Effect of electropulsing on deformation behavior of Ti-6Al-4V alloy during cold drawing

Electron backscattered diffraction （EBSD） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM） were used to investigate effect of electropulsing on microstructure and texture evolution of Ti-6Al-4V during cold drawing. Research results demonstrate that the electropulsing treatment （EPT） can enhance the deformability of the grains with unfavorable orientations, which makes the compatibility of deformation among grains much better. A comparison in texture evolution between conventional cold drawing and EPT cold drawing indicates that the EPT promotes prismatic 〈a〉 slip moving, restricts pyramidal 〈c＋a〉 slip occurring and accommodates the deformation with c-component by grain boundary sliding. The fraction decrease of low-angle grain boundaries for samples deformed with EPT reveals that the application of electropulsing restricts the formation of the incidental dislocation boundaries and the geometrically necessary boundaries.

Improving in plasticity of orthorhombic Ti_2AlNb-based alloys sheet by high density electropulsing

In order to optimize the ductility of orthorhombic Ti2AlNb-based alloys sheet,Ti22Al27Nb sheet was treated by high density electropulsing（J max =6.80 7.09 kA/mm2,tp =110 μs） under ambient condition.Microstructures were observed by SEM,and the tensile properties were also studied using uniaxial tension tests.The experimental results show that electropulsing can refine the microstructures of Ti22Al27Nb sheets.The specimen with the fine and homogeneous microstructures has good plasticity,and its elongation reaches 19.4%.The mechanism about the effect of electropulsing treatment on the microstructure of Ti22Al27Nb sheets was discussed.It was thought that the increase in nucleation rate during phase transformation and a very short treating time were regarded as the main reasons of producing smaller grains and increase in the plasticity by electropulsing.

Effect of electropulsing on dislocation mobility of titanium sheet

To investigate the effect of the electropulsing on dislocation mobility,specimens cut from the cold-rolled titanium sheet were treated by high density electropulsing with the maximum current density of 7.22,7.64,7.96 kA/mm 2 ,pulse period 110μs.The internal friction and elastic modulus were measured by a dynamic mechanical analyzer（DMA）.When strain amplitude lowers a certain critical one,the damping of the electropulsed titanium sheet is lower than that of the cold-rolled one.When the strain amplitude exceeds the critical one,the damping of the electropulsed titanium sheet is extraordinarily higher than that of the cold-rolled or conventional annealed one.Furthermore,it is found that the damping peak of the electropulsed titanium sheet shifts to lower temperature compared with the conventional annealed one.It is demonstrated that the electropulsing treatment can decrease dislocation tangles and enhance dislocation mobility.

Effect of electropulsing rolling on mechanical properties and microstructure of AZ31 magnesium alloy

Electropulsing rolling （ER） and warm rolling （WR） processes were performed to roll AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets. Mechanical properties, microstructure and texture evolution of these specimens were investigated after rolling. The results indicate that electropulsing accelerates the recrystallization of AZ31 alloy sheets during hot rolling. After electropulsing rolling at a relatively low temperature, the microstructure of the sample shows fine equiaxed recrystallized grains with a lower density of dislocations and precipitates. In contrast, the microstructure of the sample after warm rolling shows elongated grain, numerous deformed twins, and a high density of dislocation and precipitates. Electropulsing rolling helps weaken the basal fiber texture. Although both the alloy sheets （ER and WR） have typical basal fiber texture, the maximum pole intensity of basal in ER sample is weaker. ER sheet has higher yield strength and elongation compared to WR sheet. As a promising technique, electropulsing rolling can be used to improve the microstructure and mechanical properties of materials.

Improvement of mechanical properties of cold-rolled commercially pure Ti sheet by high density electropulsing

Specimens cut from the cold-rolled commercially pure （CP） Ti sheet were treated by high density electropulsing （the maximum current density 7.22 kA/mm2, pulse period 110 las）. The deformation behaviors of the CP Ti specimens at different states were determined by the uniaxial tensile test. The microstructure morphologies were observed by the optical microscopy. The results show that the electropulsing induced formation of f＇me equal-axial grains and lamellar microstructures, which leads to the strength of the electropulsed CP Ti higher than that of the conventional annealed CP Ti. After electropulsing, the tensile strength and yield strength are increased by 100 MPa. And the electropulsed CP Ti has a good plasticity. The experimental results demonstrate that the electropulsing provides an effective approach to enhance the strength of cold-rolled CP Ti sheet and retain the required high ductility.

