ICP-AES Determination of Germanium in GdSiGe Series Alloys as Magnetic Refrigeration Material

The ICP-AES method for the determination of Ge in GdSiGe series alloys was studied.As the three main elements in the alloys,Gd,Si,and Ge differ greatly from each other in chemical properties,it was difficult to pretreat the sample.Two decomposition methods were compared,and a mixture of HNO3＋HF was used to decompose the sample and the effect of the HF amount on the sample decomposition was examined.The adsorption effect of GdF3 on Ge was discussed.Three GdSiGe series alloy samples were analyzed,and the RSDs of this method were in the range of 0.85%～2.66%.

Influence of Al content on machinability of AZ series Mg alloys

Influence of A1 content on the machinability of AZ series cast Mg alloys was investigated. In order to evaluate the machinability of the alloys, measurements of the cutting forces during turning operations and surface roughness were carried out as well as considering the microstructure and tensile properties. The results show that maximum tensile properties are observed with 2% （mass fraction） A1 addition to Mg. As the A1 content of the alloy increases above 2%, the cutting forces tend to reduce along with the ductility owing to the grain boundary precipitation of intermetallic phase （fl-Mgl7All2）. Cutting forces are able to increase as the cutting speed increases for all the alloys studied, and it＇s attributed to flank built up at the tip of the cutting tool during machining.

Combustion synthesis of fine TiFe series alloy powder by magnesothermic reduction of ilmenite

Fine TiFe series alloy powder was fabricated by magnesothermic reduction of ilmenite as main raw material.Adiabatic temperature of the FeTiO_(3)-Mg system was studied through thermodynamic analysis.Meanwhile,the characteristics of TiFe series alloy were described by XRD,SEM and grading analysis.It is shown that combustion synthesis of the FeTiO_(3)-Mg system can carry out due to its strong exothermic reaction through adiabatic temperature calculate.Ultrafine TiFe series alloy powder after leached for 5 h has reasonable phases and morphology with the particle distribution of 0.2 to 1μm.It indicates that in-situ magnesothermic reduction of natural ilmenite is a feasible way to fabricate ultrafine powder with a relatively lower cost.

Strengthening-toughening of 7xxx series high strength aluminum alloys by heat treatment

The effects of stepped solution heat treatments on the dissolution of soluble remnant constituents and mechanical properties of 7055 aluminum alloy were investigated. It was shown that a suitable pretreatment at lower temperature can enable complete dissolution of the constituent particles in 7055 alloy without overheating by subsequent high temperature solution treatment. This in turn increased the tensile strength and fracture toughness of 7055 alloy to 805 MPa and 41.5 MPa·m 1/2 respectively, with approximately 9% tensile elongation. The near solvus pre precipitation following after high temperature solution treatment was also studied on 7055 aluminum alloy. The effect of the pre precipitation on the microstructure, age hardening and stress corrosion cracking of 7055 alloy was investigated. The optical and transimission electron microscopy observation show that the near solvus pre precipitation can be limited to grain boundary and enhance the discontinuity of grain boundary precipitates in the subsequent ageing. The stress corrosion cracking resistance of aged 7055 alloy can be improved via the pre precipitation with non deteriorated strength and plasticity.

A CALPHAD thermodynamic model for multicomponent alloys under pressure and its application in pressurized solidified Al-Si-Mg alloys

