Influence of rolling direction on strength and ductility of aluminium and aluminium alloys produced by accumulative roll bonding

Sheets from commercial purity aluminium AA1050 and aluminium alloy AA6016 were processed by accumulative roll bonding to obtain an ultrafine-grained microstructure. The accumulative roll bonded samples showed a significant increase in specific strength paired with high ductility. Despite a strongly elongated grain structure, tensile testing of samples oriented 45° to the rolling direction revealed considerable improvement in elongation to failure compared to the samples oriented parallel to the rolling direction. From hydraulic bulge tests, it was observed that the accumulative roll bonded samples reached higher burst pressures and slightly lower equivalent strains in comparison to the as-received conventionally grain-sized samples. This behaviour reflects the extraordinary mechanical properties of the ultrafine-grained materials and indicates promising metal sheet formability.     

Dissimilar friction stir lap welding of AA 5754-H22/AA 6082-T6 aluminium alloys: Influence of material properties and tool geometry on weld strength

Dissimilar friction stir welding (FSW) of heat (AA 6082-T6) and non-heat (AA 5754-H22) treatable aluminium alloys, in lap joint configuration, was performed in this work. The base material plates were 1 mm thick. Welds were performed combining different plates positioning, relative to the tool shoulder, in order to assess the influence of base materials properties on welds strength. Three different tools were tested, one cylindrical and two conical, with different taper angles. Welds strength was characterized by performing transverse and tensile–shear tests. Strain data acquisition by Digital Image Correlation (DIC) was used to determine local weld properties. The results obtained enabled to conclude that the dissimilar welds strength is strongly dependent on the presence of the well-known hooking defect and that the hooking characteristics are strongly conditioned by base materials properties/positioning. By placing the AA 6082-T6 alloy, as top plate, in contact with the tool shoulder, superior weld properties are achieved independently of the tool geometry. It is also concluded that the use of unthreaded conical pin tools, with a low shoulder/pin diameter relation, is the most suitable solution for the production of welds with similar strengths for advancing and retreating sides.     

Tailoring nanostructured, graded, and particle-reinforced Al laminates by accumulative roll bonding

Accumulative roll bonding (ARB) is a very attractive process for processing large sheets to achieve ultrafine-grained microstructure and high strength. Commercial purity Al and many Al alloys from the 5xxx and the precipitation strengthened 6xxx alloy series have been successfully processed by the ARB process into an ultrafine-grained state and superior ductility have been achieved for some materials like technical purity Al. It has also been shown that the ARB process can be successfully used to produce multi-component materials with tailored properties by reinforcement or grading, respectively. This allows optimizing the properties based on two or more materials/alloys. For example, to achieve high corrosion resistance and good visual surface properties it is interesting to produce a composite of two different Al alloys, where for example a high strength alloy of the 5xxx series is used as the core material and a 6xxx series alloy as the clad material. It has been shown that such a composite achieves more or less the same strength as the core material although 50% of the composite consists of the significant softer clad alloy. Furthermore, it has been found, that the serrated yielding which typically appears in 5xxx series alloys and limits applications as outer skin materials completely disappears. Moreover, the ARB process allows many other attractive ways to design new composites and graded material structures with unique properties by the introduction of particles, fibres and sheets. Strengthening with nanoparticles for example is a very attractive way to improve the properties and accelerate the grain refining used in the severe plastic deformation process. With an addition of only 0.1 vol.-% Al2O3 nanoparticles a significantly accelerated grain refinement has been found which reduces the number of ARB passes necessary to achieve the maximum in strength. The paper provides a short review on recent developments in the field of ARB processing for producing multicomponent ultrafine-grained sheet materials with tailored properties.     

Joining of alumina short-fibre reinforced AA6061 alloy to AA6061 alloy and to itself

The weldability of aluminium short-fibre reinforced AA6061 alloy (FRM) to AA6061 alloy and to itself using aluminium brazing materials has been investigated. AA4045 and BA03 were selected as brazing materials. When FRM was brazed to AA6061 alloy with AA4045 sheet, a disorder of fibre orientation near the interface was recognized at a brazing temperature above 863 K. Furthermore, the interface became very irregular and porous. The tensile strength achieved was about 100 MPa on brazing below 863 K. On the other hand, BA03 sheet, which has thin AA4045 layers on an AA3003 alloy layer, made the joint strong. The strength was about 200 MPa. BA03 induced little disorder of fibre arrangement and better contact at the interfaces. The BA03/AA6061 alloy interface was more porous than the FRM/BA03 interface and, hence, weaker. FRM/FRM joints with BA03 sheet had good strengths above 200 MPa.     

