Mechanical behavior of ultrafine-grained titanium rods obtained using severe plastic deformation

We present the results of the investigation of the mechanical behavior of ultrafine-grained (UFG) titanium rods—semifinished products obtained by equal-channel angular (ECA) pressing in combination with subsequent thermomechanical treatment. This material shows ultimately high values of strength (1240 MPa) and plasticity (relative elongation 12.5%) at room temperature. At the same time, at elevated temperatures the UFG titanium exhibits signs of superplastic behavior with large relative elongations and an enhanced strain-rate sensitivity to the flow stress. The greatest elongation at fracture equal to approximately 300% was reached at 500°C and a strain rate of 10^?4 s^?1. The microstructure and microhardness of the samples after superplastic deformation have been investigated. It has been established that superplastic treatment can favor “structural improvement” of the UFG titanium and further enhancement in its strength.     

大塑性变形制备超细晶铝锂合金的组织及力学性能研究进展

综述了大塑性变形工艺制备超细晶铝锂合金的显微组织及其力学性能,分析了大塑性变形过程中铝锂合金的组织演变及其影响因素。铝锂合金的强化机制主要是基于析出强化,结合大塑性变形得到的超细晶粒组织可以显著提高强度和塑性,并得到优异的超塑性。表明大塑性变形加工铝锂合金,尤其是等通道挤压制备的超细晶铝镁锂合金在超塑性工业具有广阔的发展前景。     

Tensile properties of hot rolled Mg_(97)Zn_1Y_2 alloy sheets at elevated temperatures

The elevated temperature tensile properties of Mg97Zn1Y2 magnesium alloy sheets, hot rolled at 390, 420 and 450 ℃ respectively, were tested in a temperature range from room temperature to 250 ℃ with a strain rate of 1.0×10-3 s-1. The results show that the variations in yield strength for Mg97Zn1Y2 magnesium alloy sheets hot rolled at 390 ℃ and 420 ℃ with temperature resemble each other due to their similar morphology of the chain-shaped strengthening phase. The yield strength maintains at a high level of 283 MPa before 200 ℃ and decreases significantly at 250 ℃. Despite of the fine lamellar structure of Mg97Zn1Y2 magnesium alloy sheet hot rolled at 450 ℃, its yield strength decreases linearly owing to occurrence of the coarse grain, and drops to 239 MPa at 250 ℃. The elongation for all hot rolled Mg97Zn1Y2 magnesium alloy sheets increases slightly with increasing testing temperature.     

Effect of Various SPD Techniques on Structure and Superplastic Deformation of Two Phase MgLiAl Alloy

MgLiAl alloy containing 9 wt% Li and 1.5% Al composed of hexagonal α and bcc β phases was cast under protecting atmosphere and hot extruded. Various methods of severe plastic deformation were applied to study their effect on structure and grain refinement. Rods were subjected to 1–3 passes of Twist Channel Angular Pressing TCAP (with helical component), cyclic compression to total strain ε?=?5 using MAXStrain Gleeble equipment, both performed at temperature interval 160–200 °C and, as third SPD method, KOBO type extrusion at RT. The TCAP pass resulted in grain refinement of α phase from 30 μm down to about 2 μm and that of β phase from 12 to 5 μm. Maxstrain cycling 10?× up to ε?=?5 led to much finer grain size of 300 nm. KOBO method performed at RT caused average grain size refinement of α and β phases down to about 1 μm. Hardness of alloy decreased slightly with increasing number of TCAP passes due to increase of small void density. It was higher after MAXStrain cycling and after KOBO extrusion. TEM studies after TCAP passes showed higher dislocation density in the β region than in the α phase. Crystallographic relationship (001) α|| (110) β indicated parallel positioning of slip planes of both phases. Electron diffraction technique confirmed increase of grain misorientation with number of TCAP passes. Stress/strain curves recorded at temperature 200 °C showed superplastic forming after 1st and 3rd TCAP passes with better superplastic properties due to higher elongation with increasing number of passes. Values of strain rate sensitivity coefficient m were calculated at 0.29 after 3rd TCAP pass for strain rate range 10^?5 to 5?×?10^?3 s^?1. Deformation by MAXStrain cycling caused much more effective grain refinement with fine microtwins in α phase. Superplastic deformation was also observed in alloy deformed by KOBO method, however the value of m?=?0.21 was obtained at lower temperature of deformation equal to 160 °C and deformation rate in the range 10^?5 to 5?×?10^?3. Tensile samples deformed superplastically showed grain growth and void formation caused by grain boundary slip. Summarizing, all methods applied resulted in sufficient grain refinement to obtain the effect of superplastic deformation for alloys of two phase α?+?β structure.     