High pressure technology has been utilized as an important means to regulate phase structure and improve the properties/performance of alloys.The CALPHAD approach based on accurate databases has great advantages in efficient alloy design.However,the application of CALPHAD in high pressure field is hindered by the lack of reliable thermodynamic model/database for multicomponent alloys under pressure.In this paper,a phenomenologically thermodynamic model for multicomponent alloys under pressure is first developed by separating the contribution into two parts,one is at atmosphere pressure and the other is caused by an increase in pressure,and then successfully applied to establish the pressure-dependent thermodynamic database of ternary Al-Si-Mg system.The calculated phase equilibria/thermodynamic properties of pressure dependence in related alloys are in good agreement with the limited experimental data in the literature,validating the reliability of the obtained thermodynamic database.After that,a CALPHAD design framework for pressurized solidified alloys is proposed by integrating the present pressure-dependent thermodynamic model/database,CALPHAD-type calculations/simulations,and previously developed high-throughput calculation platform Malac-Distmas.Such a framework is finally applied to predict the pressurized solidification and high pressure heat treatment behaviors in different Al-Si-Mg alloys.The predicted microstructure,phase transitions and phase equilibria after pressurized solidification and high pressure heat treatment are consistent with the experimental data.Furthermore,the insights into effect of pressure on the thermodynamic essence of alloys are gained,which may definitely facilitate the advancement of alloy design under high pressure technology.

Influence of aluminum content on machinability of AS series cast magnesium alloys

The influence of Al content on machinability of AS series cast Mg alloys was studied. The assessment of machinability of Mg alloys was performed by measuring the cutting forces and surface roughness. The microstructure and the tensile properties were also studied. The results reveal that cutting forces are increased with the increase of the Al content. Surface roughness and mechanical properties are the highest for AS91 Mg alloy. It is assumed that the main mechanism, which has an influence on the mechanical properties, is the presence of intermetallic phases(Mg2Si and Mg17Al12). Cutting forces increase with the increase of the cutting speed in machining of all Mg alloys. These measured data are in accordance with the mechanical properties of the machined alloys.

Microstructure-based analysis of fatigue behaviour of Al-Si-Mg alloy

The effects of microstructural characteristics on the fatigue behavior in Al-Si-Mg alloy were investigated. The dislocation substructures of Al-Si-Mg alloy were observed by transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. Dislocation evolution process of α（Al） matrix with [011] orientation of Al-Si-Mg alloy specimens was observed during fatigue process under different stress amplitudes and cycles. The results indicate that dislocation structure is closely dependent on stress amplitudes, and the density of dislocation in failure specimens increases with increasing stress amplitudes. The results show that Mg2Si and secondary silicon phase could have a strong hindrance effect on the movement of dislocations during the fatigue process. The fatigue behavior is strongly dependent on the microstructure of material.

Hot deformation behavior of a Sr-modified Al-Si-Mg alloy:Constitutive model and processing maps

Isothermal compression experiments were conducted to study the hot deformation behaviors of a Sr-modified Al-Si-Mg alloy in the temperature range of 300-420°C and strain rate range of 0.01-10 s-1.A physically-based model was developed to accurately predict the flow stress.Meanwhile,processing maps were established to optimize hot working parameters.It is found that decreasing the strain rate or increasing the deformation temperature reduces the flow stress.The high activation energy is closely related to the pinning of dislocations from Si-containing dispersoids.Moreover,the deformed grains and the Si-containing dispersoids in the matrix are elongated perpendicular to the compression direction,and incomplete dynamic recrystallization(DRX)is discovered on the elongated boundaries in domain with peak efficiency.The flow instability is mainly attributed to the flow localization,brittle fracture of eutectic Si phase,and formation of adiabatic shear band.The optimum hot working window is 380-420°C and 0.03-0.28 s-1.

Simulation of α-Al grain formation in high vacuum die-casting Al-Si-Mg alloys with multi-component quantitative cellular automaton method

Al-Si-Mg alloys are the most commonly used material in high vacuum die-casting(HVDC),in which the morphology and distribution ofα-Al grains have important effect on mechanical properties.A multi-component quantitative cellular automaton(CA)model was developed to simulate the microstructure and microsegregation of HVDC Al-Si-Mg alloys with different Si contents(7%and 10%)and cooling rates during solidification.The grain number and average grain size with electron backscatter diffraction(EBSD)analysis were used to verify the simulation.The relationship between grain size and nucleation order as well as nuclei density was investigated and discussed.It is found that the growth of grains will be restrained in the location with higher nuclei density.The influence of composition and cooling rate on the solute transport reveals that for AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy the concentration of solute Mg in liquid is higher at the beginning of eutectic solidification.The comparison between simulation and experiment results shows that externally solidified crystals(ESCs)have a significant effect for samples with high cooling rate and narrow solidification interval.

