COMPARISON OF TWO STAINING METHODS FOR ANODIZING IN ALLOY 6063 ALUMINUM PROFILES

Aluminum stands out for being a light, corrosion-resistant, and recyclable metal, achieving wide coverage in the market. When incorporated into alloying elements, it is possible to acquire other desirable characteristics. Alloy 6063, intended for architectural purposes, has aesthetic, structural, and strength functions. This study aims to compare two different staining methods on the surface of anodized profiles of aluminum alloy 6063. Anodized finishing is performed through an electrolytic process using sulfuric acid as an electrolyte to change the surface layer of the material, ensuring a more resistant aluminum oxide film than that formed naturally. For decorative purposes, the anodic film coloration can be performed by several methodologies, including, in this case, the coloration by organic adsorption, with the use of aniline, and the electrolytic coloration, composed of tin sulfate salts, both for obtaining the black color. To compare, neutral saline mist tests, scanning electron microscopy analysis, determination of the anodic layer thickness, and immersion tests with 3.5 percent sodium chloride for 1000 hours. The results obtained highlight that both were shown to be resistant to corrosion due to the fact that they do not present corrosion points when exposed to the neutral saline mist test for 600 hours. In the immersion tests, both remained resistant to sodium chloride. Because both methodologies present satisfactory results in all tests, the quality of the applied stains is ensured, and it is found that they are equivalent when the parameters discussed are used.

COMPARISON OF TWO STAINING METHODS FOR ANODIZING IN ALLOY 6063 ALUMINUM PROFILES

Background: Aluminum stands out for being a light, corrosion-resistant, and recyclable metal, achieving wide coverage in the market. When incorporated into alloying elements, it is possible to acquire other desirable characteristics. Alloy 6063, intended for architectural purposes, has aesthetic, structural, and strength functions. Anodized finishing is performed through an electrolytic process, ensuring a more resistant aluminum oxide film than that formed naturally. For decorative purposes, the anodic film coloration can be performed by several methodologies, in this case, for the coloration by organic adsorption, with the use of aniline, and the electrolytic coloration, composed of tin sulfate salts, both for obtaining the black color. Aim: Compare of two different staining methods on the surface of anodized profiles of aluminum alloy 6063. Methods: Profile samples were collected and tests were carried out to measure the thickness of the anodic layer, immersion tests with 3,5 percent sodium chloride, for 1000 hours, and neutral saline mist, for 600 hours. Results and Discussion: Both methodologies proved to be resistant to immersion tests with sodium chloride, as well as with neutral saline mist, and these tests are quite aggressive and provide corrosion of the material when not well treated. Corrosion points were only seen at the intersections performed, and in the rest of thearea, no points were detected. Conclusions: The result of both methodologies was positive, considering tht there was no corrosion in the tested samples, except in the intersections performed, as well as the maintenance of the color in both tested methodologies, which was not expected in the literature. For future work, it is suggested to deepen the study to perform electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests for exaluate the strength of the anodic film and perform anodizing with the same parameters, however, with different anilines to analyze their behavior.

Effect of Tool Pin Geometry on the Microhardness and Surface Roughness of Friction Stir Processed Recycled AA 6063

Friction stir processing was experimented on recycled aluminum alloy 6063 to investigate the effects of varying friction stir tool pin geometry and friction stir processing parameters on the microhardness and surface roughness. Different tool pin geometry has great influence on the outcome as it alters the ability to provide localized heating and better material flow. This study was performed using two different types of tool pin geometry, namely, the cylindrical threaded and the taper threaded pins, across varying rotational speeds and feed rates. The mechanical properties of the processed workpiece were inspected and analyzed in terms of microhardness, microstructure, and surface roughness. The results show that the taper threaded tool offers the highest improvement in microhardness up to 63% at the lowest rotational speed and highest feed rate at 1150 rpm and 30 mm/min, respectively, and this is supported by microscopy images showing finer grains with the compact and homogenous distribution. The taper threaded tool also provided a better surface roughness than the cylindrical threaded tool. However, the surface produced by cylindrical threaded at 30 mm/min feed rates is as smooth and consistent as that of taper threaded tool.

Numerical Simulation and Experimental Analysis of the Semi-Solid Thixotropic Extrusion Forming Process for Producing the Thin-Wall Wrought Aluminum Alloy Mobile Phone Shells

Aluminum alloys have been widely used in various engineering applications due to their excellent physical properties such as low density, high strength and good cutting capacity. In this paper, the semi-solid thixotropic extrusion forming process is proposed to produce aluminum alloy 6063 shells for mobile phones. The effects of the operating parameters on the equivalent stress distribution, velocity field, temperature field, and the load of the top mould were investigated through numerical simulations. Optimal parameters were identified from the simulation results. The experiment was then conducted at these optimal parameters. The macromorphology and microstructure results of the mobile phone shells produced from the experiment are presented and discussed. It was found that the optimal process parameters for preparing aluminum alloy 6063 shell by the semi-solid thixotropic extrusion process were a billet temperature of 630 °C, mould temperature of 400 °C, and top mould speed of 10 mm/s. It was found that the mobile phone shells fabricated under the optimal operating conditions were fully filled with a clear outline and a smooth surface. The solid grains in the microstructure were small, uniform and nearly spherical. The average grain size of the microstructure for the product was obtained as 76.92 μm and the average shape factor was found as 0.76.

