Ultrasonic additive manufacturing of nanocrystalline laminated composites

Ultrasonic additive manufacturing has been used to fabricate laminated composites of commercially pure aluminum and a nanocrystalline nickel–cobalt (nc-NiCo) alloy. The nc-NiCo alloy would not weld to itself but readily welded to aluminum. Thus, by alternating between foils of nc-NiCo and Al, we achieved multi-material laminates with strong interlayer bonding. Electron microscopy showed that the nanoscale grain structure of the nc-NiCo was preserved during deposition and that the nc-NiCo/Al weld interface was decorated with comminuted surface oxides as well as Al–Ni–Co intermetallics. These findings are considered in light of process models of junction growth, interdiffusion, and grain growth, which together reveal how the different pressure- and temperature dependences of these phenomena give rise to a range of processing conditions that maximize bonding while minimizing coarsening and intermetallic formation. This analysis quantitatively demonstrates that using a soft, low melting point interlayer material decouples junction growth at the weld interface from grain growth in the nc-NiCo, expanding the range of optimal processing conditions. Graphical abstract

Assisting Liquid Phase Sintering of Pure Aluminum (Al) by the Tin Addition

In the present study, the addition of tin (Sn) to the pure Al system was done, and its effects on the morphology, density, and compressive yield strength of pure Al were analyzed systematically. In this context, the morphology of sintered Al revealed enhanced wettability and sintering response between Al particles with increased Sn content. Moreover, physical characteristics of sintered Al alloys demonstrated oxidation phenomenon (black color specimen) with the lowest Sn content of 1.5 weight percent (wt.%), in which a higher Sn content of 2 and 2.5 wt.% produced silver color specimens, implying a reduction in oxidation. Additionally, densification of sintered Al alloys was greatly promoted with increased Sn contents, suggesting effective wetting as confirmed by the previous morphological observations. Similarly, the compressive yield strength of sintered Al alloys improved with increased Sn content which might be due to the enhanced inter-particle contacts between Al particles and sufficient wetting by molten Sn. Based on the results obtained, the introduction of Sn powder at various contents improved the sintering response of pure Al powder by providing sufficient liquid-phase sintering. Therefore, the sintered Al alloys had enhanced the morphological, densification, physical characteristics, and compressive yield strength.

Preparation and Preliminary Evaluation of Silver-Modified Anodic Alumina for Biomedical Applications

The present study reports a specific method for preparation of silver-modified anodic alumina substrates intended for biomaterial applications. Al2O3 coatings were obtained by anodization of technically pure aluminum alloy in sulfuric acid electrolyte. Silver deposition into the pores of the anodic structures was carried out employing in situ thermal reduction for different time periods. The obtained coatings were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), potentiodynamic scanning after 168 h in 3.5% NaCl solution and bioassays with human fibroblast and NIH/3T3 cell lines. The modified alumina substrates demonstrated better biocompatibility compared to the control anodic Al2O3 pads indicated by increased percent cell survival following in vitro culture with human and mouse fibroblasts. The Ag-deposition time did not affect considerably the biocompatibility of the investigated anodic layers. SEM analyses indicated that mouse NIH/3T3 cells and human fibroblasts adhere to the silver-coated alumina substrates retaining normal morphology and ability to form cell monolayer. Therefore, the present studies demonstrate that silver coating of anodic alumina substrates improves their biocompatibility and their eventual biomedical application.

Selective laser melting of Al and AlSi10Mg: parameter study and creep experiments

Selective laser melted (SLM) aluminum alloys are widely used for many technical applications. However, the application is limited to low temperatures due to their relatively poor creep resistance. The creep resistance and strength could be enhanced by oxide dispersion-strengthening. A hypothesis is that oxygen intake during selective laser melting can lead to formation of fine aluminum oxides and thus strengthen the SLMed part. To elucidate this in more detail, selective laser melted AlSi10Mg was tested in creep experiments at temperatures of 300 °C. Although, in other studies at lower temperatures, a relatively large stress exponent for creep was found, the high temperatures in this work led to a creep exponent of just 7 to 8, indicating no significant dispersion strengthening. Furthermore, for future research, it was necessary to investigate the feasibility of SLM with pure aluminum. For this purpose, a parameter study was carried out and an optimum parameter set for pure aluminum was found. Dense samples with a porosity below 0.2% were produced. Selective laser melting was carried out with a varying oxygen content in the inert-gas atmosphere to elucidate the hypothetic strengthening effects by oxygen intake. However, even at 800 ppm oxygen in the atmosphere, no effect on hardness and microstructure could be observed.

