Improving the room-temperature bendability of Mg-3Al-1Zn alloy sheet by introducing a bimodal microstructure and the texture re-orientation

A significant enhancement of bendability was achieved by the introduction of bimodal microstructure for AZ31B alloy sheets via pre-compression and subsequent annealing(PCA)process.This combined treatment led to the c-axis of the extracted samples that were inclined by 30°to the rolling direction(30°sample)further shifting toward the rolling direction(RD)and resulting in a higher Schmid factor(SF)value of basal slip under the RD tensile stress.Furthermore,the bimodal microstructure that was introduced by the PCA process broke the damage bands(DBs)in the initial hot rolled AZ31B alloy sheets and gave rise to a more uniform strain distribution in the outer tension region of the bending samples,in which the tensile deformation was accommodated by the equally distributed{101^(-)2}tension twinning and basal slip.Consequently,the bimodal microstructure,shifted basal texture and the modification of DBs were responsible for the significant enhancement in the bendability of the AZ31 alloys.

Uncovering of the formation of rare earth texture and pseudo fiber bimodal microstructure in the high ductility Mg-2Gd-0.4Zr alloy during extrusion

The aim of this research was to elucidate the underlying mechanism involved in the formation of rare earth(RE)texture and pseudo fiber bimodal microstructure in the high ductility Mg-2Gd-0.4Zr alloy.The microstructure and texture evolution during the extrusion process were analyzed using various tech-niques,including optical microscopy(OM),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),electron backscatter diffraction(EBSD),and electron probe microanalysis(EPMA).The findings revealed that the RE texture in the extruded Mg-2Gd-0.4Zr alloy emerged during the dynamic recrystallization(DRX)process and was further strengthened during the subsequent static recrystallization and grain growth processes.The nu-cleation and growth of grains in the streamline region of Zr particles were delayed in comparison to other regions due to the pinning effect of Zr particles,ultimately resulting in the formation of pseudofiber bi-modal microstructure in the extruded Mg-2Gd-0.4Zr alloy.

Bimodal microstructure – A feasible strategy for high-strength and ductile metallic materials

Introducing a bimodal grain-size distribution has been demonstrated an efficient strategy for fabricating high-strength and ductile metallic materials, where fine grains provide strength, while coarse grains enable strain hardening and hence decent ductility. Over the last decades, research activities in this area have grown enormously, including interesting results onfcc Cu, Ni and Al-Mg alloys as well as steel and Fe alloys via various thermo-mechanical processing approaches. However, investigations on bimodal Mg and other hcp metals are relatively few. A brief overview of the available approaches based on thermo- mechanical processing technology in producing bimodal microstructure for various metallic materials is given, along with a summary of unusual mechanical properties achievable by bimodality, where focus is placed on the microstructure-mechanical properties and relevant mechanisms. In addition, key factors that influencing bimodal strategies, such as compositions of starting materials and processing parameters, together with the challenges this research area facing, are identified and discussed briefly.

Deformation mechanism of bimodal microstructure in Ti-6Al-4V alloy:The effects of intercritical annealing temperature and constituent hardness

The so-called bimodal microstructure of Ti-6 Al-4 V alloy,composed of primaryαgrains(α_(p))and transformed β areas(β_(trans)),can be regarded as a"dual-phase"structure to some extent,the mechanical properties of which are closely related to the sizes,volume fractions,distributions as well as nanohardness of the two constituents.In this study,the volume fractions of primaryαgrains(vol.%(α_(p)))were systematically modified in three series of bimodal microstructures with fixed primaryαgrain sizes(0.8μm,2.4μm and 5.0μm),by changing the intercritical annealing temperature(T_(int)).By evaluating the tensile properties at room temperature,it was found that with increasing T_(int)(decreasing vol.%(α_(p))),the yield strength of bimodal microstructures monotonically increased,while the uniform elongation firstly increased with T_(int)until 910°C and then drastically decreased afterwards,thereby dividing the T_(int)into two regions,namely region I(830-910°C)and region II(910-970℃).The detailed deformation behaviors within the two regions were studied and compared,from the perspectives of strain distribution analysis,slip system analysis as well as dislocation analysis.For bimodal microstructures in region I,due to the much lower nano-hardness ofβ_(trans)thanα_(p),there was a clear strain partitioning between the two constituents as well as a strain gradient from theα_(p)/β_(trans)interface to the grain interior ofα_(p).This activated a large number of geometrically necessary dislocations(GNDs)near the interface,mostly with components,which contributed greatly to the extraordinary work-hardening abilities of bimodal microstructures in region I.With increasing T_(int),theα_(p)/β_(trans)interface length density gradually increased and so was the density of GNDs with components,which explained the continuous increase of uniform elongation with T_(int)in this region.For bimodal microstructures in region II,where the nano-hardness ofβ_(trans)andα_(p)were comparable,neither a clear strain-partitioning tendency nor a strain gradient across theα_(p)/β_(trans)interface was observed.Consequently,only statistically stored dislocations(SSDs)with component were activated insideα_(p).The absence of dislocations together with a decreased volume fraction ofα_(p)resulted into a dramatic loss of uniform elongation for bimodal microstructures in region II.

Low-temperature superplasticity of β-stabilized Ti-43Al-9V-Y alloy sheet with bimodalγ-grain-size distribution

The superplasticity of Ti-43Al-9V-0.2Y alloy sheet hot-rolled at 1100℃was systematically investigated in the temperature range of 750-900℃under an initial strain rate of 10^(-4)s^(-1).A bimodalγgraindistribution microstructure of Ti Al alloy sheet,with abundant nano-scale or sub-micronγlaths embedded insideβmatrix,exhibits an impressive superplastic behaviour.This inhomogeneous microstructure shows low-temperature superplasticity with a strain-rate sensitivity exponent of m=0.27 at 800℃,which is the lowest temperature of superplastic deformation for Ti Al alloys attained so far.The maximum elongation reaches~360%at 900℃with an initial strain rate of 2.0×10^(-4)s^(-1).To elucidate the softening mechanism of the disorderedβphase during superplastic deformation,the changes of phase composition were investigated up to 1000℃using in situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction(XRD)in this study.The results indicate thatβphase does not undergo the transformation from an ordered L2;structure to a disordered A2 structure and cannot coordinate superplastic deformation as a lubricant.Based on the microstructural evolution and occurrence of bothγandβdynamic recrystallization(DR)after tensile tests as characterized with electron backscatter diffraction(EBSD),the superplastic deformation mechanism can be explained by the combination of DR and grain boundary slipping(GBS).In the early stage of superplastic deformation,DR is an important coordination mechanism as associated with the reduced cavitation and dislocation density with increasing tensile temperature.Sufficient DR can relieve stress concentration arising from dislocation piling-up at grain boundaries through the fragmentation from the original coarse structures into the fine equiaxed ones due to recrystallization,which further effectively suppresses apparent grain growth during superplastic deformation.At the late stage of superplastic deformation,these equiaxed grains make GBS prevalent,which can effectively avoid intergranular cracking and is conducive to the further improvement in elongation.This study advances the understanding of the superplastic deformation mechanism of intermetallic Ti Al alloy.