Materials Science Forum Vol. 877

Abstract: In this study the influence of natural aging in energy absorbance capacity of 6xxx series extruded profiles after artificial aging is examined by means of optical and scanning electron microscopy, quasi-static compression and tensile tests. Mobile quenched-in vacancies are found to play an important role in aging kinetics and formation of precipitate free zones (PFZs) which govern both the observed fracture modes and the resulting strength of the material signifying their important effect when maximum energy absorbance is desired. It is shown that fracture toughness of naturally aged samples is equivalent or higher compared to that of directly aged samples due to restriction of intergranular cracking.

Abstract: Two 6xxx alloys with different Mn-content have been homogenised in a furnace at 575 ^oC for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Three different heating rates to the homogenisation holding temperature were chosen, as this was expected to affect the precipitation behaviour of the dispersoids. The study focused on developing a reliable procedure for the characterization of the density and spatial distribution of dispersoids in aluminium alloys; both in terms of sample preparation, microscopic techniques and quantitative analyses of results. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been used to evaluate the dispersoid characteristics for the different alloys and heating rates. The results indicate an increase in dispersoid number density and a more uniform distribution of dispersoids for the lowest heating rate, as compared to the more rapid heating rates, for the alloy with 0.05 wt% Mn. For the alloy with 0.15 wt% Mn the number density increased with the heating rate. This is suggested to be due to particle coarsening as an effect of the low heating rate where the samples spend longer time in the furnace.

Abstract: Grain growth behavior of AlMg5 alloy fabricated by using a new Mg mother alloy containing Al₂Ca (referred to as AlMg5-Al₂Ca hereinafter) was investigated during homogenization and subsequent hot compression test. Normal AlMg5 alloy using a commercial Mg mother alloy showed abnormally grown large grains in its microstructure after homogenization at 520 ̊C for 12hrs, while the grain growth in the AlMg5-Al₂Ca alloy was completely suppressed by formation of stable Al₄Ca during solidification on grain boundary. The compressive flow stress of normal AlMg5 alloy at 400 ̊C was significantly increased after homogenization because of lack of grains having proper slip directions to the applied load. But the flow stress of AlMg5-Al₂Ca alloy showing no grain growth during homogenization was slightly decreased implying lower energy needed for subsequent thermo-mechanical processing.

Abstract: The effects of Mg and Mn contents on hot-rolling temperature and resultant tensile properties of Al-Mg-Mn alloys were investigated. The Al-3.5Mg-0.3 alloy as a reference and Al-7.5Mg-0.3Mn, Al-3.5Mg-1.0Mn alloys were prepared by casting for hot-rolling experiment. The rolling temperatures of both Al-7.5Mg-0.3Mn and Al-3.5Mg-1.0Mn alloys had to be decreased due to surface cracking during hot-rolling, which is caused by increased fractions of Mg-containing phases like Mg₂Al₃. The tensile strength of the hot-rolled Al-7.5Mg-0.3Mn alloy was highly increased by the combined effects of enhanced solid-solution and work-hardening at lower rolling temperature. And the resultant tensile strengths of the hot-rolled Al-3.5Mg-1.0Mn alloy were also increased due to dispersoid hardening by increased Mn content and work hardening during hot-rolling.

Abstract: A set of hot deformation experiments 6082 aluminum alloy were carried out on the Gleeble-3500 thermal simulation machine. The true stress-strain curves were obtained in the condition of temperatures 425 ̊C,450 ̊C,475 ̊C and 500 ̊C, strain rate 0.01s^-1, 0.1s^-1, 1s^-1 and 10s^-1. At the low strain rate (0.01s^-1, 0.1s^-1), true stress-strain curves exhibited typical work hardening and flow softening features, but at the high strain rate (1s^-1, 10s^-1), true stress-strain curves just exhibited typical work hardening. The peak stress of current alloy decreased with temperature and increased with strain rate, which can be represented by a hyperbolic sine equation using the Zener-Hollomon parameter (Z). The processing map was calculated and analyzed according to dynamic materials mode (DMM). The processing map showed the reasonable hot working region of 6082 aluminum ally.