Corrosion behaviour of Al 1050 severely deformed by rotary swaging

In this study, corrosion behaviour of ultrafine-grained (UFG) commercial pure aluminium Al 1050 processed by rotary swaging (RS) was examined using potentiodynamic polarization and weight loss immersion test in 3.5% NaCl solution. Corrosion behaviour of UFG Al 1050 was compared with that of coarse grained (CG) as-received material. The results showed that ultrafine grain refinement by RS led to marked improvement of the corrosion resistance. The improvement in corrosion resistance is profited from the denser and stable passive film due to more grain boundaries, larger fraction of non-equilibrium grain boundaries and residual stress of the UFG pure aluminium. The weight loss tests revealed low corrosion rate values of RS material compared to CG as-received material. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed a higher number of rectangular shallow pits (more close to patches of general dissolution); larger pits size was observed in the as-received compared to RS materials.     

The effect of pre-straining on the mechanical behaviour of self-piercing riveted aluminium alloy sheets

Self-piercing riveting as an alternative joining method to spot-welding has attracted considerable interest from the automotive industry and has been widely used in aluminium intensive vehicles. Pressing and stamping are important processes in automotive production and result in additional straining on the vehicle body sheet material. It is therefore important to have knowledge of the effect of sheet pre-straining on the quality of the self-piercing riveted joints and on the mechanical behaviour of the riveted aluminium alloy sheets. This paper reports the influence of sheet pre-straining on the static and fatigue behaviour of self-piercing riveted aluminium alloy sheet. Wrought aluminium alloy sheet, NG5754 with a nominal thickness value of 2 mm was used to obtain pre-strained NG5754 sheets with pre-straining levels of 3%, 5% and 10%. Pairs of pre-strained NG5754 sheets were joined to create single-riveted lap joints which subsequently underwent lap-shear and fatigue testing. Microscopic inspection showed that the joint quality was satisfactory despite the increasing sheet straining levels. The results showed that by increasing the pre-straining level up to 10%, the shear and fatigue strength also increased. The rate of increase of the static and fatigue strength differed as the pre-straining levels varied.     

累积叠轧纯Mg/ZK60镁合金层状金属复合材料的组织与性能

采用累积叠轧技术在300℃下制备了纯Mg/ZK60 Mg合金多层复合板材。经过初始复合后,Mg层和ZK60层晶粒明显细化,随着循环次数的增加,Mg/ZK60复合板材两组元晶粒细化并不明显。两种组元的层厚随着循环次数的上升而逐渐降低,两次循环后Mg/ZK60复合板材出现波浪状组织。累积叠轧后,Mg/ZK60复合板材中Mg层和ZK60层呈现典型的轧制织构类型,{0001}基面均向轧制方向发生轻微偏转。Mg/ZK60复合板材的强度及延伸率均介于轧制态的ZK60板与Mg板之间,并随着循环次数的增加逐渐提高。Mg/ZK60复合板材室温阻尼性能和高温阻尼性能均介于纯Mg与ZK60之间,而高温下Mg/ZK60复合板材的高温阻尼则与ZK60板材变化趋势相类似。      

Role of second phase particles on microstructure and texture evolution of ARB processed aluminium sheets

Abstract

The accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process was carried out on a high purity alloy (AA1100) and a particle containing aluminium alloy (AA3003) for up to eight cycles. The electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) method was utilised to investigate the microstructural and microtextural evolution in ARB processed sheets. The results indicate that the lack of second phase particles in pure aluminium hinders grain refinement and leads to the formation of unrefined bands, which results in the increase of the overall texture intensity and the development of a strong texture. A submicrometre grain structure in this alloy develops at the final stages of the process. It was also found that the presence of second phase particles in AA3003 alloy prevents the development of such unrefined bands and improves grain refinement during the ARB process, which results in a more homogenous microstructure of ultrafine grains.     

Accumulative roll bonding of aluminum alloys 2219/5086 laminates: Microstructural evolution and tensile properties

The present study describes the course of microstructure evolution during accumulative roll bonding (ARB) of dissimilar aluminum alloys AA2219 and AA5086. The two alloys were sandwiched as alternate layers and rolled at 300 °C up to 8 passes with 50% height reduction per pass. A strong bonding between successive layers accompanied by substantial grain refinement (∼200–300 nm) is achieved after 8 passes of ARB. The processing schedule has successfully maintained the iso-strain condition up to 6 cycles between the two alloys. Afterwards, the fracture and fragmentation of AA5086 layers dominate the microstructure evolution. Mechanical properties of the 8 pas ARB processed material were evaluated in comparison to the two starting alloy sheets via room temperature tensile tests along the rolling direction. The strength of the 8 pass ARB processed material lies between that of the two starting alloys while the ductility decreases after ARB than that of the two constituent starting alloys. These differences in mechanical behavior have been attributed to the microstructural aspects of the individual layer and the fragmentation process.     