Modeling Process of Semi-Continuous Extrusion of Hollow 6063 Aluminum Alloy Profiles Using QForm Extrusion

The results of modeling the process of semi-continuous extrusion of hollow profiles of aluminum alloy 6063 on horizontal hydraulic extruders are presented. By modeling with the help of the QForm Extrusion software package, the metal shaping and temperature conditions of this process were studied under given initial and boundary conditions. The authors investigated the various designs of sets of matrices and dividers and assessed the uneven velocity of the expiration of the elements of the profile and the temperature of the metal. Thanks to the gradual improvement of the design of the pressing tool, it was possible to achieve a uniform distribution of speeds and temperatures in the cross section of the profile. Industrial testing of the use of this tool for the manufacture of press products has shown that the proposed design methodology of using the QForm Extrusion software package can be successfully used to prepare the press production and can reduce the time required to master the technology of extruding aluminum alloy profiles.

Fatigue Life Prediction of AA6063-T6 under Erosion Condition

The study of fatigue behavior of aluminum alloy 6063 exposed to periodic fatigue stresses was studied in laboratory conditions under the two conditions of the presence of the first indentation in the first test, then the presence of the phenomenon of erosion in the second test resulting from the projection of pure water Jet on samples of the same metal used in The first test. The purpose of these tests was to estimate the practical life of these samples and the resulting accumulation by using upward and downward variable stresses. A mathematical model was built to calculate the life of the samples in the above conditions, and the results of the estimated life of the samples calculated by the model showed a large convergence with the results of the estimated life of the samples practically calculated. So this mathematical model can be used to estimate the life of samples made of different minerals under these same conditions, after knowing the (S-N) curve for each metal and the amount of the value of the fatigue notch factor (Kf), which can be calculated from special tables without referring to performing practical tests for them.

Energy Consideration in the Micro-Extrusion of Aluminum Alloy 6063

This paper investigated key factors influencing energy consumption in the micro-extrusion process. The considered factors were: extrusion ratio (ER), die angle (?), billet length (BL), bearing length (LB), coefficient of friction (COF), and die shift (DS). The finite element simulation was carried out to determine the extrusion energy required to complete one extrusion cycle. The simulation results showed that the increased values of all the considered factors (except the die shift) led to increased extrusion energy. The results also provided percentages of energy variation in steps, which helped evaluate the energy savings with regards to the crucial other production considerations. The percentage increase in energy consumption in the lower ER values was considered higher than those of, the higher ER values. Increasing die angle (?) from 60° to 90° barely affected the consumed energy. The highest increase percentage of extrusion energy was found while increasing billet lengths (BL) from 3.00 mm to 4.00 mm. The lower bearing length (LB) values offered lower consumed energy. The consumed extrusion energy linearly increased with COF. The die shift (DS) did not affect the extrusion energy, but the final part geometry (curved pins). The results and analysis from this study could be used to potential energy savings and overall production costs of the micro-extrusion process.

Energy Consideration in the Micro-Extrusion of Aluminum Alloy 6063

This paper investigated key factors influencing energy consumption in the micro-extrusion process. The considered factors were: extrusion ratio (ER), die angle (α), billet length (BL), bearing length (LB), coefficient of friction (COF), and die shift (DS). The finite element simulation was carried out to determine the extrusion energy required to complete one extrusion cycle. The simulation results showed that the increased values of all the considered factors (except the die shift) led to increased extrusion energy. The results also provided percentages of energy variation in steps, which helped evaluate the energy savings with regards to the crucial other production considerations. The percentage increase in energy consumption in the lower ER values was considered higher than those of, the higher ER values. Increasing die angle (α) from 60° to 90° barely affected the consumed energy. The highest increase percentage of extrusion energy was found while increasing billet lengths (BL) from 3.00 mm to 4.00 mm. The lower bearing length (LB) values offered lower consumed energy. The consumed extrusion energy linearly increased with COF. The die shift (DS) did not affect the extrusion energy, but the final part geometry (curved pins). The results and analysis from this study could be used to potential energy savings and overall production costs of the micro-extrusion process.

Atmospheric Corrosion of Aluminum Alloy 6063 Beneath Ferric Chloride Corrosion Product Droplets

The atmospheric corrosion behavior of aluminum alloy 6063-T5 with exposure to FeCl3-containing droplet deposits has been investigated using x-ray computed tomography analysis. A voluminous corrosion product cap is formed, with iron oxyhydroxide/oxide deposits forming a coherent layer at the aluminum interface. Exposure to a single droplet is compared with exposure to multiple droplets, and the effect of corrosion product development and FeCl3 concentration on the corrosion rate has been determined. Multiple wet periods with small droplet volumes resulted in higher corrosion rates than comparable single droplet exposures.