Abstract: The 6xxx series aluminium alloy wires (with the diameters of 2.84 mm) produced by the continuous drawing and rotary-wheel continuous casting, were directly aged in different conditions. The results show that, when ageing temperature is at 150°C, the tensile strength of the wire firstly decreased from 283 MPa to 265 MPa as the ageing time extended from 0 to 4 hours, and then increased from 265 MPa to 270 MPa as the ageing time extended from 4 to 12 hours, and finally decreased from 270 MPa 263 MPa as the ageing time extended from 12 to 24 hours. The electrical resistively of the wires continued decreases with the ageing time extend from 0 to 24 hours. When the ageing temperature is at 160, 170, 180 and 190 °C, both the tensile strength and the electrical resistively of the wire continuously decreased with the ageing time extended from 0 to 24 hours. When the ageing time was identical, the wires with higher ageing temperature possessed lower tensile strength and electrical resistively.

Abstract: The evolution of texture in AA6016 alloy during processing was systematically investigated. The hot-rolled 6016 plates were cold-rolled to 0.9mm through three different rolling processes. One was directly rolled to 0.9mm, the other two were rolled to 1.8mm and 2.3mm, respectively, followed by intermediate annealing at 360°C for 2h, and then rolled to 0.9mm. Finally, the three kinds of cold rolled plates were performed continuous annealing at 560^oC. The textures and microstructures of each stage were characterized by the X-ray diffraction and electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD) techniques. The results show that the texture of hot-rolled sample is mainly composed of Brass, S and Copper; the relative amount and maximum density changed after 1^st cold-rolling. After intermediate annealing, the Cube and Cube+ND₂₀ texture replace the deformation texture and rise with the rolling reduction. Then the conducting of final cold rolling results in the decrease of Cube and Cube+ND₂₀ component and increase of deformation texture. After the continuous annealing, R, Brass-R, Goss, Cube and Cube+ND20 components are observed. Particle stimulated nucleation (PSN) and nucleation at shear bands dominate the competition of recrystallization.

Abstract: The effect of friction-stir welding (FSW) on microstructure and mechanical properties of Zr-modified AA5083 aluminum alloy was studied. FSW was observed to lead to the formation of fully recrystallized ultrafine-grained microstructures and preservation of nanoscale dispersoids in stir zone. The joint efficiency of the friction-stir welds for ultimate tensile strength was found to be 94% and 74% in the hot-rolled and cold-rolled preprocessed material conditions. The stir zone microstructure was predicted to be stable against abnormal grain growth during post-weld heat treatment.

Abstract: The effects of final forging temperatures on deformability and structure evolution of high purity aluminum during multi-directional forging process were investigated. The results showed that increasing the initial forging temperature is beneficial for controlling the sample shape in the initial forging passes. Recrystallization during the initial forging passes improves the deformability of the sample in the following low-temperature forging processes. An X-shape fine grain zone is formed in the sample due to the inhomogeneous deformation of multi-directional forging process. When the forging pass is 6, the final forging temperature has an important influence on the grain size in the fine grain zone. The grain size decreases from 302 μm to 60 μm with the final forging temperature decreasing from 310 °C to 65 °C. The X-shape fine grain zone caused by the inhomogeneous deformation cannot be eliminated by increasing the final forging temperature (even higher than the recrystallization temperature of high purity aluminium).

Abstract: The deformation behaviours and microstructure transformations during the cold rolling process of Al-1.4Fe-0.2Mn alloy sheets prepared from 99.7% pure aluminium were investigated by means of hardness-testing, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The phenomena of work hardening and work softening were observed. The hardness of Al-1.4Fe-0.2Mn alloy sheets increased with the increasing of cold rolling reduction firstly, and reached to a peak at 80% cold rolling reduction, meaning work hardening. However, with further increasing of cold rolling reduction, the hardness decreased, which indicates work softening. During the initial deformation stage, the dislocation density and the number of sub-grain structures increased gradually, and many dislocations formed tangles, resulting in work hardening. When the cold rolling reduction exceeded 80%, the dislocation density decreased and sub-grain structures polygonized, leading to work softening. The forming of Mn, Fe and Si bearing compounds is an important reason for the work softening due to lowering solid solution content.