Effect of electropulsing treatment on corrosion behavior of nickel base corrosion-resistant alloy

Electropulsing treatment（EPT） was performed on a nickel base corrosion resistant alloy during aging.The effect of EPT on the microstructure and corrosion resistance of the alloy and the mechanisms were investigated.The results show that the intergranular corrosion resistance can be improved substantially without the degradation of mechanical properties of the alloy by EPT.The EPT has an effect of enhancing the interface diffusion rate of the alloying element,which is higher than the body diffusion rate.And thus discontinuous precipitation of M23C6 type carbides appears at the grain boundary in the alloy by EPT,which decreases the depletion extent of the alloying elements at the grain boundary substantially.As a result,the intergranular corrosion resistance of the alloy can be improved by the EPT without any degradation of mechanical properties.

Creep ageing behaviour assisted by electropulsing under different stresses for Al−Cu−Li alloy

The influence of electropulsing on the creep behaviour,strength,and microstructure of an Al−Cu−Li alloy during creep ageing was investigated.Electropulsing assisted creep ageing(ECA)and conventional creep ageing(CCA)were carried out under various stress levels and time conditions.Applying electropulsing results in a noteworthy change of creep behaviour,including a variation in creep curves,an increased creep rate in early stage,and an improved creep strain.The ECA specimen experiences a shorter time to the peak strength,and an increase in elongation by~17.4% without loss of the peak-aged strength compared with CCA specimen.The ultrafine nano-size subgrains are observed to form under electropulsing,which can result in an increased creep strain by increasing grain-boundary sliding.The enhancement of both dislocation interactions and solute diffusion under electropulsing is considered as a primary cause of disappearance of a platform stage during early creep ageing.Some of T1 precipitates around the grain boundary are observed in the peak ECA sample,resulting in an occurrence of transgranular fracture,which is further responsible for an increased elongation of the ECA specimen.

Effect of electropulsing on anisotropy behaviour of cold-rolled commercially pure titanium sheet

The specimens cut from the cold-rolled pure titanium sheet at 0°,45°and 90°to the rolling direction were treated by high density electropulsing(maximum current density J=(7.22-7.96)×10^(3)A/mm^(2),pulse period t_(p)=110μs).The mechanical properties and microstructures of the cold-rolled,electropulsed and conventional annealed commercially pure titanium sheet were examined by using uniaxial tension test machine and optical microscope(OM),respectively.The results show that the deformation behavior of the electropulsed pure titanium sheet is significantly different from that of conventional annealed pure titanium sheet.The difference of the mechanical properties between the 0°,45°and 90°direction specimens is almost diminished.It is mainly due to the increase in dislocation mobility and formation of lamellar microstructure after the electropulsing.

Effects of Electropulsing Cutting on the Quenched and Tempered 45 Steel Rods

Electropulsing is introduced into the cutting process for quenched and tempered 45 steel, which is a novel method to improve the material machinability compared with the conventional cutting process. The effects of electropulsing on cutting performances, microstructure evolution, and surface qualities of 45 steel rods were studied. The results indicate that electropulsing is beneficial for the cutting process in 3 aspects as follows：（1） reducing the principal cutting force, surface microhardness and surface roughness of the machined sample dramatically;（2） improving the machining efficiency and prolonging the life of cutting tools;（3） decreasing the thickness of rheological layer which was usually caused by work hardening in the cutting process. The morphology and microstructure of the cutting chips showed that the length of the chips increased significantly with the increase of the current density. The advantage of electropulsing is that it can improve the plastic deformation capability as well as increase the lubricating property between the specimen and the cutting tool.

Dynamic Electropulsing Induced Phase Transformations and Their Effects on Single Point Diamond Turning of AZ91 Alloy

The effects of dynamic electropulsing on microstructure changes and phase transformations of a rolled Mg-9Al-1Zn alloy were studied by using optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, back-scattered scanning microscopy and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The decomposition of β phase was accelerated under dynamic electropulsing, compared with the conventional thermal processes. Dynamic electropulsing was less effective in affecting the phase transformations, but more effective in reducing residual stress than the static electropulsing. Dynamic electropulsing improved machinability of single point diamond turning, the mechanism of which is discussed from the point of view of dislocation dynamics.

