Papers by Author: Dao Lun Chen

Abstract: To reduce fuel consumption and the resulting environment-damaging, climate-changing, costly, human death-causing emissions, lightweight aluminum alloys have been increasingly used in the transportation industry due to their low density, high specific strength, superior ductility, machinability, recyclability, and environmental friendliness. The structural applications of such aluminum alloys in the automotive industry unavoidably entail welding and joining process. While it is challenging to weld aluminum sheets via the conventional resistance spot welding developed mainly for joining steel sheets, an emerging solid-state joining technology known as ultrasonic spot welding (USW) is promising for joining aluminum alloys. This study was aimed to examine the feasibility of welding a 6022 Al alloy similarly (AA6022-to-AA6022) and dissimilarly (AA6022-to-ZEK100) in relation to welding energy. It was observed that there was a significant change in the interface grain size in the similar welding, exhibiting a characteristic fine-grained “necklace”-like structure along the welding line, while an intermetallic diffusion layer was present in the dissimilar welding of aluminum-to-magnesium alloys, and its thickness increased as the welding energy increased. The tensile lap shear strength first increased, reached its peak value at a certain energy, and then decreased with increasing welding energy. The strength of the dissimilar welded joints was about 55% of that of the similar welded joints. Three different modes of interfacial failure, nugget pull-out, and transverse through-thickness (TTT) crack growth were observed in the similar welded joints, while only interfacial failure was present in the dissimilar welded joints.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of heat treatment on the microstructural change and low cycle fatigue (LCF) resistance of an electron beam welded (EBWed) dissimilar joint between Ti-6Al-4V and Ti17 alloys. The aging with solution (STA) had a more significant effect on the microstructure and hardness than aging, compared to the as-welded joint. The post-welded joints in both aging and STA conditions were basically cyclic stable at low strain amplitudes up to 0.6%, while cyclic softening occurred at higher strain amplitudes. The fatigue life in the aging condition was slightly longer than that in the STA condition at the lower strain amplitudes. Fatigue crack initiation occurred from the specimen surface or near-surface defect, and fatigue crack propagation was characterized mainly by the fatigue striations coupled with secondary cracks in both aging and STA conditions.

Abstract: Cyclic deformation characteristics of a rare-earth (RE) element containing extruded Mg-10Gd-3Y-0.5Zr (GW103K) magnesium alloy were evaluated via strain-controlled low-cycle fatigue tests under varying strain amplitudes. Microstructural observations revealed that this alloy consisted of fine equiaxed grains and a large number of RE-containing precipitates. Unlike the RE-free extruded magnesium alloys, this alloy exhibited essentially cyclic stabilization and symmetrical hysteresis loop due to relatively weak crystallographic textures and reduced twinning-detwinning activities. The fatigue life of the present alloy was observed to be longer than that of the RE-free extruded magnesium alloys, which could also be described by the Coffin-Manson law and Basquins equation. Fatigue crack was observed to initiate from the specimen surface and crack propagation was basically characterized by fatigue striations.

Abstract: Microstructures, tensile properties and work hardening behavior of friction stir welded (FSWed) AA2219-T62 aluminum alloy (in its one-third bottom slice of a 20 mm thick plate) were evaluated at different strain rates. While the yield strength was lower in the FSWed joint than in the base metal, the ultimate tensile strength of the FSWed joint approached that of the base metal. In particular the FSW resulted in a significant improvement in the ductility of the alloy due to the prevention of premature failure caused by intergranular cracking along the second-phase boundary related to the presence of the network-like grain boundary phase in the base metal. While stage III and IV hardening occurred after yielding in both base metal and FSWed samples, the FSW led to stronger hardening capacity and higher strain hardening exponent and rate due to the enhanced dislocation storage capacity associated with the microstructural change after FSW. The fracture surface of the FSWed joint was mainly characterized by dimples and tearing ridges along with micropores.

Abstract: Pure hydroxyapatite (HA) is brittle and it cannot be directly used for the load-bearing biomedical applications. Aim of this paper was to present a new iron-containing hydroxyapatite/titanium composites synthesized via pressureless sintering at a relatively low temperature of 1000°C using nano-sized HA powders and Ti-33%Fe mixed powders. The microstructure and composition of the new type composites were evaluated. The results showed that the uniformly distributed reinforcing particles had a unique and favorable core/shell microstructure after sintering that consisted of outer titanium and inner iron. The mechanism for the formation of the core/shell structure was discussed. The addition of iron reduced the decomposition rate of HA and the interaction between HA and titanium.

Abstract: The present investigation is aimed at evaluating the influence of tool rotation rate and welding speed on the microstructure, tensile properties, and fracture mode of 6061 Al-T651 alloy after friction stir welding (FSW). TEM results revealed that in the nugget zone (NZ), FSW resulted in the dissolution of fine needle-shaped precipitates that previously existed in the base metal. At a given rotation rate of 1400rpm, the yield strength (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the welded joints increased with increasing welding speed from 200 to 600mm/min. However, the UTS of the joints was nearly independent of the rotation rate. Furthermore, the relationship between the hardness distribution and fracture location has also been identified.

Abstract: The effect of welding, heat-affected zone (HAZ) simulation, and specimen orientation on the microstructure and fatigue properties of 2195 Al-Li alloy was studied. HAZ simulation and GTA welding with a 4043 filler alloy resulted in a significant change in the microstructure. In the HAZ the primary strengthening phase, T1 (Al2CuLi), in the base alloy in T8 temper was replaced by TB (Al7Cu4Li) phase and voids/microcracks, and the fusion zone (FZ) consisted of T (AlLiSi) phase particles in the matrix, which consisted mainly of the filler alloy. The yield strength and fatigue threshold of the 2195-T8 alloy were observed to be dependent upon the specimen orientation. The HAZ simulation and welding led to a reduction in the tensile properties and fatigue strength. While the post-weld heat treatment resulted in the re-precipitation of T1 phase in the HAZ, but no increase in the fatigue strength was observed due to the presence of microcracks. Fatigue crack initiation was observed to occur at the surface in the base alloy in T8 temper, and at the internal defects after HAZ simulation and welding. Fatigue crack propagation exhibited characteristic striations in the T8 alloy, and brittle cleavage-like feature after HAZ simulation and welding.