreatment of the diamond powders, in which the diamond particles were mixed with copper powder and tungsten powder (carbide forming element W). The effects of the pretreatment temperature and the diamond particle size on the thermal conductivity of diamond/copper composites were investigated. It was found that when 300 μm diamond particles and Cu–5 wt.% W were mixed and preheated at 1313 K, the composites has a relatively higher density and its thermal conductivity approaches 672 W (m K)⁻¹.     

Effects of wear load on mechanical and morphological properties of A356 matrix carbon nano tube composites

In this study, CNT-A356 composites were prepared by reinforcing an aluminum alloy A356 matrix material with carbon nanotubes (CNT) in 4 different ratio (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2) and the hardness, abrasion and microstructure properties of these composites were investigated. The powder metallurgy method was used in the production of composite samples. A356 powder and CNTs’ were mixed by ball milling for 1?hour and cold pressed in the powder compression mold. The mold was then taken into a functional oven and hot pressing was performed. The compacted powder bodies were sintered at 550° C for 1?hour in a 10^?6 millibars vacuum environment. Hardness measurements, wear tests and microstructure analyzes of the produced samples were carried out. As a result of experimental studies; it has been observed that the CNTs’ are placed in bulk and between the matrix grains and a more hollow structure is formed by increasing the CNT ratio. Moreover, while the CNT ratio exceeded 1%, the hardness values decreased and weight loss increased. The highest hardness value was obtained in the composites containing 1% CNT.     

Significant improvement of semi-solid microstructure and mechanical properties of A356 alloy by ARB process

Accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process was used in this study as an effective method for manufacturing high-strength, finely-dispersed and highly-uniform A356 alloy. It was found that when the number of ARB cycles was increased, the uniformity of silicon particles in the aluminum matrix improved, the particles became finer and spheroider and therefore, the tensile strength (TS) and ductility of the samples improved. The microstructure of the manufactured A356 alloy after five ARB cycles indicated a totally modified structure such that it's TS and elongation values reached 269 MPa and 5.3% which were 2.6 and 2.5 times greater than those of the as-cast material, respectively. Also, the hardness value increased from 55.4 (for as-cast sample) to 100.2 HV (after the fifth cycle of ARB), and registered 81% increase.     

Effects of HIPping on high-cycle fatigue properties of investment cast A356 aluminum alloys

This study is concerned with the effects of HIPping on high-cycle fatigue properties of investment cast A356 Al alloys. Tensile and high-cycle fatigue tests were conducted on cast alloys, two of which were HIPped, and then the test data were analyzed in relation with microstructures, tensile and fracture properties, and fatigue fracture mode. Eutectic Si particles were homogeneously dispersed in the matrix of the casting A356 Al alloys, but there were many large pores formed as casting defects. The high-cycle fatigue test results indicated that fatigue strength of the HIPped alloys was higher than that of the non-HIPped alloys because of the significant reduction in volume fraction of pores by HIPping. In the non-HIPped specimens, fatigue cracks initiated at large pores adjacent to the specimen surface and then propagated down to several hundreds micrometers depth while coalescing with other large pores. On the other hand, the HIPped specimens, where pores did not affect the fatigue much, fatigue cracks initiated at eutectic Si particles and propagated along them, thereby leading to improved fatigue strength by 40 to 50% over the non-HIPped specimens.     

A356合金近液相线半固态铸造非枝晶组织与模锻成形性能

采用近液相线铸造技术制备出具有等轴晶粒的半固态A356合金坯料,合适的铸造工艺为铸造温度615℃、铸造速度160mm/min、液面深度220mm、冷却水流量0.1m3/min;在电阻炉加热的条件下,半固态A356合金坯料的重熔加热温度场均匀,合适的加热制度为保温温度585℃,保温时间10min。在模具温度为300℃~500℃条件下,触变模锻成形了汽车轮毂件,经T6热处理后的抗拉强度为215.65MPa,延伸率为14.45%,硬度为78.66HV,该研究结果对半固态加工技术在汽车零部件生产领域的应用有积极意义。     