A study of the interactive effects of strain,strain rate and temperature in severe plastic deformation of copper

The deformation field in machining was controlled to access a range of deformation parameters—strains of 1–15, strain rates of 10–100,000 s^?1 and temperatures of up to 0.4 T_m—in the severe plastic deformation (SPD) of copper. This range is far wider than has been accessed to date in conventional SPD methods, enabling a study of the interactive effects of the parameters on microstructure and strength properties. Nano-twinning was demonstrated at strain rates as small as 1000 s^?1 at ?196 °C and at strain rates of ?10,000 s^?1 even when the deformation temperature was well above room temperature. Bi-modal grain structures were produced in a single stage of deformation through in situ partial dynamic recrystallization. The SPD conditions for engineering specific microstructures by deformation rate control are presented in the form of maps, both in deformation parameter space and in terms of the Zener–Hollomon parameter.     

Microstructure and high-temperature mechanical properties of near net shaped Ti−45Al−7Nb−0.3W alloy by hot isostatic pressing process

Near net shaped Ti−45Al−7Nb−0.3W alloy (at.%) parts were manufactured by hot isostatic pressing (HIP). The microstructure and high-temperature mechanical properties of the alloy were investigated by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that at a temperature of 700 °C, the peak yield stress (YS) and ultimate tensile stress (UTS) of alloy are 534 and 575 MPa, respectively, and the alloy shows satisfactory comprehensive mechanical properties at 850 °C. The alloy exhibits superplastic characteristics at 1000 °C with an initial strain rate of 5×10⁻⁵ s⁻¹. When the tensile temperature is below 750 °C, the deformation mechanisms are dislocation movements and mechanical twinning. Increasing the tensile temperature above 800 °C, grain boundary sliding and grain rotation occur more frequently due to the accumulation of dislocations at grain boundary.     

Effect of hot deformation on α→β phase transformation in 47Zr-45Ti-5Al-3V alloy

The effect of strain rate and deformation temperature on the α→β phase transformation in 47Zr-45Ti-5Al-3V alloy with an initial widmanstatten α structure was investigated. At the deformation temperature of 550 °C, the volume fraction of α phase decreased with increasing strain rate. At 600 and 650 °C, the volume fraction of α phase firstly increased to a maximum value with increasing strain rate from 1×10^?3 to 1×10^?2 s^?1, and then decreased. At 700 °C, the microstructure consisted of single β phase. At a given strain rate, the volume fraction of α phase decreased with increasing deformation temperature. With decreasing strain rate and increasing deformation temperature, the volume fraction and size of globular α phase increased. At 650 °C and 1×10^?3 s^?1, the lamellar α phase was fully globularized. The variation in the volume fraction and morphology of α phase with strain rate and deformation temperature significantly affected the hardness of 47Zr-45Ti-5Al-3V alloy.     

In situ thermomechanical processing to avoid grain boundary precipitation and strength-ductility loss of age hardening alloys

To avoid grain boundary (GB) precipitation during aging, a new strategy of in situ thermomechanical processing for age hardening alloys was proposed. Specifically, high-density nanoscale precipitates were introduced into ultrafine grain (UFG) interiors of 7075Al alloy by equal-channel-angular (ECAP) processing at 250 °C for 8 passes, thus avoiding GB precipitation. Tensile test results indicated that the UFG 7075Al alloy exhibits superior mechanical properties (yield strength of 350 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 500 MPa, uniform elongation of 18% and tensile ductility of 19%) compared with the UFG 1050Al counterpart (yield strength of 170 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 180 MPa, uniform elongation of 2.5% and tensile ductility of 7%). Fracture surface morphology studies revealed numerous homogeneous micro shear bands in necking shrinkage areas of both UFG 7075Al and 1050Al alloys, which are controlled by cooperative GB sliding. Moreover, the introduction of nanoscale precipitates in UFG 7075Al matrix weakened the tendency of shear fracture, resulting in a higher tensile ductility and more homogeneous deformation. Different from the GB precipitation during postmortem aging, in situ thermomechanical treatment dynamically formed GBs after precipitation, thus avoiding precipitation on GBs.     