Crystallographic Characteristic of Intermetallic Compounds in Al-Si-Mg Casting Alloys Using Electron Backscatter Diffraction

The Al-Si-Mg alloy which can be strengthened by heat treatment is widely applied to the key components of aerospace and aeronautics. Iron-rich intermetallic compounds are well known to be strongly influential on mechanical properties in Al-Si-Mg alloys. But intermetallic compounds in cast Al-Si-Mg alloy intermetallics are often misidentified in previous metallurgical studies. It was described as many different compounds, such as AlFeSi, Al8Fe2Si, Al5（Fe, Mn）3Si2 and so on. For the purpose of solving this problem, the intermetallic compounds in cast Al-Si alloys containing 0.5% Mg were investigated in this study. The iron-rich compounds in Al-Si-Mg casting alloys were characterized by optical microscope（OM）, scanning electron microscope（SEM）, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer（EDS）, electron backscatter diffraction（EBSD） and X-ray powder diffraction（XRD）. The electron backscatter diffraction patterns were used to assess the crystallographic characteristics of intermetallic compounds. The compound which contains Fe/Mg-rich particles with coarse morphologies was Al8FeMg3Si6 in the alloy by using EBSD. The compound belongs to hexagonal system, space group P6_2m, with the lattice parameter a=0.662 nm, c=0.792 nm. The β-phase is indexed as tetragonal Al3FeSi2, space group I4/mcm, a=0.607 nm and c=0.950 nm. The XRD data indicate that Al8FeMg3Si6 and Al3FeSi2 are present in the microstructure of Al-7Si-Mg alloy, which confirms the identification result of EBSD. The present study identified the iron-rich compound in Al-Si-Mg alloy, which provides a reliable method to identify the intermetallic compounds in short time in Al-Si-Mg alloy. Study results are helpful for identification of complex compounds in alloys.

Microstructural evolution during unsteady-state horizontal solidification of Al-Si-Mg(356) alloy

The increasing demand for reducing vehicle weight in the automotive and aerospace industries has raised the need to develop improved structural aluminum-based alloys. Thus, horizontal solidification experiment with the Al-7%Si-0.3%Mg（mass fraction） alloy was carried out. A water-cooled horizontal directional solidification device was developed and used. Microstructural characterization was carried out using traditional techniques of metallography, optical microscopy and SEM microscopy. The Thermo-Calc software was used to generate the solidification path of the investigated alloy with addition of 0.17% Fe（mass fraction）. The effects of the thermal parameters such as the growth rate（VL）, cooling rate（TC） and solidification local time（tSL） on the formation of the macrostructure and on the dendritic microstructure evolution were evaluated. A columnar to equiaxed transition（CET） was found for VL and TC values from 0.82 to 0.98 mm/s and from 1.71 to 2.55 ℃/s, respectively. The microstructure was characterized by the measurement of the primary and secondary dendrite arm spacings（λ1 and λ2, respectively）. Experimental laws of λ1 =f（VL, TC） and λ2 =f（tSL） were proposed. It is observed that the interdendritic region is composed of the following eutectic mixture： a（Al）＋Si＋p-Al8 Mg3 Fe Si6＋q-Mg2 Si.

Semi-solid Forming of a Damper Housing with Dendritic and Non-dendritic Al-Si-Mg Alloy

A motorcycle component of damper housing was made by semi-solid forming process. This was used to investigate the effect of microstructures of feedstock on the formability of semisolid process. The soundness and microstructures of casting parts made by dendritic and non-dendritic feedstock were investigated. Separating of liquid phase was found in the casting produced by dendritic feedstock, which might result in defects of porosity, while uniform microstructures were found in the casting produced by no...