Rapid and tunable growth of well-ordered hexagonal nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) structure by two step high temperature anodization

In this study, we have developed a swift and well-ordered growth of the Anodic Aluminum Oxide (AAO) nanoporous structure by two-step high temperature anodization of pure Aluminum substrate. The pre-anodization surface treatment of the aluminum substrate assists in the formation of well-organized nanoporous structures. The two-step anodization process was performed in 0.3 M of oxalic acid at 20 °C for 40 V and 45 V to obtain tunable pore diameters. The high temperature of the electrolyte solution helps in the rapid growth of the AAO nanoporous structure. The top surface image of AAO shows a well-ordered nanoporous structure with an average pore diameter of 70 nm at 40 V and 100 nm at 45 V. The SEM cross sectional view also illustrates the well-ordered nano channel and the elemental mapping elaborates the presence of aluminum and oxygen. The thickness of the AAO nanoporous structure was determined by using SEM for three anodization time spans (20, 24 and 28 hours), in which an increasing trend was observed. The fabricated AAO has a higher thickness and a well-ordered nanoporous structure that shows it can be used as a template for fabricating nanostructured materials.

Tool Downscaling Effects on the Friction Stir Spot Welding Process and Properties of Current-Carrying Welded Aluminum–Copper Joints for E-Mobility Applications

According to the technical breakthrough towards E-Mobility, current-carrying dissimilar joints between aluminum and copper are gaining an increasing relevance for the automotive industry and thus, coming into focus of many research activities. The joining of dissimilar material in general is well known to be a challenging task. Furthermore, the current-carrying joining components in E-Drive consist of pure aluminum and copper materials with relatively thin sheet thickness, which are thermally and mechanically very sensitive, as well as highly heat and electrically conductive. This results in additional challenges for the joining process. Due to their properties, friction stir welding and especially fiction stir spot welding (FSSW) using pinless tools—i.e., as hybrid friction diffusion bonding process (HFDB) is more and more attractive for new application fields and particularly promising for aluminum–copper joining tasks in E-Mobility. However, the feasibility is restricted because of the relatively high process forces required during friction stir welding. Thus, to fulfill the high process and quality requirements in this above-mentioned application field, further research and process development towards process force reduction are necessary. This work deals with the application of the tool downscaling strategy as a mean of process force reduction in FSSW of thin aluminum and copper sheets for current-carrying applications in E-Mobility, where the components are very sensitive to high mechanical loads. The tool downscaling approach enables constant weld quality in similar process time of about 0.5 s despite reduced process forces and torques. By reducing the tool diameter from 10 mm to 6 mm, the process force could be reduced by 36% and the torque by over 50%. Furthermore, a similar heat propagation behavior in the component is observable. These results provide a good basis for the joining of E-Drive components with thermal and mechanical sensitive sheet materials using the pinless FSSW process.

Influence of Cold Rolled Deformation Degree and Heating Rates on Crystallite Dimension and Recrystallization Fraction of Aluminum Plates

In order to study the microstructure evolution rule of pure aluminum plates during different cold-rolled (CR) deformation degrees and annealing processes, samples with aCR deformation of 50~85%, heating rates of 60~100 °C/min and annealing at the target temperature of 350~500 °C were investigated. The microstructure, crystallite dimension and grain boundary characteristics were characterized by the methods of polarizing microscope (PM) and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). The results showed that the crystallite dimension of the initial state was 102 μm and ends up completely broken with an increase in the CR deformation degree. When the CR deformation increases to 85%, the deformed micro-bands were very small, with a band spacing of 5~10 μm. At this time, the grain distortion is more serious, there are more high-density grain defects, such as dislocations, and there is a high deformation of the storage energy, which is the energy preparation for the subsequent finished products to withstand the annealing process. The recrystallization fraction was higher with an increase in annealing temperature. After completed recrystallization, the grains showed an equiaxed shape. Orientation imaging and misorientation angle analysis showed that the red-oriented grains of the (001) plane, which had preferred nucleation, recrystallization and rapid grain growth. Final grains of the completed recrystallization are relatively coarse. Under the same deformation, the average crystallite dimension of the recrystallized grains decreases with an increase in annealing heating rate.

Electroplating of Pure Aluminum from [HMIm][TFSI]–AlCl3 Room-Temperature Ionic Liquid

Electrodeposition of aluminum and its alloys is of great interest in the aerospace, automobile, microelectronics, energy, recycle, and other industrial sectors, as well as for defense and, potentially, electrochemical printing applications. Here, for the first time, we report room-temperature electroplating of pure aluminum on copper and nickel substrates from an ionic liquid (IL) consisting of 1-Hexyl-3-methylimidazolium (HMIm) cation and bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (TFSI) anion, with a high concentration of 8 mol/L AlCl3 aluminum precursor. The aluminum deposits are shown to have a homogeneous and dense nanocrystalline structure. A quasi-reversible reaction is monitored, where the current is affected by both charge transfer and mass transport. The electrocrystallization of Al on Ni is characterized by instantaneous nucleation. The deposited Al layers are dense, homogeneous, and of good surface coverage. They have a nanocrystalline, single-phase Al (FCC) structure, with a dislocation density typical of Al metal. An increase in the applied cathodic potential from −1.3 to −1.5 V vs. Pt resulted in more than one order of magnitude increase in the deposition rate (to ca. 44 μm per hour), as well as in ca. one order of magnitude finer grain size. The deposition rate is in accordance with typical industrial coating systems.