Grain refinement mechanism analysis and experimental investigation of equal channel angular pressing for producing pure aluminum ultra-fine grained materials

2006 ◽  
Vol 437 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guoqun Zhao ◽  
Shubo Xu ◽  
Yiguo Luan ◽  
Yanjin Guan ◽  
Ning Lun ◽  
...  
2010 ◽  
Vol 667-669 ◽  
pp. 379-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
X.H. An ◽  
Shi Ding Wu ◽  
Z.F. Zhang

The microstructural evolution and grain refinement of Cu-Al alloys with different stacking fault energies (SFEs) processed by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) were investigated. The grain refinement mechanism was gradually transformed from dislocation subdivision to twin fragmentation with tailoring the SFE of Cu-Al alloys. Concurrent with the transition of grain refinement mechanism, the grain size can be refined into from ultrafine region (1 m~100 nm) to the nanoscale (<100 nm) and then it is found that the minimum equilibrium grain size decreases in a roughly linear way with lowering the SFE. Moreover, in combination with the previous results, it is proposed that the formation of a uniform ultrafine microstructure can be formed more readily in the materials with high SFE due to their high recovery rate of dislocations and in the materials with low SFE due to the easy formation of a homogeneously-twinned microstructure.


Crystals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1157
Author(s):  
Lisa-Marie Rymer ◽  
Thomas Lindner ◽  
Philipp Frint ◽  
Martin Löbel ◽  
Thomas Lampke

Single-phase, face-centered cubic (FCC) high-entropy alloys (HEA) are promising materials for future applications. In order to improve the mechanical properties, especially the tensile strength of these materials, this study focuses on the combination of spark plasma sintering (SPS) and equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP). The initial fine-grained microstructure produced by SPS is further refined by ECAP in a 90°-die. Optical microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) confirm this considerable grain refinement, leads to a grain size below 1 µm after 1 ECAP pass. An alternating arrangement of fine-grained areas and much coarser regions, aligned under an angle of approximately 27°, is found. Moreover, a first microstructural investigation of the twin structure is conducted. The mechanical behavior was investigated by hardness measurements and tensile testing. Both the hardness and tensile strength are remarkably increased after ECAP. In contrast, the uniform elongation and elongation at fracture are significantly reduced due to the strengthening mechanisms of strain hardening and grain refinement. It is concluded that the combination of SPS and ECAP is an attractive approach for designing (ultra)fine-grained HEAs with superior properties. The investigated techniques could be applied to understand the underlying microstructural mechanisms.


2012 ◽  
Vol 05 ◽  
pp. 307-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.A. TORBATI-SARRAF ◽  
R. MAHMUDI

Different amounts of Al -5 Ti -1 B master alloy ( TiBAl ) were added to the AZ 31 magnesium alloy ( Mg -3 Al -1 Zn -0.2 Mn ) as grain refiner and the resulting microstructure and grain size distributions were studied after extrusion and equal channel angular pressing (ECAP). Results showed that the addition of 0.6% TiBAl had the strongest grain refinement effect, reducing the grain sizes by 54.5 and 48.5% in the extruded and ECAPed conditions, respectively. The observed grain refinement was partly due to the presence of the thermally-stable micron- and submicron-sized particles in the melt which act as nucleation sites during solidification. During the high-temperature extrusion and ECAP processes, dynamic recrystallization (DRX) and grain growth are likely to occur. However, the mentioned particles will help in reducing the grain size by the particle stimulated nucleation (PSN) mechanism. Furthermore, the pinning effect of these particles can oppose grain growth by reducing the grain boundary migration. These two phenomena together with the partitioning of the grains imposed by the severe plastic deformation in the ECAP process have all contributed to the achieved ultrafine-grained structure in the AZ 31 alloy.


2014 ◽  
Vol 937 ◽  
pp. 162-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Mei He ◽  
Shan Shan Zhu ◽  
Cong Hui Zhang

Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP) and Surface Mechanical Attrition (SMAT) are the two Severe Plastic Deformation (SPD) processes that have been used to process ultrafine grained (UFG) materials. These two kinds of processes have been used to refine the grain size of coarse-grained commercial pure titanium (CP-Ti). The development of microstructure during equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and surface mechanical attrition (SMAT) of commercial pure titanium (CP-Ti) is investigated to establish the mechanisms of grain refinement. Based on the various experimental results and analysis, it has been found that the high-strain-rate and many direction loading is conducive to the formation of nanograins and also the grains with less than 100 nm cannot be obtained by the single equal channel angular pressing (ECAP).


2006 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 265-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aikaterini Zi ◽  
Yuri Estrin ◽  
Ralph Jörg Hellmig ◽  
M. Kazakevich ◽  
Eugen Rabkin

ECAP (equal channel angular pressing) is a well-known severe plastic deformation method used to produce ultra-fine grained materials. The dimensions of ECAP specimens are usually in the centimeter range. For producing high strength wires or fibres with diameter in the micrometer/millimeter range, downscaling of the ECAP process may be a viable option. To achieve this, several experiments were carried out. For downscaling to the micrometer range, porous steel discs can be used as processing tools. In this case, a solid state infiltration method as a variant of the forcefill process can be used. Extremely large strain is introduced due to the material flow through the tortuous channels inside a porous pre-form leading to grain refinement depending on processing conditions. To obtain specimens with a typical dimension in the millimeter range, the forcefill approach was altered by using die channels produced by conventional drilling. The tool geometry used is equivalent to conventional ECAP, but with a multi-channel die. Microstructure investigations demonstrating significant grain refinement confirm the viability of this approach.


2001 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. 1285-1292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Hyuk Shin ◽  
Inyoung Kim ◽  
Jongryoul Kim ◽  
Kyung-Tae Park

2007 ◽  
Vol 340-341 ◽  
pp. 937-942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuya Yamane ◽  
Ryouji Kondou ◽  
Chobin Makabe

A new grain refinement and strengthening technique by modified ECAP (equal-channel angular pressing) technique was proposed in this study. ECAP technique is an effective technique for grain refinement and strengthening of metal material. This technique gives high shear plastic strain to the material without geometric transformation of the specimen. However, traditional ECAP technique is restricted by material type and size, especially length. Such kinds of restrictions cause various problems in practical use. We modified traditional ECAP dies and processes to allow high plastic strain for long-length pure-aluminum specimens. Then, grain distribution was observed using a microscope, grain size was determined by the Jeffries and the Heyn methods, and strengthening was investigated by micro-Vickers hardness test. Then the effectiveness of proposed grain refinement or strengthening techniques was discussed.


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