Influence of upscaling accumulative roll bonding on the homogeneity and mechanical properties of AA1050A

Accumulative roll bonding (ARB), as a method for production of ultrafine grained materials, is frequently supposed to be easily transferable to established industrial production lines. In literature, however, common sheet dimensions used for ARB in a laboratory scale are between 20 and 100 mm in width. In order to quantify the potential of upscaling the ARB process to a technological relevant level, sheets of AA1050A with an initial sheet width of 100–450 mm were accumulative roll bonded up to 8 cycles. In this regard, three different rolling mills of distinct dimensions were used for processing of the sheet material. The influence of process parameters and the reproducibility of the process, in terms of mechanical properties and homogeneity of the sheets, were studied by means of mechanical and microstructural characterization. Both appear to be largely independent on the sheet size and the rolling mill utilized for production. Only small deviations after the first cycles could be detected, vanishing in subsequent cycles due to the features of microstructural evolution. The finally obtained results indicate a high potential for industrial application of ARB and illustrate the possibility to upscale the process to a level necessary for that purpose.     

Impact Behaviour of Panels for Automotive Applications

Abstract: Present article presents the results of a current study concerning the low‐velocity impact behaviour of some materials potentially applicable in the automotive industry. The materials tested were as follows: the 1050 H24 aluminium alloy, the Docol 1000 and Docol 1200 high‐strength steel plates and an aluminium/Pecolit sandwich. The impact energy, maximum force, damage size and elastic recuperation were measured. The results for the different materials were compared not only in terms of absolute values, but also in terms of the specific values. The highest values of specific impact energy and specific critical impact force were obtained for Docol 1200, about 62 and 84%, respectively, higher than the values obtained for 1050 H24 aluminium alloy and about 46 and 56% higher than the values obtained for aluminium/Pecolit sandwich. This material was therefore considered the best choice to prevent impact damage.     

铝合金-聚合物复合层板弯曲回弹理论分析

针对铝合金-聚合物复合层板弯曲回弹问题,分析了复合层板弯曲过程表面层铝板及中心层聚合物的变形特征,建立了复合层板平面应变纯弯曲回弹理论分析模型.采用建立的模型预测了复合层板纯弯曲过程回弹角变化,并与实验结果进行了对比,分析了聚合物层厚度及铝合金板材力学性能对回弹的影响规律.结果表明:随着中心聚合物层厚度的增加,复合层板回弹角降低;随着表面层铝板强度的降低,复合层板回弹角减小.理论预测结果与实验结果一致,说明了本文推导的理论模型的可靠性.     

Laurus nobilis L. oil as green corrosion inhibitor for aluminium and AA5754 aluminium alloy in 3% NaCl solution

The influence of (30%, v/v) ethanolic solution of Laurus nobilis L. oil on the corrosion inhibition of aluminium and AA5754 aluminium alloy in 3% NaCl solution was studied by weight loss method, potentiodynamic polarization, and linear polarization method. The polarization measurements show that addition of this oil in concentrations ranging from 10 ppm to 50 ppm induces a decrease of cathodic currents densities. The results confirm that AA5754 alloy has better corrosion resistance in 3% NaCl solution than pure aluminium, while the oil investigated has better inhibition action on corrosion process of pure aluminium. The surface analysis via SEM techniques indicate that the active molecules from L. nobilis L. oil absolutely retard the pitting corrosion on the specimen surfaces.     

Nanostructured AA5005/Al2O3 composite manufactured by anodising and accumulative roll bonding

In this study, nanostructured AA5005/6 vol.-% Al₂O₃ composite manufactured by anodising and accumulative roll bonding (ARB) processes was investigated. The microstructure of the AA5005/Al₂O₃ composite after ninth ARB cycle exhibited a good distribution of alumina reinforcement particles in the AA5005 matrix. It was found that with increasing the number of cycles, the tensile strength of the monolithic and composite samples increased, but their ductility decreased at the first ARB cycle and then increased. The mean grain size of the composite sample after the ninth cycle was 88?nm. The tensile strength of the composite was 3.3 times higher than the initial AA5005 sheet. Observations revealed that the failure mode in the AA5005/Al₂O₃ composite was the shear ductile fracture.     

Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties in ultrafine grained Al/TiC composite fabricated by accumulative roll bonding

In this study, the influence of nano-TiC particle on microstructure development and mechanical properties of Al/TiC composite fabricated by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) was considered to investigate. Microstructural characterization by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) system proved that the grain size decreased to around 200 nm and the TiC reinforcement particles were uniformly distributed in the Al matrix by 7-cycle of the ARB process. It is also found that presence of the TiC particles could accelerate grain refinement. Uniaxial tensile test exhibited that yield and ultimate tensile strength significantly improved more than four times in the 7-cycle ARB processed Al/TiC composite compared with the annealed aluminum specimen which used as the starting material. In addition, the obtained results demonstrated that adding the TiC reinforcement particles could improve the yield strength of the 7-cycle ARB processed Al sheet about 40 percentage.     

