Low temperature mechanical property of AZ91D magnesium alloy fabricated by solid recycling process from recycled scraps

Low temperature mechanical properties of AZ91D magnesium alloy fabricated by solid recycling process from recycled scraps were studied. Various microstructural analyses were performed using optical microscopy （OM） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The recycled specimens consist of fine grains due to dynamic recrystallization and the interfaces of original individual scraps are not identified. Tensile tests were performed at a strain rate of 5 x 10 3 s 1 at room temperature （27 ~C）, -70, -100 and 130 ~C, respectively. Ultimate tensile strength of the specimens increases slightly with decreasing the tensile temperature, and elongation to failure decreases with decreasing the tensile temperature. The tensile specimens at -130 ~C show the highest ultimate tensile strength of 360.65 MPa and the lowest elongation to failure of 5.46%. Impact tests were performed at room temperature （27 ~C）, -70 and -130 ~C, respectively. Impact toughness decreases with decreasing the impact temperature. The impact specimens at -130 ~C show the lowest impact toughness of 3.06 J/cm2.

Modification ofβ-Al_5FeSi Compound in Recycled Al-Si-Fe Cast Alloy by Using Sr,Mg and Cr Additions

The effects of Sr,Mg,Cr,Sr/Mg and Sr/Cr combined additions on the Fe-containing intermetallic phase in a recycled Al-Si-Fe cast alloy are investigated.The experimental results show that the additions of Cr and Sr/Cr successfully modified the platelet and flake-likeβ-Al-5FeSi phases （β-compound） into the fibrousα-Al-8Fe-2Si （α-compound）.The additions of Sr and Sr/Mg were less effective to modify theβ-compound into theα-compound,while the eutectic Si was fully modified into the fibrous morphology.A small secondary dendrite arm spacing （DAS） was found in the Sr-added,Cr-added and Sr/Cr-added alloys,especially in a steel mold.The Sr,Sr/Cr and Sr/Mg combined additions modify the eutectic Si simultaneously.A sludge phase was found in the addition of Cr-added,Sr/Cr-added and Mg-added alloys,especially in the graphite mold casting.The volume fraction ofβ-compounds was decreased by the addition of various modifying elements. The Cr and Sr/Cr combined additions are very effective to modify theβ-compound for the recycled Al-Si-Fe based alloys.

Solid state recycling of Mg-Gd-Y-Zn-Zr alloy chips by isothermal sintering and equal channel angular pressing

The Mg-7Gd-4Y-2Zn-0.5Zr alloy chips were successfully recycled through isothermal sintering and equal channel angular pressing(ECAP).The mechanical properties and microstructure evolution of samples during the recycling process were studied in detail.The eutectic phases in the as-cast alloy transform into long period-stacking ordered(LPSO)phases after homogenization,which can improve the plasticity of the material.After isothermal sintering,the density of the sample is lower than that of the homogenized sample,and oxide films are formed adjacent to the bonding interface of the metal chips.Hence,the plasticity of the sintered sample is poor.Dense samples are fabricated after ECAP.Although the grains are not refined compared to the sintered sample,the microstructure becomes more uniform due to recrystallization.Fiber interdendritic LPSO phase and kinked 14H-LPSO phase are formed in the alloy due to the shear deformation during the ECAP process,which improves the strength and plasticity of the sample significantly.Furthermore,the basal texture is weakened due to the Bc route of the ECAP process,which can increase the Schmid factor of the basal slip system and improve the elongation of the sample.After 2 ECAP passes,the fully densified recycled billet shows superior mechanical properties with an ultimate tensile strength of 307.1 MPa and elongation of 11.1%.

Microstructure and properties of AZ80 magnesium alloy prepared by hot extrusion from recycled machined chips

AZ80 magnesium alloy was prepared by hot extrusion of recycled machined chips and its microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. Hot pressing was employed to prepare extrusion billets of AZ80 chips, then the billets were hot extruded at 623 K with an extrusion ratio of 25∶1. The extruded rods show a high ultimate tensile strength of 285 MPa and a high elongation of 6%. Due to grain refinement by extrusion, mechanical properties of the extruded rods are much higher than those of as-cast AZ80 alloy. Process technique and chips densification mechanism were also studied. Results show that hot extrusion is an efficient method for AZ80 alloy chips recycling.