Effect of electropulsing on anisotropy in strength of laser metal deposited Ti-6Al-4V alloy

The effect of electropulsing treatment on microstructure and mechanical strength of laser metal deposited Ti−6Al−4V alloy was investigated in order to eliminate the anisotropy in strength of laser metal deposited Ti−6Al−4V alloy by tensile tests,optical microscopy,scanning electron microscopy,electron back-scattered diffraction analyses and transmission electron microscopy.With increasing applied voltages from 0 to 130 V,the evolution of microstructure within columnarβgrains followed the sequence ofα′martensite→colonyαstructure→basket-weaveαstructure.The electropulsing treated at 130 V weakened the texture of martensite withinβgrains.The as-built Ti−6Al−4V alloy showed an anisotropy in yield strength(6.2%).After processing at 130 V,the anisotropy in yield strength was reduced to 0.6%,which was attributed to the almost equivalent distribution of Schmid factor in the samples deformed along different orientations.

Effects of Electropulsing Induced Microstructural Changes on THz-Reflection and Electrical Conductivity of Al-Doped ZnO Thin-Films

Electropulsing induced phase transformation and crystal orientation change and their effects on electrical conductivity, THz reflection and surface roughness of thin-films of Al2O3 (2 wt%) doped ZnO were studied using XRD, SEM, AFM and Thz spectroscopy techniques. AZO-2 thin-films showed an effective response in THz spectroscopy under electropulsing. Electropulsing induced circular preferred crystal orientation changes and phase transformations were observed. The preferred crystal orientation changes accompanying decrease in stress and the secondary phase precipitation favored enhancing conductivity and THz reflection of the AZO-2 thin-films. After adequate electropulsing, both THz reflection and electrical conductivity of the thin-films were enhanced by 22.8% and 6.8%, respectively;meanwhile surface roughness reduced. The property responses of electropulsing are discussed from point view of microstructural change and dislocation dynamics.

Introducingωand O'nanodomains in Ti-6Al-4V:The mechanism of acceleratingα→βtransformation kinetics via electropulsing

Conventional kinetics theory for diffusion-controlled phase transformation shows that the reverse transition should lag behind the temperature rise through rapid heating,i.e.,overheating is required.In this work,we found that theβ-transus temperature decreased by∼50℃ during studying theα→βtransformation in Ti-6Al-4V alloy via electropulsing treatment(EPT).The calculation suggests that the acceleration of transformation kinetics cannot be fully explained by Joule heat and athermal effects of the electromigration effect and electron wind theory.The microstructural evolution during EPT was systematically investigated utilizing scanning electron microscope(SEM),electron backscattered diffraction(EBSD),X-ray diffraction(XRD),transmission Kikuchi diffraction(TKD),and transmission electron micro-scope(TEM).Microscopic analysis shows that the nano-sizedωand O'phases formed in theβphase,which causes large numbers of lattice distortion regions.The defects are conducive to accelerating the bulk diffusion of alloying elements inβ.Moreover,the nanodomains limited the growth of martensite,therefore nanocrystalline martensite formed after quenching.These findings develop the understanding of the destructive effect of current on metallic crystal,which will help to guide microstructural regulation in titanium and other alloys.

Rapidly modifying microstructure and mechanical properties of AA7150 Al alloy processed with electropulsing treatment

Studies show that the proper solid solution treatment(SST)is a key step in the precipitation strengthening of AA7150 Al alloy.Despite the superior characteristics of the fully dissolved phase,it has major drawbacks,including high consumption of energy and low efficiency.Recently,electropulsing treatment(EPT)has been proposed to study dissolved precipitations and modify microstructures of AA7150 Al alloy faster than conventional SST.Experiments have been conducted in the present article,and the obtained results show that EPT can promote the rapid dissolution of theη’phase at relatively low temperatures in only 20 s.Meanwhile,the strength and ductility of electropulsed samples decrease drastically.Compared with conventional SST,EPT accelerates recrystallization and obtains relatively fine grains after 20 and 50 s electric pulses.Moreover,as the EPT time increases,the corresponding non-uniform local heating and the electron force promote dislocation generation and annihilation.

Effect of Electropulsing on Recrystallization and Mechanical Properties of Silicon Steel Strips

Electropulsing-induced recrystallization and its effect on mechanical properties of oriented silicon steel strips （Fe-3.0%Si） were studied by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and electron back-scatter diffraction. The results indicated that electropulsing accelerated recrystallization, and decreased the temperature of recrystallization. Electropulsing favors refinement of the grain structure of the alloy. Effects of electropulsing on strength and elongation of the alloy were discussed from the point view of dislocation dynamics, microstructural changes, and electropulsing kinetics.