Mg和Cu含量对Al-Si-Mg系合金组织和性能的影响

采用光学显微镜、扫描电子显微镜和拉伸试验机研究了Mg、Cu含量变化对AlSi-Mg系合金T6态组织与性能的影响。结果表明:随着Mg含量的增加,合金的二次枝晶臂间距减小,Mg_2Si强化相增多,起到固溶强化的作用。随着Cu含量的增加,共晶Si由片状逐渐转变成细小弥散分布的球状,且大小不一; Al_2Cu强化相所形成的铝基固溶体对合金起到了固溶强化作用。当Mg的质量分数为0. 5%～0. 6%,Cu的质量分数为0. 3%～0. 5%时,Al-Si-MgCu系合金具有相对较好的力学性能,其抗拉强度达到350. 9 MPa,屈服强度达到304. 4 MPa,断后伸长率为6. 96%,断裂特征为典型韧窝断口的塑性断裂。

Centrifugal casting processes of manufacturing in situ functionally gradient composite materials of Al-19Si-5Mg alloy

Cylindrical components of in situ functionally gradient composite materials of Al-19Si-5Mg alloy were manufactured by centrifugal casting. Microstructure characteristics of the manufactured components were observed and the effects of the used process factors on these characteristics were analyzed. The results of observations shows that, in thickness, the components possess microstructures accumulating lots of Mg2Si particles and a portion of primary silicon particles in the inner layer, a little MgzSi and primary silicon particles in the outer layer, and without any Mg2Si and primary silicon particle in the middle layer. The results of the analysis indicate that the rotation rate of centrifugal casting, mould temperature, and melt pouring temperature have evidently affected the accumulation of the second phase particles. Also, the higher the centrifugal rotation rate, mould temperature, and melt pouring temperature are, the more evident in the inner layer the degree of accumulation of Mg2Si and primary silicon particles is.

Quality index and hot tearing susceptibility of Al-7Si-0.35Mg-xCu alloys

The effects of Cu addition（0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, and 3%, mass fraction） on the quality index（Qi） and hot tearing susceptibility（HTS） of A356 alloy were investigated. According to the results, Cu addition up to 1.5% increases the Qi by almost 10%, which seems to be due to its solid solution strengthening and dispersion hardening effect of Cu-rich Al2Cu and AlMgCuSi compounds. However, further addition of Cu（up to 3%） decreases the Qi by almost 12%, which is likely due to the reduction of tensile strength and elongation caused by increased volume fraction of brittle Cu-rich intermetallics and microporosities in the microstructure. It is also found that Cu increases the HTS of A356 alloy measured by constrained rod casting method. According to the thermal analysis results, Cu widens the solidification range of the alloy, which in turn, decreases its fluidity and increases the time period during which the mushy-state alloy is exposed to the hot tearing susceptible zone. SEM examination of the hot tear surfaces in high-Cu alloys also demonstrates their rough nature and the occurrence of interdendritic/intergranular microcracks as convincing evidences for the initiation of hot tears in the late stages of solidification in which there is not enough time for crack healing.

A comparative study on corrosion of Mg-Al-Si alloys

Corrosion behavior of various Mg-Al-Si alloys(AS11,AS21,AS41,AS61and AS91series),cast under the same coolingconditions and controlled alloying composition,was investigated systematically.Optical microscopy and scanning electronmicroscopy were used for microstructural examinations.The corrosion behavior was evaluated by immersion tests andpotentiodynamic polarization measurements in3.5%NaCl solution.The results from both immersion tests and the potentiodynamicpolarization measurements showed that marginal improvement in corrosion resistance was observed with2.0%Al(mass fraction)containing alloy(AS21)whereas Al addition above2.0%(AS41,AS61and AS91)deteriorated the corrosion resistance which wasattributed toβphase,acting as cathode,and the interruption of continuity of the oxide film on the surface of the alloys owing tocoarsenedβand Mg2Si phases.