High temperature tensile,compression and creep behavior of recycled short carbon fibre reinforced AZ91 magnesium alloy fabricated by a high shearing dispersion technique

The present study seeks the feasibility of using short carbon fibres recycled from polymer matrix composites as alternative to virgin carbon fibres in the reinforcement of magnesium alloys.The microstructures,high temperature mechanical and creep properties of AZ91 alloy and its composites with various recycled carbon fibre contents(2.5 and 5 wt.%)and lengths(100 and 500μm)were investigated in the temperature range of 25-200℃.The microstructural characterization showed that the high shear dispersion technique provided the cast composites with finer grains and relatively homogenous distribution of fibres.The materials tested displayed different behaviour depending on the type of loading.In general,while enhancements in the mechanical properties of composites is attributed to the load bearing and grain refinement effects of fibres,the fluctuations in the properties were discussed on the basis of porosity formation,relatively high reinforcement content leading to fibre clustering and interlayer found between the matrix and reinforcement compared to those of AZ91 alloy.The compressive creep tests revealed similar or higher minimum creep rates in the recycled carbon fibre reinforced AZ91 in comparison to the unreinforced AZ91.

Influence of recycled carbon fiber addition on the microstructure and creep response of extruded AZ91 magnesium alloy

In this study,the recycled short carbon fiber(CF)-reinforced magnesium matrix composites were fabricated using a combination of stir casting and hot extrusion.The objective was to investigate the impact of CF content(2.5 and 5.0 wt.%)and fiber length(100 and 500μm)on the microstructure,mechanical properties,and creep behavior of AZ91 alloy matrix.The microstructural analysis revealed that the CFs aligned in the extrusion direction resulted in grain and intermetallic refinement within the alloy.In comparison to the unreinforced AZ91 alloy,the composites with 2.5 wt.%CF exhibited an increase in hardness by 16-20%and yield strength by 5-15%,depending on the fiber length,while experiencing a reduction in ductility.When the reinforcement content was increased from 2.5 to 5.0 wt.%,strength values exhibited fluctuations and decline,accompanied by decreased ductility.These divergent outcomes were discussed in relation to fiber length,clustering tendency due to higher reinforcement content,and the presence of interfacial products with micro-cracks at the CF-matrix interface.Tensile creep tests indicated that CFs did not enhance the creep resistance of extruded AZ91 alloy,suggesting that grain boundary sliding is likely the dominant deformation mechanism during creep.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-Zn-Y-Zr alloy prepared by solid state recycling

Machined chips of Mg-Zn-Y-Zr alloy were consolidated by cold pressing and then hot extrusion under various processing temperatures and extrusion ratios. The results show that the microstructure of the chip-extruded alloy is marked by a large number of recrystallized grains and some unrecrystallized grains, which results in high strength but low ductility at temperatures below 320 ℃. With increasing processing temperature up to 360 ℃, entirely recrystallized and equiaxed grains are obtained. Mg-Zn-Y-Zr alloy with low strength but high ductility is obtained compared with the alloy processed at low temperature. At 420℃, coarse and equiaxed grains are formed, which results in the drastic decrease of mechanical properties. With increasing extrusion ratio from 8 to 16, the grain refinement is more obvious and the mechanical properties at room temperature are improved effectively. However, the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength are improved a little with further increasing extrusion ratio.

Recycling of AZ91 Mg alloy through consolidation of machined chips by extrusion and ECAP

AZ91 Mg alloy recycled by a solid state process and equal channel angular pressing(ECAP)exhibited a superior strength. The mechanical properties of AZ91 Mg alloy recycled from machined chips by extrusion at 623 K and ECAP at 573 K and 623 K were compared with those of the reference alloy which was produced from an as-received AZ91 Mg alloy block under the same conditions as the recycled alloy.The recycled specimens show a higher strength at room temperature than the reference alloy.The improvement of the tensile properties is attributed not only to the small grain size,but also to the dispersed oxide contaminants.