High temperature deformation and processing map of a NiTi intermetallic alloy

The deformation behavior of a 49.8 Ni-50.2 Ti (at pct) alloy was investigated using the hot compression test in the temperature range of 700 °C–1100 °C, and strain rate of 0.001 s^?1 to 1 s^?1. The hot tensile test of the alloy was also considered to assist explaining the related deformation mechanism within the same temperature range and the strain rate of 0.1 s^?1. The processing map of the alloy was developed to evaluate the efficiency of hot deformation and to identify the instability regions of the flow. The peak efficiency of 24–28% was achieved at temperature range of 900 °C–1000 °C, and strain rates higher than 0.01 s^?1 in the processing map. The hot ductility and the deformation efficiency of the alloy exhibit almost similar variation with temperature, showing maximum at temperature range of 900 °C–1000 °C and minimum at 700 °C and 1100 °C. Besides, the minimum hot ductility lies in the instability regions of the processing map. The peak efficiency of 28% and microstructural analysis suggests that dynamic recovery (DRV) can occur during hot working of the alloy. At strain rates higher than 0.1 s^?1, the peak efficiency domain shifts from the temperature range of 850 °C–1000 °C to lower temperature range of 800 °C–950 °C which is desirable for hot working of the NiTi alloy. The regions of flow instability have been observed at high Z values and at low temperature of 700 °C and low strain rate of 0.001 s^?1. Further instability region has been found at temperature of 1000 °C and strain rates higher than 1 s^?1 and at temperature of 1100 °C and all range of strain rates.     

Hot deformation behavior of Al–9.0Mg–0.5Mn–0.1Ti alloy based on processing maps

Hot deformation behavior of extrusion preform of the spray-formed Al–9.0Mg–0.5Mn–0.1Ti alloy was studied using hot compression tests over deformation temperature range of 300–450 °C and strain rate range of 0.01–10 s^?1. On the basis of experiments and dynamic material model, 2D processing maps and 3D power dissipation maps were developed for identification of exact instability regions and optimization of hot processing parameters. The experimental results indicated that the efficiency factor of energy dissipate (η) lowered to the minimum value when the deformation conditions located at the strain of 0.4, temperature of 300 °C and strain rate of 1 s^?1. The softening mechanism was dynamic recovery, the grain shape was mainly flat, and the portion of high angle grain boundary (>15°) was 34%. While increasing the deformation temperature to 400 °C and decreasing the strain rate to 0.1 s^?1, a maximum value of η was obtained. It can be found that the main softening mechanism was dynamic recrystallization, the structures were completely recrystallized, and the portion of high angle grain boundary accounted for 86.5%. According to 2D processing maps and 3D power dissipation maps, the optimum processing conditions for the extrusion preform of the spray-formed Al–9.0Mg–0.5Mn–0.1Ti alloy were in the deformation temperature range of 340–450 °C and the strain rate range of 0.01–0.1 s^?1 with the power dissipation efficiency range of 38%–43%.     

Effect of subgrain structure on the creep strength of alloy 1207

The effect of severe plastic deformation (SPD) on the creep resistance of the Al-6%Cu-0.48Mn-0.52Mg-0.3Sc-0.1Zr alloy has been examined in a temperature range of 125–180°C. It has been shown that SPD performed by the method of equal-channel angular pressing at 300°C to a true strain of ～1 leads to the formation of a well-defined subgrain structure, which is retained upon solution treatment before quenching because of the presence in the alloy of ultradisperse Al₃(Sc, Zr) particles with coherent boundaries. It was established that the creep strength at 125–150°C of the as-cast alloy and of the deformed material is approximately the same. At 180°C, the creep rate of the deformed aluminum alloy is almost an order of magnitude lower than that of the as-cast alloy. The reasons for the influence of the subgrain structure on the creep strength of the Al-Cu-Sc-Zr alloy are discussed.     

Static Recrystallization Behavior of Z12CN13 Martensite Stainless Steel

In order to increase the hot workability and provide proper hot forming parameters of forging Z12CN13 martensite stainless steel for the simulation and production, the static recrystallization behavior has been studied by double-pass hot compression tests. The effects of deformation temperature, strain rate and inter-pass time on the static recrystallization fraction by the 2% offset method are extensively studied. The results indicate that increasing the inter-pass time and the deformation temperature as well as strain rate appropriately can increase the fraction of static recrystallization. At the temperature of 1050-1150 °C, inter-pass time of 30-100 s and strain rate of 0.1-5 s^?1, the static recrystallization behavior is obvious. In addition, the kinetics of static recrystallization behavior of Z12CN13 steel has been established and the activation energy of static recrystallization is 173.030 kJ/mol. The substructure and precipitates have been studied by TEM. The results reveal that the nucleation mode is bulging at grain boundary. Undissolved precipitates such as MoNi₃ and Fe₃C have a retarding effect on the recrystallization kinetics. The effect is weaker than the accelerating effect of deformation temperature.     

