The Influence of the Soaking Temperature Rotary Forging and Solution Heat Treatment on the Structural and Mechanical Behavior in Ni-Rich NiTi Alloy

The structural and thermophysical characteristics of an Ni-rich NiTi alloy rod produced on a laboratory scale was studied. The soak temperature of the solution heat-treatment steps above 850 °C taking advantage of the precipitate dissolution to provide a matrix homogenization, but it takes many hours (24 to 48) when used without thermomechanical steps. Therefore, the suitable reheating to apply between the forging process steps is very important, because the product’s structural characteristics are dependent on the thermomechanical processing history, and the time required to expose the material to high temperatures during the processing is reduced. The structural characteristics were investigated after solution heat treatment at 900 °C and 950 °C for 120 min, and these heat treatments were compared with as-forged sample structural characteristics (one hot deformation step after 800 °C for a 30 min reheat stage). The phase-transformation temperatures were analyzed through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the structural characterization was performed through synchrotron radiation-based X-ray diffraction (SR-XRD) at room temperature. It was observed that the solution heat treatment at 950 °C/120 min presents a lower martensitic reversion finish temperature (Af); the matrix was fully austenitic; and it had a hardness of about 226 HV. Thus, this condition is the most suitable for the reheating stages between the hot forging-process steps to be applied to this alloy to produce materials that can display a superelasticity effect, for applications such as crack sensors or orthodontic archwires.

Modeling of Isothermal Dissolution of Precipitates in a 6061 Aluminum Alloy Sheet during Solution Heat Treatment

During the solution heat treatment (SHT) process of aluminum alloys, precipitates dissolve into the matrix. To predict the dissolution time, modeling of isothermal dissolution of precipitates in 6061 aluminum alloy during SHT was conducted. A precipitate dissolution model was established, and the flowchart of the modeling was designed as well. Then the explicit finite-difference method was employed to solve the dissolution model, and the mobile nodes method was used to deal with the moving interface. The simulation was based on real precipitates in 6061, and SHT experiments were conducted to validate the numerical model. The simulation results showed that the isothermal dissolution time of precipitates in 6061-T6 aluminum alloy at 560 °C is 11.6856 s. The dissolution time in the simulation was close to the experimental results, with an error of 16.7%, indicating that the modeling in this study was fairly reasonable and accurate. The error was caused by many factors, and the model should be improved.

Similar and dissimilar welding effect on the mechanical properties of 5383 H34, 5754 H34 and 6005 T6 aluminum alloys

ABSTRACT Aluminum alloys are not covered by their specific weight. Each class of aluminum alloy presents a set of properties that are favorable to a given function in the same product, just as the alloys may be present in the same vehicle. However, it is necessary to know the changes in the mechanical properties that occur with the union process of these aluminum alloys. The objective of this study was to evaluate the mechanical and morphological properties of alloys 5383 H34, 5754 H34 and 6005 T6 similarly welded and dissimilar by the MIG process. Six combinations of these alloys were characterized by mechanical tensile, folding and Vickers micro-hardness tests, as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy (OM). Among the results obtained, a decrease in tensile strength was observed for all welded alloys. In addition, the microhardness was affected in the melt line, in the weld bead and in the HAZ (heat affected zone). The main causes of the reduction of the mechanical resistance of the welded alloys were the grain growth and the precipitate dissolution. The data obtained in this study contribute in a very positive way to the development and dimensioning of new projects and technologies involving aluminum alloys.

Effects of various tool pin profiles on mechanical and metallurgical properties of friction stir welded joints of cryorolled AA2219 aluminium alloy

Friction stir welding (FSW) process was conducted on cryorolled (CR) AA2219 plate using different tool pin profiles such as cylindrical pin, threaded cylindrical pin, square pin and hexagonal pin profiles. The FSW was carried out with pairs of 6 mm thick CR aluminium plates with different tool pin profiles. The different tool pin profile weld portions' behaviors like mechanical (tensile strength, impact and hardness) and metallurgical characteristics were analyzed. The results of the mechanical analysis revealed that the joint made by the hexagonal pin tool had good strength compared to other pin profiles. This was due to the pulsating action and material flow of the tool resulting in dynamic recrystallization in the weld zone. This was confirmed by the ultra fine grain structure formation in Weld Nugget (WN) of hexagonal pin tool joint with a higher percentage of precipitate dissolution. The fractograph of the hexagonal tool pin weld portion confirmed the finer dimple structure morphology without having any interior defect compared to other tool pin profiles. The lowest weld joint strength was obtained from cylindrical pin profile weld joint due to insufficient material flow during welding. The Transmission Electron Microscope and EDX analysis showed the dissolution of the metastable θ″, θ′ (Al2Cu) partial precipitates in the WN and proved the influence of metastable precipitates on enhancement of mechanical behavior of weld. The XRD results also confirmed the Al2Cu precipitation dissolution in the weld zone.