Intelligent process expert database of double pulse MIG welding of AI-Si alloy

Based on double pulse welding process characteristics, expert database structure and work flow are designed. Further, multiple outstanding specifications of 1.0 ram-diameter wire are obtained through a large number of experiments. By making non-linear regression analysis on these groups of standards, the relationship between average welding current and other pulse parameters can be found out. Polynomial regression equation is set up for further realization of＂ parameter estimation function of the expert database. Finally, the preliminary developed expert database is tested. The result indicates that the unified adjusting and parameters estimation of the expert database leads to stable welding process and good weld appearance.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ31B magnesium alloy prepared by solid-state recycling process from chips

AZ31B magnesium alloy chips were recycled by three solid-state recycling processes including cold-pressing,hot-pressing followed by hot extrusion and double extrusion.Microstructure and mechanical properties of the recycled specimens and reference specimens were compared.For the recycled specimen by cold-pressing,the grains are refined to a large extent during hot extrusion due to the presence of twins and high density dislocation.The recycled specimens by hot-pressing and double extrusion do not exhibit finer grain than that the recycled specimen by cold-pressing.Consequently,higher ultimate tensile strength of the recycled specimen by hot-pressing and double extrusion is not achieved.For hot pressing process,more compact billet lowers the porosity in recycled material,so elongation to failure of the recycled specimen increases.The recycled specimen fabricated by double extrusion process shows slightly higher elongation than the reference specimen.The second extrusion makes the oxides further crush and distribute more dispersedly,and minimizes porosity,which is responsible for the improved ductility.

Recycling high density tungsten alloy powder by oxidization reduction process

The processes of directly recycling high density tungsten alloy by oxidation reduction technique were investigated. The particle size of recycled powder is fine, and the shape of powder particle is regular when the final reduction temperature is 850?℃, in which the average size of the tungsten alloy particles reduced is about 1.5?μm. The average size of the alloy particles increase to 6?μm and 9?μm when increasing the reduction temperature to 900?℃ and 950?℃, respectively. However, if the reduction temperature is higher than 900?℃, the surface feature of powder is complicated. Increasing reduction temperature from 900?℃ to 950?℃, the content of oxygen of recycled powder decreases from 0.231?4% to 0.170?0%, and powder particles grow slightly. It has been also found that the chemical composition of the recycled alloy powder is the same as the initial powder.

Current efficiency of recycling aluminum from aluminum scraps by electrolysis

Extracting aluminum from aluminum alloys in AlCl3-NaCl molten salts was investigated. Al coating was deposited on the copper cathode by the method of direct current deposition using aluminum alloys as anode. The purity of the deposited aluminum is about 99.7% with the energy consumption of 3-9 kW＆#183;h per kg Al, and the current efficiency is 44%-64% when the deposition process is carried out under 100 mA/cm2 for 4 h at 170 ＆#176;C. The effects of experimental parameters, such as molar ratio of AlCl3 to NaCl, cathodic current density and electrolysis time, on the current efficiency were studied. The molar ratio of AlCl3 to NaCl has little effect on the current efficiency, and the increase of deposition temperature is beneficial to the increase of current efficiency. However, the increase of current density or electrolysis time results in the decrease of current efficiency. The decrease of current efficiency is mainly related to the formation of dendritic or powder deposit of aluminum which is easy to fall into the electrolyte.

Microstructure evolution of hot pressed AZ91D alloy chips reheated to semi-solid state

AZ91D magnesium alloy chips, which were directly collected on the spot of machining process, were recycled to prepare billet via hot pressing for semi-solid processing. The semi-solid microstructure evolution of the billet during reheating was investigated. The results indicate that there are three stages during reheating to semi-solid state: the dissolution of Mg17Al12 and diffusion of Al into α-Mg matrix, the melting of the region with high content of solute and formation of isolated solid particles, and spheroidization and growth of solid particles. Meanwhile, a number of entrapped liquid droplets form within solid particles. In addition, the number and size of entrapped liquid droplets rely on the holding time in the semi-solid temperature range. With increasing isothermal holding time, the solid fraction remains unchanged when the solid-liquid system reaches the dynamic equilibrium at last, while the solid particles become more globular and the average size of solid particles increases owing to the decreasing of interfacial energy and the effect of interfacial tension.