Hot Tensile Behaviors and Microstructure Evolution of Ti-6Al-4V Titanium Alloy Under Electropulsing

The effect of electropulsing on the mechanical behaviors and microstructures of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy was investigated by an uniaxial tensile test. Compared to the value measured in cold tensile test, the alloy exhibits lower ultimate tensile strength when the tensile deformation is assisted by electropulsing. The tensile elongation is found to vary non-monotonically with increasing root mean square(RMS) current density. Though decreasing at first, the tensile elongation increases with current density once the value exceeds 8.1 A/mm^2. Through applying current with RMS current density of 12.7 A/mm^2, the tensile elongation at strain rate 0.001 s^(-1) can be improved by 94.1%. In addition, it is observed that more remarkable electroplastic effect is induced by the higher peak current density under similar thermal effect. Microstructure analysis reveals that the low plasticity at 8.1 A/mm^2 is attributed to the micro-void easily formation near the tips of acicular β phases. The enhanced ductility at higher current densities, on the other hand, is attributed to the dynamic recrystallization.

Crystallization of a Ti-based Bulk Metallic Glass Induced by Electropulsing Treatment

The effect of electropulsing treatment（EPT）on the microstructure of a Ti-based bulk metallic glass（BMG）has been studied.The maximum current density applied during EPT can exert a crucial role on tuning the microstructure of the BMG.When the maximum current density is no more than 2 720A/mm^2,the samples retains amorphous nature,whereas,beyond that,crystalline phases precipitate from the glassy matrix.During EPT,the maximum temperature within the samples EPTed at the maximum current densities larger than 2 720A/mm^2 is higher than the crystallization temperature of the BMG,leading to the crystallization event.

Effect of electropulsing on austenite to ferrite transformation in low-carbon steel

We explore the application of electropulsing for the control of phase transformation in a low-carbon steel.The effect of electropulsing on the transformation from austenite to ferrite in continuous casting low-carbon steel slab has been studied through experimental and thermodynamic investigations.The results reveal that electropulsing promotes the precipitation of ferrite within austenite grain in the low-carbon steel.When the electropulsing intensity increases,the precipitation of ferrite increases within austenite grains,and ferrite omentum precipitates become thinner along the austenite grain boundary.The results provide a basis for controlling the austenite to ferrite transformation in low-carbon steel.

Electropulsing-Induced Microstructural Changes and Their Effects on Electrical Conductivity of Thin Films of an Al-doped ZnO

Electropulsing-induced phase decompositions and microstructural changes in AZO-5 thin films were studied by X-raydiffraction, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Hall effect measurement and photoluminescence （PL）measurement techniques. It was found that the electropulsing induced phase decomposition started with spinodaldecomposition, which was accompanied by discontinuous precipitation in the AZO-5 thin films. Both circular phasedecompositions and the crystal orientation occurred. Inappropriate electropulsing might damage zones, which resulted intremendous decrease in electrical conductivity. Circular changes in both the peak position and the width of the PLwavelength were observed in the EPT AZO-5 thin films. Formation of zones favored reducing the roughness of the thinfilm.

Effect of electropulsing treatment on solidification behavior of spring steels in a continuous casting mold simulator

An electropulsing-assisted mold simulator technique was developed to investigate the effects of a pulsed electric voltage on the quality of spring steels during continuous casting by analyzing the mold flux film,shell surface profile,shell micro-structure and inclusion distributions.The results revealed significantly increased crystallization fraction of the mold flux film from 61.2%to 75.3%and finer crystalline phase morphology in the case of electropulsing treatment.The surface of the initially solidified shell could be effectively healed,resulting in smoother shell surface profiles with higher pulsed voltage from 0 to 30V.Furthermore,an increase in the pulsed voltage from 0 to 30V resulted in finer dendritic structures during solidification with decreasing secondary dendrite arm spacing from the values of 17.6-32.2 to 9.7-15.0μm in the direction of shell side toward melt side.In addition,an area scan analysis of inclusions in the as-cast spring steel samples showed that the number of MnS inclusions in the size range of 2.0-4.0μm gradually decreased from 836 to 114 and the number of Al2O3 inclusions in the same size range decreased from 144 to 39,as the voltage increased from 0 to 30V.