Mixed grain structure and mechanical property anisotropy of AZ40 magnesium alloy bar with diameter of 160 mm

The mixed grain structure and mechanical property anisotropy of AZ40 magnesium alloy bar with a diameter of 160 mm manufactured by ＂multi-direction forging（MDF） ＋ extrusion ＋ online cooling＂ technique were investigated by optical microscopy（OM）, scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, X-ray diffraction macro-texture measurement and room temperature（RT） tensile test. The results show that mixed grain structure is caused by the micro-segregation of Al in semi-continuous casting ingot. Homogenization of（380 °C, 8 h） ＋（410 °C, 12 h） cannot totally eliminate such micro-segregation. During MDF and extrusion, the dendrite interiors with 3%-4% Al（mass fraction） transform to fine grain zones, yet the dendrite edges with about 6% Al transform to coarse grain zones. XRD macro-textures of the outer, R/2 and center show typical fiber texture characteristics and the intensity of [0001]//Ra D orientation in the outer（11.245） is about twice as big as those in the R/2（6.026） and center（6.979）. The as-extruded AZ40 magnesium alloy bar has high elongation（A） and moderate ultimate tensile strength（Rm） in both extrusion direction（ED） and radius direction（Ra D）, i.e., A of 19%-25% and Rm of 256-264 MPa; however, yield strength（Rp0.2） shows anisotropy and heterogeneity, i.e., 103 MPa in Ra D, 137 MPa in ED-C（the center） and 161 MPa in ED-O（the outer）, which are mainly caused by the texture.（155 °C, 7 h） ＋（170 °C, 24 h） aging has no influence on strength and elongation of AZ40 magnesium bar.

Formation mechanism of basin-like depression defect in electric upsetting process of Ni80A superalloy

A kind of surface instability,basin-like depression defect companied by mixed grain structure at the bottom of large-scale valve during electric upsetting process,would significantly influence the microstructures and mechanical properties of components.In order to analyze the forming process of the basin-like depression defect,a finite element model for the electric upsetting process of Ni80A superalloy was developed using multi-field and multi-scale coupling analysis method.Subsequently,a series of parameters loading path schemes for force and current were designed by varying the initial value,peak value and value level,and their effects on basin-like depression and mixed grain structure were simulated and uncovered.It is concluded that the changes of heating speed and pressurization speed result in the different flow velocities between the inner and outer layers of billet,thus exerting the basin-like depression.Simulation results also indicate that these defects can be optimized through the parameter coordination between force and current.Finally,the validity and reliability of the finite element model were verified by physical experiments in electric upsetting process.