Combined effects of ultrasonic vibration and manganese on Fe-containing inter-metallic compounds and mechanical properties of Al-17Si alloy with 3wt.%Fe

The research studied the combined effects of ultrasonic vibration （USV） and manganese on the Fe-containing inter-metallic compounds and mechanical properties of AI-17Si-3Fe-2Cu-1Ni （wt.%） alloys. The results showed that, without USV, the alloys with 0.4wt.% Mn or 0.8wt.% Mn both contain a large amount of coarse plate-like δ-AI4（Fe,Mn）Si2 phase and long needle-like β-A15（Fe,Mn）Si phase. When the Mn content changes from 0.4wt.% to 0.8wt.% in the alloys, the amount and the length of needle-like β-AI5（Fe,Mn）Si phase decrease and the plate-like δ-A14（Fe,Mn）Si2 phase becomes much coarser. After USV treatment, the Fe- containing compounds in the alloys are refined and exist mainly as δ-AI4（Fe,Mn）Si2 particles with an average grain size of about 20μm, and only a small amount of β-AI5（Fe,Mn）Si phase remains. With USV treatment, the ultimate tensile strengths （UTS） of the alloys containing 0.4wt.%Mn and 0.8wt.%Mn at room temperature are 253 MPa and 262 MPa, respectively, and the ultimate tensile strengths at 350 ℃ are 129 MPa and 135 MPa, respectively. It is considered that the modified morphology and uniform distribution of the Fe-containing inter-metallic compounds, which are caused by the USV process, are the main reasons for the increase in the tensile strength of these two alloys.

Influences of pulse electric current treatment on solidification microstructures and mechanical properties of Al-Si piston alloys

Three kinds of AI-Si piston alloys were prepared and subjected to pulse electric current treatment （PECT） at different pouring temperatures. Some aspects of the solidification microstructures were examined including the morphology and the distribution of the matrix and the secondary phases by using of optical microscopy （OM）, SEM and EDS methods. Results indicate that PECT can refine the grains of α-AI in the alloys as effectively as chemical modification by sodium salt. The processing parameters of PECT on the multi-component AI-Si alloys were then optimized through the testing of tensile strength, elongation and microhardness of the prepared alloys. A new theory was put forward to explain the mechanism of PECT.

Investigation on corrosion behaviour of asextruded near eutectic Al-Si-Mg alloy by neutral salt spray test

In order to provide scientific basis for advanced applications of near eutectic Al-Si-Mg alloys as architectural profiles, a comparative study on the corrosion resistance of an as-extruded near eutectic AI-Si-Mg alloy and AA6063 aluminium alloy was carried out by means of neutral salt spray test. The corroded surfaces of the alloys were examined with optical microscopy and scanning electron microscope （SEM）. Results show that the corrosion type of these two alloys is pitting corrosion. The number of corrosion pits in the AA6063 aluminium alloy is more than that in the near eutectic AI-Si-Mg alloy, but the pits in the latter alloy are much larger and deeper. Because the relatively low polarization resistance of the near eutectic alloy leads to poorer repassivation ability, autocatalytic acidification occurs once a pit forms. Thus, occluded corrosion cells are developed in this alloy.

Effect of strontium and solidification rate on eutectic grain structure in an Al-13 wt% Si alloy

The influence of strontium addition and solidification rate on eutectic grain structure in a near-eutectic Al-Si alloy was investigated. The characteristic temperature of eutectic nucleation (TN),minimum temperature prior to recalescence (TM),and the growth temperature (TG) during cooling were determined by quantitative thermal analysis. All characteristic temperatures were found to decrease continuously with increasing Sr content and solidification rate. Microstructural analysis also revealed that the eutectic grain size decreases with increasing Sr content and solidi fication rate. Such eutectic grain refinement is attributed to the increased actual under-cooling ahead of the liquid/solid interface during solidification.

