Corrosion Behaviour of Multiaxial Compressed AlMgSi alloy

In the present study, AlMgSi alloy was processed through multi-axial compression (MAC) to produce ultrafine-grained microstructure at room temperature. The AlMgSi alloys are widely used in automobile industries for making cylinder heads and brake disks etc. MAC was performed up to three cycles and showed improvement in mechanical properties. The impact of different strain levels upon microstructure changes is investigated using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The average grain size reduced from an initial average grain size of ~ 124 to ~ 3 μm after completion of three cycles of MAC processing. Samples were tested for mechanical properties using uniaxial tensile test, hardness measurements, and corrosion. Tensile test results show a considerable increase in yield strength from ~90 MPa to ~249 MPa after 3 cycles of MAC. The average hardness value increased from 52 VHN to 90 VHN after 3 cycles of MAC. The corrosion resistance of MAC processed samples was found to decrease in comparison to solution-treated samples.

Corrosion of indium doped E-AlMgSi aluminum conductor alloy (Aldrey)

The effect of impurities on the electrical conductivity of aluminum has been studied in detail. The electrical conductivity of aluminum is 65.45% of that of copper. The tensile strength of aluminum wire is 150–170 MPa which, at equal conductivity, is about 65% of the strength of copper wire. This strength of aluminum wire is sufficient for bearing the wire’s own weight but may be too low in case of snow, ice or wind overloads. One way to improve the strength of aluminum wire is to use aluminum alloys having higher strength combined with sufficiently high electrical conductivity, e.g. the E-AlMgSi alloy (Aldrey). The key strengthening agent of the E-AlMgSi alloy (Aldrey) is the Mg2Si phase which imparts high mechanical strength to aluminum. In this work we present experimental data on the kinetics of high-temperature oxidation and electrochemical corrosion of indium doped E-AlMgSi aluminum conductor alloy (Aldrey). Thermal gravimetric study has shown that indium doping and high temperature exposure increase the oxidation rate of E-AlMgSi alloy (Aldrey), with the apparent alloy oxidation activation energy decreasing from 120.5 to 91.8 kJ/mole. Alloy oxidation rate data determined using a potentiostatic technique in NaCl electrolyte media have shown that the corrosion resistance of the indium doped alloy is 20–30% superior to that of the initial alloy. With an increase in NaCl electrolyte concentration the electrochemical potentials of the alloys decrease whereas the corrosion rate increases regardless of alloy composition.

The Effect of Artificial Aging Treatment on Microstructure and Morphology of AlMgSi Alloy

This research aimed to explore the effect of artificial aging temperature variations on toughness, hardness, microstructure, and fault morphology in AlMgSi. 120°C, 150°C, and 180°C with 6 hours of holding time were used as the variations. Impact tests used the ASTM E23 standard, and showed an increase in specimen toughness given artificial aging that peaked at 180°C with 0.0649 kg/mm2. Microstructure exhibited a sparse precipitate in the specimen with artificial aging. The fault morphology showed that specimens with artificial aging had brittle and ductile fractures.

Microstructural Design of an AlMgSi Alloy via ECAP Processing: An Advanced SPD Manufacturing Technique for NC/UFG Materials

Severe plastic deformation (SPD) has received enormous interest over the last two decades as a method capable of producing fully dense and bulk ultra-fine grained (UFG) and nanocrystalline (NC) materials. Significant grain refinement obtained by SPD leads to improvement of mechanical, microstructural and physical properties. Compared to classical deformation processes, the big advantage of SPD manufacturing techniques, represented in particular by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is the lack of shape-change deformation and the consequent possibility to impart extremely large strain. In ECAP processing, the workpiece is pressed through a die in which two channels of equal cross-section intersect at an angle of ϕ and an additional angle of ψ define the arc of curvature at the outer point of intersection of the two channels. As a result of pressing, the sample theoretically deforms by simple shear and retains the same cross-sectional area to allow repeated pressings for several cycles. A commercial AlMgSi alloy was investigated in our study. The specimens were processed at room temperature for multiple passes, using three different ECAP dies. All samples (ECAP processed and as-received) were subjected to metallographic analysis and mechanical testing. Several correlations between the main processing parameters and the resulting microstructural aspect and mechanical features for the processed material were established. It was shown that severe plastic deformation by means of ECAP processing can be used in aluminum alloys microstructural design as an advanced tool for grain refinement in order to attain the desired microstructure and mechanical properties.