A Study on the Hot Deformation Behavior of Cast Mg-4Sn-2Ca (TX42) Alloy

The hot deformation behavior of as-cast Mg-4Sn-2Ca (TX42) alloy has been studied using compression tests in the temperature range of 300°C to 500°C, and strain rate range of 0.0003 s^?1 to 10 s^?1. Based on the flow stress data, a processing map has been developed, which exhibited two domains of dynamic recrystallization in the temperature and strain rate ranges: (I) 300°C to 380°C and 0.0003 s^?1 to 0.001 s^?1, and (II) 400°C to 500°C and 0.004 s^?1 to 6 s^?1. While hot working may be conducted in either of these domains, the resulting grain sizes are finer in the first domain than in the second. The apparent activation energy values estimated by kinetic analysis of the temperature and strain rate dependence of flow stress in the domains 1 and 2 are 182 kJ/mol and 179 kJ/mol, respectively. Both the values are much higher than that for self-diffusion in pure magnesium, indicating that the thermally stable CaMgSn particles in the matrix cause significant back stress during the hot deformation of this alloy. The alloy exhibits a regime of flow instability at lower temperatures and higher strain rates, which manifested as flow localization.     

Structure and mechanical properties of an aluminum alloy 1570 subjected to severe plastic deformation by high-pressure torsion

The effect of an ultrafine-grained (UFG) structure formed in an aluminum alloy 1570 using severe plastic deformation by high-pressure torsion (HPT) at room temperature and at temperatures of 100 and 200°C on the mechanical properties (strength and plasticity) has been investigated. The specific features of the UFG states obtained have been studied by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. The main regularities of changes in the structure characteristics of the alloy (the average grain size, size of coherent domains, magnitudes of microdeformations of the crystal lattice, dislocation density, and the lattice parameter) have been established depending on the temperature of the HPT treatment. The mechanical properties of the alloy after HPT have been estimated from the results of microhardness measurements and mechanical tests for tension. It has been established that after HPT performed at room temperature, the UFG alloy demonstrates an ultimately high level of strength (the microhardness, offset yield strength, and ultimate strength reach 2300, 905, and 950 MPa, respectively) and a marked plasticity (the relative elongation at fracture was 4.7%). The HPT treatment performed at higher temperatures insignificantly reduces the strength characteristics of the UFG material but leads to a substantial drop in its plasticity. This unusual mechanical behavior of the UFG alloy is discussed based on an analysis of the results of structural investigations.     

Flow stress and dynamic recrystallization behavior of Al-9Mg-1.1Li-0.5Mn alloy during hot compression process

The flow stress behavior of spray-formed Al-9Mg-1.1Li-0.5Mn alloy was studied using thermal simulation tests on a Gleeble-3500 machine over deformation temperature range of 300-450 °C and strain rate of 0.01-10 s^?1. The microstructural evolution of the alloy during the hot compression process was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron back scatter diffractometry (EBSD). The results show that the flow stress behavior and microstructural evolution are sensitive to deformation parameters. The peak stress level, steady flow stress, dislocation density and amount of substructures of the alloy increase with decreasing deformation temperature and increasing strain rate. Conversely, the high angle grain boundary area increases, the grain boundary is in serrated shape and the dynamic recrystallization in the alloy occurs. The microstructure of the alloy is fibrous-like and the main softening mechanism is dynamic recovery during steady deformation state. The flow stress behavior can be represented by the Zener-Hollomon parameter Z in the hyperbolic sine equation with the hot deformation activation energy of 184.2538 kJ/mol. The constitutive equation and the hot processing map were established. The hot processing map exhibits that the optimum processing conditions for Al-9Mg-1.1Li-0.5Mn alloy are in deformation temperature range from 380 to 450 °C and strain rate range from 0.01 to 0.1 s^?1.     

Temperature-Dependent Flow Behavior and Microstructural Evolution During Compression of As-Cast Mg-7.7Al-0.4Zn

The microstructure and mechanical properties improve substantially by hot working. This aspect in as-cast Mg-7.7Al-0.4Zn (AZ80) alloy is investigated by compression tests over temperature range of 30-439°C and at strain rates of 5 × 10^?2, 10^?2, 5 × 10^?4 and 10^?4 s^?1. The stress exponent (n) and activation energy (Q) were evaluated and analyzed for high-temperature deformation along with the microstructures. Upon deformation to a true strain of 0.80, which corresponds to the pseudo-steady-state condition, n and Q were found to be 5 and 151 kJ/mol, respectively. This suggests the dislocation climb-controlled mechanism for deformation. Prior to attaining the pseudo-steady-state condition, the stress-strain curves of AZ80 Mg alloy exhibit flow hardening followed by flow softening depending on the test temperature and strain rate. The microstructures obtained upon deformation revealed dissolution of Mg₁₇Al₁₂ particles with concurrent grain growth of α-matrix. The parameters like strain rate sensitivity and activation energy were analyzed for describing the microstructure evolution also as a function of strain rate and temperature. This exhibited similar trend as seen for deformation per se. Thus, the mechanisms for deformation and microstructure evolution are suggested to be interdependent.     