An Efficient Process for Recycling Nd-Fe-B Sludge as High-Performance Sintered Magnets

Given the increasing concern regarding the global decline in rare earth reserves and the environmental burden from current wet-process recycling techniques,it is urgent to develop an efficient recycling technique for leftover sludge from the manufacturing process of neodymium-iron-boron(Nd-Fe-B)sintered magnets.In the present study,centerless grinding sludge from the Nd-Fe-B sintered magnet machining process was selected as the starting material.The sludge was subjected to a reduction-diffusion(RD)process in order to synthesize recycled neodymium magnet(Nd2Fe14B)powder;during this process,most of the valuable elements,including neodymium(Nd),praseodymium(Pr),gadolinium(Gd),dysprosium(Dy),holmium(Ho),and cobalt(Co),were recovered simultaneously.Calcium chloride(CaCl2)powder with a lower melting point was introduced into the RD process to reduce recycling cost and improve recycling efficiency.The mechanism of the reactions was investigated systematically by adjusting the reaction temperature and calcium/sludge weight ratio.It was found that single-phase Nd2Fe14B particles with good crystallinity were obtained when the calcium weight ratio(calcium/sludge)and reaction temperature were 40 wt% and 1050℃,respectively.The recovered Nd2Fe14B particles were blended with 37.7 wt% Nd4Fe14B powder to fabricate Nd-Fe-B sintered magnets with a remanence of 12.1 kG(1 G=1×10^-4T),and a coercivity of 14.6 kOe(1 Oe=79.6A·m^-1),resulting in an energy product of 34.5 MGOe.This recycling route promises a great advantage in recycling efficiency as well as in cost.

Liquid-solid phase separation and recycling of permalloys in liquid Mg

Liquid-solid phase separation of permalloy in liquid Mg results in selectively dissolved Ni,which provides a unique opportunity for the design of immiscible heterogeneous composite materials and the comprehensive metal recycling of permalloy scraps.A guideline of the alloy design for the liquid-solid phase separation system was proposed.The effects of immersion temperature and time on the Ni extraction were studied by an experimental method.The diffusion behavior of Ni from the permalloy to liquid Mg and the microstructure evolution in the permalloy during the liquid-solid phase separation were discussed.The results show that the Ni in the permalloy was quickly extracted into the liquid Mg and formed an Mg-Ni alloy,while the other components such as Fe,Co,and Mn were held back in the phase-separated permalloy.The phase-separated permalloy with the solidified Mg exhibits a three-dimensional(3D)Fe/Mg bicontinuous composite structure.Furthermore,simple treatments were carried out for the reaction products such as the Fe/Mg bicontinuous composite and the Mg-Ni alloy,and the recycling strategies for functionalization of these treated reaction products were provided.A 3D porous Fe-based alloy with electromagnetic interference(EMI)shielding efficiency of 52 dB can be obtained if Mg is removed from the Fe/Mg bicontinuous composite.Instead of the complete separation of pure Ni from the recycled Mg-Ni alloy by vacuum distilling,the Mg-Ni alloy can be enriched into Mg2 Ni as an initial hydrogen storage material.

Investigation on Mechanical Properties and Anodic Film of Pb-Sb-Ce Alloy

The mechanical properties of Pb-Sb-Ce alloy and traditional Pb-Sb alloy were studied, and the anodic corrosion layers formed on two alloys at 0.9 V for 2 h in 4.5 mol·L -1 sulfuric acid solution were investigated using A.C impedance. The results show that the strength of Pb-Sb-Ce alloy slightly decreases, while the tenacity behavior increases rapidly, which is helpful for the succeeding manufacture process for grid. The anodic corrosion layer of Pb-Sb-Ce alloy has better conductivity than that of traditional Pb-Sb alloy. It is shown that rare earth element can inhibit the development of Pb(Ⅱ), and then can compensate for the effect of premature capacity loss for the low Sb content.