Design of experiment study on hardness variations in friction stir welding of AM60 Mg alloy

Identification of process parameters,their effects and contributions to the outcomes of the system using experimental approach could be a daunting,time consuming,and costly course.Using proper statistical methods,i.e.,Taguchi method,could significantly reduce the number of required experiments and statistical significance of the parameter can be identified.Friction stir welding is one of those welding techniques with many parameters which have different effects on the quality of the welds.In friction stir welding the tool rotational speed(RPM)and transverse speed(mm/min)influence the strength(i.e.,hardness distribution)of the stirred zone.In this study,these two factors are investigated to determine the effect they will have on the hardness in the stirred zone of the friction stir welds and how the two factors are related to one another for as-cast magnesium alloy AM60 with nominal chemical composition of Mg-(5.5-6.5)Al-(0.24-0.6)Mn-0.22Zn-0.1Si.Experimental data was taken at three different tool rotational speeds and three different transverse speeds.The data obtained was then analyzed using a 32 factorial design to find the contribution of these parameters.It was determined that both tool rotational speed and transverse speed possess significant effects on the stir zone hardness.Also,the interactions between the two factors were statistically assessed.

Effect of rare earth elements on the microstructure and property for magnesium alloy AM60B

The effects of rare earth elements on the microstructure and properties ofmagnesium alloy AM60B alloy were studied. Different proportions of rare earth elements were added toAM60B and the tensile tests were carried out under different temperatures. The experimental resultsshow that at room temperature the tensile strength of AM60B can be improved with the addition ofrare earth elements. The ductility of which at room or elevated temperature (120 deg C) can also beimproved, and the ductility is to some extent in proportion with the amount of rare earth elements.The ductility at 120 deg C is better than that at room temperature. The microstructure graphsdemonstrate that appropriate amount of rare earth elements (0.1 percent-0.2 percent, mass fraction)can fine AM60B's grain and improve its ductility.

Equal Channel Angular Deformation (ECAD) of As-Cast AM60 Magnesium Alloy

As-cast AM60 magnesium alloy ingot with grains coarser than those of as-extruded AZ series is more liable to produce cracks under ECAD with severe shear strain. A feasible scheme of equal channel angular deformation (ECAD) for as-cast AM60 magnesium alloy ingot was proposed in this paper. The tests were conducted on Instron machine with hydraulic back-force machine. Through analysing load us displacement curves, the effects of ECAD processing conditions on deformability and microstructure of as-cast magnesium AM60 billets were discussed. During testing, the back-force employment was helpful to keep ECAD processing more stable. And with back-force, it was observed that the number of ECAD passes in different routes could tremendously affect the deformability and microstructure of magnesium specimens. It was concluded that ECAD processing is entirely feasible for as-cast magnesium AM60 alloy under severe shear strain, and back-force employment, multi-passes deformation and lubrication of graphite paper are the factors primarily beneficial to improvement of deformability and refinement of grained structure. This work provides a way to produce magnesium alloy with fine-grained structure directly from casting ingot by ECAD technique.

Section thickness-dependent tensile properties of squeeze cast magnesium alloy AM60

The development of alternative casting processes is essential for the high demand of light weight magnesium components to be used in the automotive industry,which often contain different section thicknesses. Squeeze casting with its inherent advantages has been approved for the capability of minimizing the gas porosity in magnesium alloys.For advanced engineering design of light magnesium automotive applications,it is critical to understand the effect of section thickness on mechanical properties of squeeze cast magnesium alloys.In this study,magnesium alloy AM60 with different section thicknesses of 6,10 and 20 mm squeeze cast under an applied pressure of 30 MPa was investigated.The prepared squeeze cast AM60 specimens were tensile tested at room termperature.The results indicate that the mechanical properties including yield strength(YS),ultimate tensile strength(UTS)and elongation(A)decrease with an increase in section thickness of squeeze cast AM60. The microstructure analysis shows that the improvement in the tensile behavior of squeeze cast AM60 is primarily attributed to the low-gas porosity level and fine grain strucuture which result from the variation of cooling rate of different section thickness.The numerical simulation(Magmasoft)was employed to determine the solidification rates of each step,and the simulated results show that the solidification rate of the alloy decreases with an increase in the section thickness.The computed solidification rates support the experimental observation on grain structural development.

Correlation between Porosity and Fracture Mechanism in High Pressure Die Casting of AM60B Alloy

X-ray tomography was used to characterize the porosity in high pressure die casting of AM60B alloy. In situ tensile deformation was performed to observe the change of porosities and their influences on crack initiation, propagation and subsequent fracture of specimen. Results showed that four types of porosi- ties, including gas-shrinkage pore, gas pore, net-shrinkage and island-shrinkage, could be identified according to the formation mechanism and morphology characterization. During tensile deformation, it was shown that the gas-shrinkage pore and net-shrinkage, rather than gas pore or island-shrinkage, were the main sources for crack initiation. In addition, the crack propagated by interconnecting the po- rosities at the cross section with minimum efficient force bearing area. At these locations where externally solidified crystals （ESCs） were present, the crack would propagate along the ESC boundaries in an inter- granular mode, while at these locations without ESCs, the crack would propagate roughly along the direction perpendicular to the tensile stress in a combination of trans-granular and inter-granular modes.

Characterization of the Grain Structures in Vacuum-Assist HighPressure Die Casting AM60B Alloy

The structures in vacuum-assist high-pressure die casting （HPDC） AM60B alloy were studied by using an optical microscope and a scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive spectrometer. It was found that the HPDC under the vacuum could significantly change the morphology and distribution of the microstructure. For both conventional and vacuum-assist HPDC processes, the externally solidified crystals （ESCs） tended to aggregate in the center along the thickness direction of the castings. Besides, the aggregation was more pronounced, and the number of ESCs decreased, and the ESCs tended to become smaller and more globular, as the distance between the specimen location and runner increased. Compared with the conventional castings, the vacuum-assist HPDC can significantly reduce the size and amount of ESCs, and the ESCs tended to be more globular. For the distribution of ESCs along the thickness of the specimens, the aggregation tendency was more pronounced in vacuum-assist die castings than that in conventional castings. Besides, the distribution of ESCs at different locations was more converged in the vacuum-assist HPDC than that in the conventional HPDC.

Microstructure Characteristics of the Eutectics of Die Cast AM60B Magnesium Alloy

Under the cold-chamber high pressure die casting （HPDC） process, samples were produced with AM60B magnesium alloy to investigate the microstructure characteristics of the eutectics, especially focusing on the constitution, morphology and distribution of the eutectics over cross section of the castings. Attentions were also paid to study the effect of heat treatment on the eutectics in the die castings. Based on experimental analysis using optical microscopy （OM）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and energy-dispersive spectroscopy （EDS）, it was determined that fully divorced eutectics consisting of c^-Mg and l%MglzA112 appeared at the grain boundary of the primary c^-Mg in the as-cast microstructure. Islands and networks of β-Mg17Al12 phase were observed in the central region of the castings, while the β-Mg17Al12 phase revealed a more dispersed and granular morphology on the surface layer. The two phases ratio β/α in the central region of the castings was approximately 10%, which was higher than that on the surface layer. Besides, the defect bands contained a higher percentage of the eutectics than the adjacent regions. After aging treatment （T6）, only α-Mg phase was detected by XRD in the AM60B magnesium alloy, though a small amount of precipitated β-MgITAI12 phase was observed at the grain boundary. In contrast to the microstructure of die cast AZ91D magnesium alloy under the same T0 heat treatment, no discontinuous precipitation of the β-MgITAI12 phase was observed in AMO0B magnesium alloy die castings.