Hot deformation behavior and microstructure evolution of TC4 titanium alloy

The hot deformation behavior of Ti-6Al-4V(TC4) titanium alloy was investigated in the temperature range from 650 °C to 950 °C with the strain rate ranging from 7.7×10-4 s-1 to 7.7×10-2 s-1.The hot tension test results indicate that the flow stress decreases with increasing the deformation temperature and increases with increasing the strain rate.XRD analysis result reveals that only deformation temperature affects the phase constitution.The microstructure evolution under different deformation conditions was characterized by TEM observation.For the deformation of TC4 alloy,the work-hardening is dominant at low temperature,while the dynamic recovery and dynamic re-crystallization assisted softening is dominant at high temperature.     

Microstructure formation mechanism and properties of a Mg-3Sn-1Mn (wt%) magnesium alloy processed by a novel semisolid continuous shearing and rolling process

A novel semisolid Continuous Shearing and Rolling (CSR) process for producing a Mg-3Sn-1Mn (wt%) alloy strip is developed, and the microstructure formation mechanism and properties of the Mg-3Sn-1Mn (wt%) alloy processed by this process are investigated. At a casting temperature of 690°C and a roll speed of 0.052 m·s^?1, a Mg-3Sn-1Mn (wt%) alloy strip with a cross section size of 4×160 mm was produced by the proposed process. Under strong cooling and shearing actions, eruptive nucleation, direct globular grain growth and dendrite arm breakage took place during the process, which caused formations of fine spherical grains. The grain size and roundness of the Mg-3Sn-1Mn (wt%) alloy strip increased with increasing increments of the casting temperature. In this perspective, roll speed obviously affects grain shape. The ultimate tensile strength and elongation of the Mg-3Sn-1Mn (wt%) alloy strip reached 205.93 MPa and 7.2%.     

Thermal expansion and dimensional stability of unidirectional and orthogonal fabric M40/AZ91D composites

Unidirectional (60%, volume fraction) and orthogonal (50%, volume fraction) M40 graphite fibre reinforced AZ91D magnesium alloy matrix composites were fabricated by pressure infiltration method. The coefficients of thermal expansion (in the temperature range of 20-350 ℃) and dimensional stability (in the temperature range of 20-150 ℃) of the composites and the corresponding AZ91D magnesium alloy matrix were measured. The results show that coefficients of thermal expansion of the composites in longitudinal direction decrease with elevating temperature. The coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) for unidirectional M40/AZ91D composites and orthogonal M40/AZ91D composites are 1.24×10-6 ℃-1 and 5.71×10-6 ℃-1 at 20 ℃, and 0.85×10-6 ℃-1 and 2.75×10-6 ℃-1 at 350 ℃, respectively, much lower than those of the AZ91D alloy matrix. Thermal cycling testing demonstrates that the thermal stress plays an important role on residual deformation. Thus, a better dimensional stability is obtained for the AZ91D magnesium alloy matrix composites. More extreme strain hysteresis and residual plastic deformation are observed in orthogonally fabric M40 reinforced AZ91D composite, but its net residual strain after each cycle is similar to that of the unidirectional M40/AZ91D composite.     

Hot deformation behavior and microstructure evolution of a Mg–Gd–Nd–Y–Zn alloy

The hot deformation behavior of homogenized Mg–6.5Gd–1.3Nd–0.7Y–0.3Zn alloy was investigated during compression at temperatures of 250–400 ℃ and at strain rates ranging from 0.001 to 0.100 s~(-1). Microstructure analyses show that the flow behaviors are associated with the deformation mechanisms. At the lower temperatures(250–300 ℃), deformation twinning is triggered due to the difficult activation of dislocation cross-slip. Dynamic recrystallization(DRX) accompanied by dynamic precipitation occurs at the temperature of 350 ℃ and influences the softening behavior of the flow.DRX that develops extensively at original grain boundaries is the main softening mechanism at the high temperature of 400 ℃ and eventually brings a more homogeneous microstructure than that in other deformation conditions. The volume fraction of the DRXed grains increases with temperature increasing and decreases with strain rate increasing.