Microstructure and texture evolution during accumulative roll bonding of aluminium alloys AA2219/AA5086 composite laminates

Accumulative roll bonding of two aluminium alloys, AA2219 and AA5086 was carried out up to 8 passes. During the course of ARB, the deformation inhomogeneity between the two alloy layers results in interfacial instability after the 4th pass, necking of the AA5086 layers after the 6th pass and fracture along the necked regions after the 7th and 8th pass. The EBSD analysis shows deformation bands along the interfaces after 8 passes of ARB. The ARB-processed materials predominantly show characteristic deformation texture components. The weak texture after the 2nd pass results from the combination of a weakly-textured starting AA2219 layer and a strongly-textured starting AA5086 layer. A strong deformation texture forms due to the high imposed strain after a higher number of ARB passes. Subgrain formation and related shear banding induces copper/S components in the case of the small elongated grains, while planar slip leads to the formation of brass component in the large elongated grains.     

Influence of the ECAP Processing Parameters on the Cyclic Deformation Behavior on Ultrafine‐Grained Cubic Face Centered Metals

Ultrafine‐grained (UFG) materials are widely known to exhibit significantly improved fatigue properties when the fatigue life is regarded in a Wöhler‐S–N‐plot. More detailed, the achieved improvements in fatigue life significantly depend on the processing conditions of these UFG materials. In this work the influence of several equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) processing parameters on the fatigue properties of the Al–Mg model system with up to 2% of magnesium and on the technical alloy AA5754, namely AlMg3 are investigated. Most surprisingly, it is found that the material produced with route A (no rotation between ECAP passes), exhibit a higher fatigue life than the material produced by route B_c (90°‐rotation between ECAP passes). It is found that the different textures are responsible for that behavior. Moreover, the number of ECAP passes or the application of backpressure also significantly influences the fatigue life. In this context, relevant differences in the cyclic deformation behavior, microstructure, and damage mechanisms were discussed in this paper.     

Dynamic response of clamped sandwich beam with aluminium alloy foam core subjected to impact loading

The dynamic response of clamped sandwich beam with aluminium alloy open-cell foam core subjected to impact loading is investigated in the paper. The face sheet and the core of the sandwich beam have the different thickness. And the sandwich beam is impacted by a steel projectile in the mid-span. The impact force is recorded by using accelerometer. The results show that tensile crack and core shear are the dominant failure modes. And the impact velocity and the thickness of the face sheet and the foam core have a significant influence on the failure modes and the impact forces. Combining with the inertia effect and experimental results, the failure mechanisms of the sandwich beams are discussed. The thickness of the foam core plays an important role in the failure mechanism of the sandwich beam. In present paper, the failure of the sandwich beam with a thin core is dominated by the bending moment, while the sandwich beam with a thick core fails by bending deformation in the front face sheet and the bottom face sheet in opposite direction due to the plastic hinges in the front face sheet.     

高聚物夹层材料对层压减振复合钢板拉伸剪切强度的影响

研究了高聚物夹层材料对层压减振复合钢板的拉伸剪切强度的影响。结果指出，高聚物夹层材料较厚时，层压减振复合钢板的拉伸剪切变形规律与高聚物夹层材料的一致；高聚物夹层厚度较小时，复合钢板的拉伸剪切强度较高。与酚醛树脂氯丁橡胶相比，聚氨酯作夹层的层压减振复合钢板具有较高的拉伸剪切强度。     

Characterisation of microstructure and texture in friction stir welded joints of 5754 and 5182 aluminium alloy sheets

Abstract

The microstructure and texture of friction stir welded joints of hot mill stock 5754 and 5182 aluminium alloy sheets were examined after a commercial joining process. The as received sheet was cut into two pieces, one piece was cold rolled with 20 reduction in thickness, whereas the other was subsequently aged at 230C for 100 h after the 20 prestrain. These two pieces with different thermal pretreatments were joined by friction stir welding FSW. On FSW, a uniform fine grained microstructure in the through thickness of the sheet having a width corresponding to the diameter of tool shoulder was observed in both the 5754 and 5182 joints. Moreover, the microhardness profile did not reveal a softened heat affected zone between the weld and the base metal. An X-ray pole figure study showed that the 5754 and 5182 weld zones were not highly textured and both comprised of similar texture components. The calculated average sheet formability of the weld zones predicts a more isotropic behaviour than that for the start materials. Orientation image mapping of the weld zone in 5182 and semi-automatic electron backscatter pattern linescan analysis of the 5754 weld zone showed that most of the grain boundaries were high angle ones. This determination affirms that the weld zones in AA 5754 and AA 5182 joints undergo homogeneous dynamic recrystallisation throughout the thickness resulting in uniform mechanical properties.