Thermal stability evaluation of nanostructured Al6061 alloy produced by cryorolling

Grain growth of nanostructured Al6061produced by cryorolling and aging process was investigated during isothermalheat treatment in100?500°C temperature range.Transmission electron microscopy(TEM)observations demonstrate that aftercryorolling and aging at130°C for30h,the microstructure contains61nm grains with dispersed50?150nm precipitates and0.248%lattice strain.In addition,an increase in tensile strength up to362MPa because of formation of fine strengtheningprecipitation and nano-sized grains was observed.Thermal stability investigation within100?500°C temperature range showedrelease of lattice strain,dissolution of precipitates and grain growth.According to the X-ray diffraction(XRD)analysis,Mg2Siprecipitates disappeared after annealing at temperatures higher than300°C.According to the results,due to the limited grain growthup to200°C,there would be little decrease in mechanical properties,but within300?500°C range,the grain growth,dissolution ofstrengthening precipitates and decrease in mechanical properties are remarkable.The activation energies for grain growth werecalculated to be203.3kJ/mol for annealing at100?200°C and166.34kJ/mol for annealing at300?500°C.The effect ofprecipitation dissolution on Al lattice parameter,displacement of Al6061(111)XRD peak and Portevin?LeChatelier(PLC)effect onstress?strain curves is also discussed.

Bulk Al–Al_3Zr composite prepared by mechanical alloying and hot extrusion for high-temperature applications

Bulk Al/Al_3Zr composite was prepared by a combination of mechanical alloying(MA) and hot extrusion processes. Elemental Al and Zr powders were milled for up to 10 h and heat treated at 600℃ for 1 h to form stable Al_3Zr. The prepared Al_3Zr powder was then mixed with the pure Al powder to produce an Al–Al_3Zr composite. The composite powder was finally consolidated by hot extrusion at 550℃. The mechanical properties of consolidated samples were evaluated by hardness and tension tests at room and elevated temperatures. The results show that annealing of the 10-h-milled powder at 600℃ for 1 h led to the formation of a stable Al_3Zr phase. Differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) results confirmed that the formation of Al_3Zr began with the nucleation of a metastable phase, which subsequently transformed to the stable tetragonal Al_3Zr structure. The tension yield strength of the Al-10wt%Al_3Zr composite was determined to be 103 MPa, which is approximately twice that for pure Al(53 MPa). The yield stress of the Al/Al_3Zr composite at 300℃ is just 10% lower than that at room temperature, which demonstrates the strong potential for the prepared composite to be used in high-temperature structural applications.

Development of Al356e-Al_2O_3 Nanocomposite Coatings by High Velocity Oxy-fuel Technique

In this research, development of AI356-AI203 nanocomposite coatings has been investigated. AI356-AI203 composite powders were prepared by mechanical milling of AI356 powder and 5 vol.% micro and nanoscaled alumina particles. The milled powders were used as feedstock to deposit composite coatings on A356-T6 aluminum alloy substrate using high velocity oxy-fuel （HVOF） process. X-ray diffractometry, optical and scanning electron microscopy, microhardness and wear tests were used to characterize the composite powders and coatings. The hardness of composite coatings containing micro and nanosized AI203 were 114.1 ± 5.9 HV and 138.4 ± 6.9 HV, respectively which were higher than those for substrate （79.2 ± 1.1 HV）. Nano and microcomposite coatings revealed low friction coefficients and wear rates, which were significantly lower than those obtained for AI356-T6 substrate. Addition of 5 vol.% micro and nanoscaled alumina particles improved the wear resistance by an average of 85% and 91%, respectively. This is mainly caused by the presence of AI203 in matrix and nanocrystalline structure of matrix. Scanning electron microscopy tests revealed different wear mechanisms on the surface of the wear test specimens.