Excellent Ductility in the Extruded AZ61 Magnesium Alloy Tube Induced by Electropulsing Treatment during Tension

In this work, we reported the high ductility of an extruded AZ61 magnesium alloy tube achieved by electropulsing current-assisted tension. The elongation of the alloy reached up to about 45%, which is largely superior to the majority of AZ61 wrought Mg alloys. We found that the hardening capacity of the alloy seemed to slightly increase as the electropulsing frequency increased. Furthermore, electropulsing can arouse the serrated flow phenomenon. Here we proposed an equation describing the correlation between the average amplitude and frequency: Aa = C − 6 × 10−3f, where Aa is the average amplitude, f is the frequency, and C is the constant. In addition, introducing electropulsing current pronouncedly reduced the tendency of twinning, but the twinning fraction seemed to fail depending on the electropulsing frequency. Based on microstructure analysis, we concluded that the outstanding ductility of the studied alloy was mainly due to the combined role of the thermal effects from Joule heating, the athermal effects from electron wind, and the magnetic effects from the electropulsing current. The serrated flow phenomenon occurred along stress–strain curves after electropulsing treatment, and the underlying reasons also were uncovered.

Static Recrystallization Microstructure Evolution in a Cold-Deformed Ni-Based Superalloy during Electropulsing Treatment

The influence of electropulsing treatment (EPT) parameters on the static recrystallization (SRX) microstructure in a cold-deformed Ni-based superalloy was investigated. During EPT, both the volume fraction of SRX grains and the average grain size increased with the increasing EPT temperature, which was attributed to the thermal effect and athermal effect induced by EPT. The mobility of SRX grain boundaries was promoted at the higher temperature due to the thermal effect, while the nucleation rate would be increased by EPT through decreasing the thermodynamic barrier. The formation of parallel dislocations caused by electron wind force could also play an indirect role in promoting SRX process. Moreover, the volume fraction of SRX grains increased significantly with the extension of EPT time at 700 °C, while the EPT time had a trivial effect on the average grain size. In addition, the sufficient deformation was essential to the occurrence of SRX behavior during EPT, and the localized Joule heating effect could promote the SRX behavior in the samples with the larger strains. Besides that, the influence of twining and carbides on the SRX behaviors was also investigated.

Microstructure Evolution of As-Cast Nickel Aluminum Bronze under Electropulsing

In this work, the microstructure evolution of as-cast NAB under different electropulsing parameters were studied. The microstructure of the electropulsing treatment (EPT) sample was characterized by mircohardness test and optical microscopy. The results show that compared with heat treatment, when the peak current density reaches 5.84×108A/m2 (no significant change in the structure when the peak current density is lower), the β' phase region undergo phase transition in a shorter time. When the peak current density reaches 7.25×108A/m2, the sample is significantly affected by the Joule heating effect, and the κⅢ and κⅣ phases are successively dissolved to form Widmanstätten α structure. As the β' phase increases and the Widmanstätten α structure forms, the hardness value of the microstructure increases by 80%.