高能超声处理对原位Al3Ti/A356复合材料显微组织和力学性能的影响

采用熔体直接反应法,以工业钛剂和A356合金为反应物,利用高能超声原位合成了Al3Ti/A356复合材料。利用X射线衍射与扫描电镜对该复合材料的微观组织和物相组成进行分析,并通过拉伸实验对该复合材料的力学性能进行测试。结果表明,经过高能超声处理后,复合材料中的Al3Ti颗粒尺寸较高能超声处理前明显变小,分布也更均匀。当超声功率为1.2kW/cm2,超声作用时间为360s时,颗粒尺寸最小,为0.5～2μm。复合材料的抗拉强度、屈服强度和伸长率分别达到281.83、226.72MPa和5.6%,较未施加高能超声的复合材料分别提高了16.2%、10.3%和33.3%。     

Mechanical properties of hot pressed SiCp and B4Cp/Alumix 123 composites alloyed with minor Zr

In the present study, effect of Zr addition on the microstructure and wear behavior of aluminum alloy composites (AMCs) reinforced with B4Cp and SiCp particles fabricated via hot pressing were investigated. The samples for the study composed of unreinforced aluminum alloy (Alumix 123) and the composites reinforced with 10% B4Cp and % SiCp were prepared by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) method. Similarly, all the samples alloyed with 0.2% Zr were also produced in order to make a comparison. The produced samples were evaluated for microstructural properties and mechanical tests for hardness, tensile and bending strength were performed. Wear test was carried out at 5 mm/s sliding speed under 3.0 N load for the all kind of hot pressed produced samples. The hot pressed composite microstructures have a more uniform distribution of the reinforcements. After HIP process, the composites were successfully produced with high density (>99%). The addition of Zr increased the yield and tensile strength of the samples. The highest strength value was found for the sample Al 123 matrix alloy with Zr. Evaluation of microstructures showed that copper and zirconium dispersed equally within the matrix microstructure without agglomeration. For the composite samples, Al3Zr, appeared as white precipitate, were inspected around B4C and SiC particles. The composite containing SiC particles and Zr had wear resistance value superior to those of the other counterparts.     

剪切停留对液固温区A356合金组织及瞬态流变化为的影响

采用自行研制的流变装置进行瞬态流变试验，研究了剪切停留对液固温区不同初生α相形态A356合金的组织变化及其瞬态液变化为的影响，结果表明，在相同的剪切条件下，随剪切停留时间的增加，瞬时峰值表观粘度增加，说明切停留期间半固态合金初生α相形态发生了变化；对半固态合金初生相形态观察发现，剪切停留促使初生相发生了“团聚”或“合并”，而且初生相形态变化的程度取决于剪切停留时间和初生相的退化程度，对试验结果进行曲线拟合，得到了描述半固态合金峰值表观粘度和剪切停留时间的瞬态流变方程。     

Preparation and some properties of SiC particle reinforced aluminium alloy composites

Aluminium alloy composites containing various particle sizes of 10 and 20 wt.% SiC particles were prepared by molten metal mixing and squeeze casting method under argon gas. The stirring was carried out with graphite impeller during addition of particle. The molten mixture was poured into a die when the stirring was completed and metal matrix composites were produced by applying the pressure. Optical microscopic examination, hardness, density and porosity measurement were carried out. Moreover, metal matrix composites were machined at various cutting speeds under a fixed depth of cut and feed rate using different cutting tools. It is observed that there was a reasonably uniform dispersion of particles in the matrix alloy. The density decreased with decreasing particle sizes, but porosity decreased considerably with increasing particle size. In addition, the tool life decreased considerably with increasing cutting speeds for all tests. Among cutting tools, the wear resistance of Al₂O₃ coated tools showed better performance than those of the other tools without chip breaker geometries in the machining of SiCp-reinforced composites.     

Effects of sintering parameters on the microstructure and tensile properties of in situ TiBw/Ti6Al4V composites with a novel network architecture

In order to better understand the relationship of processing–structure–mechanical properties of in situ TiB whisker reinforced Ti6Al4V (TiBw/Ti64) composites with a novel network architecture, the effects of sintering parameters on the microstructure and tensile properties of the composites were investigated. TiB whiskers with the highest aspect ratio and the coarsest whiskers were obtained at 1100 °C and 1200 °C due to the skips of whisker growth speeds along the [0 1 0] direction and the [0 0 1] and [1 0 0] directions, respectively. Additionally, TiB whisker with a claw-like structure can be synthesized from one TiB₂ polycrystal parent. The quasi-continuous network architecture of TiBw/Ti64 composites can be achieved at higher sintering temperatures more than 1200 °C. The prepared composites with the quasi-continuous network architecture exhibit a superior combination of tensile properties.