Materials Science Forum Vols. 794-796

Abstract: Accumulative roll-bonding (ARB) process is one of the severe plastic deformation processes for fabricating ultrafine grained materials that exhibit high strength. In aluminum alloys, aging heat treatment has been an important process for hardening materials. In order to achieve good mechanical properties through the combination of grain refinement hardening and precipitation hardening, an Al-4.2wt%Ag binary alloy was used in the present study. After a solution treatment at 550°C for 1.5hr, the alloy was severely deformed by the ARB process at room temperature (RT) up to 6 cycles (equivalent strain of 4.8). The specimens ARB-processed by various cycles (various strains) were subsequently aged at 100, 150, 200, 250°C, and RT. The hardness of the solution treated (ST) specimen increased by aging. On the other hand, hardness of the ARB processed specimen decreased after aging at high temperatures such as 250°C. This was probably due to coarsening of precipitates or/and matrix grains. The specimen aged at lower temperature showed higher hardness. The maximum harnesses achieved by aging for the ST specimen, the specimens ARB processed by 2 cycles, 4 cycles and 6 cycles were 55HV, 71HV, 69HV and 65HV, respectively. By tensile tests it was shown that the strength increased by the ARB process though the elongation decreased significantly. However, it was found that the tensile elongation of the ARB processed specimens was improved by aging without sacrificing the strength. The results suggest that the Al-Ag alloy having large elongation as well as high strength can be realized by the combination of the ARB process for grain refinement and the subsequent aging for precipitation hardening.

Abstract: In order to improve limited ductility of ultrafine grained (UFG) Al alloys, mechanical properties of an UFG Al alloy having fine precipitates within grains were investigated. An Al-0.2wt%Sc-4.2wt%Ag alloy was severely deformed by the ARB process at room temperature and subsequently heat-treated by a two-step aging. After the first aging in the two-step aging, fine Al₃Sc precipitates were formed. In the specimen ARB processed by 4cycles, the fine Al₃Sc precipitates were homogeneously dispersed within the grains. On the other hand, in the specimen ARB processed by 8 cycles, Al₃Sc precipitates were linearly-aligned on the grain boundaries that had moved during the heat treatment. After the second aging, fine G.P. zones of Ag as well as Ag₂Al precipitates were observed within the grains in the specimen ARB processed by 4 cycles. Coarse precipitates of Ag₂Al at grain boundaries were observed in the specimen ARB processed by 8 cycles. The difference in the distribution of precipitates was considered to be due to the difference in fraction of high angle grain boundaries in the matrix microstructures. The strength of the solution treated specimen increased by the two-step aging while the tensile elongation decreased. On the other hand, both of the strength and elongation of the specimen ARB processed by 4 cycles increased after the two-step aging. In case of the specimen ARB processed by 8 cycles, the strength decreased slightly and the elongation increased by the two-step aging, and the aged specimen exhibited a good balance between strength and elongation.

Abstract: High strength aluminium alloys with improved stability at elevated temperatures for micro components, which are needed e.g. in the automotive or the micro electronics industry, require new alloys and advanced production processes regarding primary shaping, heat treatment and cold forming. Their development is part of the Collaborative Research Centre 747 Micro Cold Forming of the German Research Foundation. Especially heat treatment is a necessary step in the manufacturing process chain to adjust the mechanical properties of semi-finished micro components to cold forming and finally the usage properties of aluminium micro components by precipitation hardening to increase the strength above the strain hardened level. Conventional casting techniques limit the dissolvable zirconium content in alloys to 0.28 mass-% due to Al₃Zr precipitation of higher contents during slow cooling. With physical vapour deposition (PVD) by magnetron sputtering at temperatures below 50 °C it is possible to achieve alloys with a highly oversaturated solid solution and up to 3.6 mass-% of zirconium. The target power of the plasma during the magnetron sputtering process has considerable impact on the mechanical properties of the deposited Al-Zr alloys. Therefore the age hardening response of different micro sheets is evaluated by ultra micro hardness measurements (UMH), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and differential power scanning calorimetry (DPSC).

Abstract: Ultrafine-grained (UFG) binary Al-xMg (x=1, 5 and 7 wt %) alloys were processed by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at room temperature via route B_c combined with inter-pass annealing. The effects of Mg content, grain size and strain rate on mechanical properties and dynamic strain aging (DSA) behaviour of the Al-Mg alloys upon tensile testing at room temperature were studied. An increase in Mg content from 5 to 7 wt % leads to a pronounced increase in strength and uniform elongation in both the as-homogenized and as-ECAP Al-Mg alloys. Thereby, the Al-7Mg alloy, either prior to or after ECAP processing, possess significantly higher strength and comparable or even higher uniform elongation than the more dilute Al-Mg alloys. However, the as-ECAP Al-Mg alloys exhibit significantly higher strength but little work hardening and hence rather limited uniform elongation. In general, decreasing grain size leads to significant increase in strength while dramatic decrease in ductility. Moreover, DSA serration amplitudes increase with reducing grain size in the micrometer range. However, the UFG Al-Mg alloys exhibit much less DSA effect than the micrometer scaled grain size counterparts, i.e. probably due to the high dislocation densities and special grain boundary features in the UFG materials. Also, the Al-Mg alloys, especially those with a UFG structure, exhibit higher strength and ductility at lower strain rate than at higher strain rate, due mainly to enhanced DSA effect and hence work hardening at a lower strain rate.

