Texture evolution during semicontinuous equal-channel angular extrusion process of interstitial-free steel

Semicontinuous equal-channel angular extrusion（ SC-ECAE） is a novel severe plastic deformation technique that has been developed to produce ultrafine-grain steels. Instead of external forces being exerted on specimens in the conventional ECAE,driving forces are applied to dies in SC-EACE. The deformation of interstitial-free（ IF） steel w as performed at room temperature,and individual specimens w ere repeatedly processed at various passes. An overall grain size of 0. 55 μm w as achieved after 10 passes. During SC-ECAE,the main textures of IF steel included { 111} ,{ 110} ,{ 112} ,{ 110} ,and { 110} At an early stage,increasing dislocations induce new textures and increase intensity. When the deformation continues,low-angle boundaries are formed betw een dislocation cell bands,w hich cause some dislocation cell bands to change their orientation,and therefore,the intensity of the textures begins to decrease. After more passes,the intensity of textures continues to decrease w ith high-angle boundaries,and the sub-grains in dislocation cell bands continuously increase. The present study reports the evolution of textures during deformation; these w ere examined and characterized using high-resolution electron backscattered diffraction（ EBSD） in a field emission scanning electron microscope. The mechanisms of texture evolution are discussed.

Thermal debinding dynamics of novel binder system

The thermal debinding dynamics of newly developed binders for cemented carbides extrusion molding was studied. It is shown that the thermal debinding processes can be divided into two stages: low temperature region, in which the low molecular mass components (LMMCs) are removed; and high temperature region, in which the polymer components are removed. The rate of thermal debinding is controlled by diffusion mechanism. The thermal debinding activation energies were solved out by differential method and integral method. The results show that the addition of other components acted as a catalyzer can effectively decrease the activation energy of thermal debinding processes.

Microstructural characteristics and deformation of magnesium alloy AZ31 produced by continuous variable cross-section direct extrusion

Magnesium（Mg） alloy AZ31 was produced by continuous variable cross-section direct extrusion（CVCDE）to study its deformation behavior. Metallographic microscopy（OM）, transmission electron microscopy（TEM）, and scanning electron microscopy（SEM） were used to observe the variations in microstructure and fracture morphology of Mg alloy AZ31 as a function of processing methods. The results reveal that grains of Mg alloy AZ31 were refined and their microstructure was homogenized by CVCDE. The recrystallization in Mg alloy AZ31 produced by CVCDE with 2 interim dies was more complete than that produced by conventional extrusion（CE） and CVCDE with 1 interim die, and the grains were finer and more uniform.Plasticity of the AZ31 alloy was improved. Fracture mode was evolved from a combination of ductility and brittleness to a sole ductile form. In summary, a CVCDE mold structure with 2 interim dies can improve microstructure, plasticity, and toughness of Mg alloy AZ31.