Comparative study on corrosion behaviors of Mg-Al-Zn alloys

A comparative study on corrosion behaviors of various Mg-Al-Zn alloys(AZ21,AZ41,AZ61 and AZ91 series,cast under same cooling conditions and controlled alloying composition)was carried out.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and X-ray diffraction(XRD)were used for microstructural examinations.The corrosion behaviors were evaluated by immersion tests and potentiodynamic polarization measurements in 3.5%NaCl solution.The results showed that the influence of Al addition on corrosion resistance was more pronounced up to 4%(i.e.AZ41)above which its influence was at less extent.The deterioration of the corrosion resistance of the alloys,at higher Al contents,was attributed to the amount and morphology ofβ-Mg17Al12 intermetallics and the interruption of continuity of the oxide film on the surface of the alloys owing to coarsenedβintermetallics.

The Stretch, Limit and Path Forward for Particle Reinforced Metal Matrix Composites of 7075 Al-Alloys

Al-based metal matrix composites [MMCs] have been the research interest of a wide spectrum of material scientists throughout the world for some over two decades now. The present paper has chosen one alloy system namely the 7xxx series and from an extensive literature review concluded that since the beginning of the new millennium nothing note worthy has been added to the knowledge already gained in the last quarter of the last century except confirm the earlier findings that MMCs if properly fabricated by choosing the processing route and with appropriate size and volume fraction of dispersoids can improve most of the mechanical, corrosion and wear resistant properties of the base alloy. The author’s own research activities using this alloy system for making MMCs that include attempts to improve upon the properties by making composites, ageing and also secondary processing have been included. An attempt has been made to establish the stretch to which improvement is possible in the alloy system by making composites and trying all other routes known for meaningful improvement in properties. Further, the way forward for such particulate composites has been drawn to realise the material scientists’ dream of seeing such MMCs as engineering components. For this, the areas which now need research include mass production of composites, focus on its machining, joining, processing as also reduction in the size of dispersoids are some of the areas that have been identified and discussed in the paper.

Effect of microelements on microstructures and properties of Al-1·2Mg-1·3Si-0·6Cu-0·3Mn alloy

The effects of impurity element of Fe and microelements of Zn, Cr and Ti on the constituents, dispersoids, grain size, mechanical properties and formability of Al-1.3Mg-1.2Si-0.6Cu-0.3Mn alloy were investigated in the present work by analyzing microstructures, phase composition, mechanical tests. The results indicated that with the increase of Fe content, the insoluble constituents increased, and the mechanical properties and r15 of alloy sheets debased, which can be recovered by the addition of microelements Zn, Cr and Ti. Al-1.3Mg-1.2Si-0.6Cu-0.3Mn alloy sheets in the T4 temper are difficult to strengthen with paint-bake treatment in automobile factory.

7000系高强铝合金微观组织结构对应力腐蚀行为和机制影响的研究进展

7000系(Al-Zn-Mg-Cu)高强铝合金是铝合金中强度最高的系列之一,应力腐蚀开裂(SCC)是影响其服役安全稳定性的关键因素。综述了应力腐蚀开裂的阳极溶解机制和氢致开裂(HIC)机制,总结了7000系铝合金中的组织结构对合金SCC行为及机制的影响;从合金化学成分、热处理、预应变、表面处理等方面对SCC敏感性的影响出发,论述了不同组织结构对SCC行为的影响。提出了降低7000系高强铝合金SCC敏感性的重点研究方向:通过优化合金元素、使用新型的热处理工艺和表面处理技术等方法合理调控合金的微观组织结构,进而延长合金的使用寿命,使材料受到更好地保护。