Abstract: In this study, a purity of 99.995percent high purity aluminum was multi-directionally forged up to a maximum cumulative strain of 4.5 at room temperature. The macro and micro structure evolution in the multi-directionally forge process was investigated by structure observations and hardness measurements. The results show that the inhomogeneous deformation of multi-directional forging results in that the structure and hardness is quite different between the easy deformation zone and stagnant zone. Dynamic recrystallization occurs in easy deformation zone of high purity aluminum sample at room temperature as the cumulative true strain is 1.5 (3 forging passes), while the structure in the stagnant zone is still not recrystallizated even at a cumulative true strain of 4.5 (9 forging passes). The recrystallized grain size in the easy deformation zone is reduced with the number of forging passes, and the area of recrystallize grains increase with the number of forging passes.

Abstract: In this study, the relationship between the structure and properties of commercial purity aluminium alloy A1199 was investigated by applying constrained groove pressing (CGP) deformation method. The refinement of the coarse grain aluminium (Al) microstructure to sub microcrystalline size by large plastic strain at room temperature defined. The impact of various strains upon microstructure changes is investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM of thin foils) and electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD). A mixture of subgrains produced by grains subdivision and polygonized subgrains formed locally due to dynamic recovery was found in the deformed aluminium structure. The tensile properties and resulting hardness are related to microstructural evolution induced by constrained groove pressing deformation. A substantial impact of straining upon the increasing in tensile strength was observed after the first deformation step (first pass) Further strain increase had an insignificant effect on tensile strength but was accompanied by ductility loss. The post deformation annealing effect was then explored with aim to increase the ductility. The results indicate that changes in strength and ductility may be related to formation of a bimodal structure in deformed plates.

Abstract: Effect of cold plastic deformation prior to ageing at 180°C on a microstructure and mechanical properties at room temperature for an AA2519 alloy was examined subjected to solution treatment and water quenching initially. It was found that cold rolling with a reduction of 15% or equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) up to a true strain of ~1 leads to acceleration of age-hardening response of this alloy. Peak hardness values of 127, 175 and 169 HV_0.2 were achieved by ageing following quenching, cold rolling and ECAP, respectively. The highest values of yield stress (YS) of 475 MPa and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 520 MPa, were attained after ECAP followed by ageing. The effect of cold plastic deformation prior to ageing on the precipitation behavior and its relation with mechanical properties of the AA2519 is discussed.

Abstract: The relationship between the cluster morphology formed during natural or artificial aging and the paint-bake hardening response in an Al-0.62Mg-0.93Si (mass%) alloy have been investigated using atom probe tomography (APT). Increasing the subsequent aging time at 170 °C causes a gradual increase in hardness in the artificially aged materials, while the retardation period of the hardness increase appears in the naturally aged materials at the early stage of aging. The statistically-proved records in the APT analysis have shown that the artificially aged materials have some large clusters. It is revealed that the hardening at the early stage of the subsequent aging at 170 °C is not promoted in the long-time naturally aged material although the number density of small clusters increases approximately 1.3 times by prolonged natural aging.Hence, we believe that the small clusters are hard to transform continuously into the β'' phase during aging at 170 °C. As for the naturally aged materials, the long-time aging leads to a significant drop in hardness at the early stage of aging at 170 °C. It is speculated that the Mg-Si mixed clusters formed after long-time natural aging can be reversed during the subsequent heat treatment.

Abstract: The effect of pre-straining and pre-ageing on the age hardening response of Al-0.6%Mg-0.8%Si alloy is studied by Vickers hardness and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It is found that pre-ageing can suppress the formation of unwanted clusters and keeps the structure stable for a certain time. A pre-ageing treatment can effectively reduce or avoid the negative effect of natural ageing on artificial ageing and even produce a positive effect. Cluster formation can also be reduced by pre-straining, but the kinetics of clustering is still similar to that of the as-quenched condition. In contrast, after pre-straining, the peak positions of β and β move to lower temperatures and peak hardness is achieved in a shorter time, indicating that the formation of β and β is accelerated by pre-straining. However, the negative effect of natural ageing still persists after pre-straining. Pre-straining before pre-aging can take advantage of both techniques and produce a positive strength response. For pre-straining after pre-aging, pre-straining tends to destabilize the structure created by pre-ageing and can reactivate the clustering process, which has negative effect on subsequent artificial ageing.

Abstract: Principles of optimization of the phase constitution of a new group of aluminum alloys, i.e., sparingly alloyed high-strength casting nickalyns are considered. The Thermo-Calc software and experimental methods (LM, SEM, TEM, EPMA, etc.) were used for analyzing the phase constitution of the Al–Zn–Mg–Cu–Fe–Ni system as applied to high-strength (UTS>450 MPa) aluminum alloys based on (Al)+Al₃Ni and (Al)+Al₉FeNi eutectics. Both eutectics possess the fine structure but the latter is more expedient due to the lower content of nickel. Then the iron becomes an alloying component rather than a harmful impurity. It is shown that the addition of copper substantially complicates the phase constitution and strongly decreases the equilibrium solidus, which limits the possibility of carrying out the high temperature annealing. This can negatively affect the spheroidization of the Al₃Ni and Al₉FeNi phases. A set of calculated and experimental data is used to show the perspectives of replacement of the existing high-strength casting aluminum alloys based on Al–Cu system (AA201, 206, 224) by the sparingly alloyed low-copper weldable nickalyn Al6Zn0.5Ni.