Effect of deep surface rolling on microstructure and properties of AZ91 magnesium alloy

A solution-treated AZ91 bulk material was deep-surface-rolled at room temperature to investigate the effect of deep surface rolling on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the alloy. Microhardness and microstructure along the depth of the treated surface layer were characterized. The results show that the affected layer was up to 2.0 mm thick and consisted of three sublayers: a severe deformation layer with thickness of about 400 μm from the topmost surface, a medium deformation layer with thickness of around 600 μm and a small deformation layer up to 1000 μm thick. In addition to grain refinement in the deformation layer, strain-induced precipitation of β phase (Mg17Al12) was observed, particularly in the severe and medium deformation layers. It is believed that the cooperative effects of grain refinement, strain hardening and precipitation strengthening led to the significant increase in hardness of the AZ91 alloy after the deep surface rolling.

Simultaneously improving mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of as-cast AZ91 Mg alloy by ultrasonic surface rolling

Mg alloy casting parts commonly suffer from drawbacks of low surface properties,high susceptibility to corrosion,unsatisfactory absolute strength,and poor ductility,which seriously limit their wide application.Here,a surface nanocrystallization technique,i.e.,ultrasonic surface rolling(USR),was applied on an as-cast AZ91 Mg alloy sheet to improve its corrosion resistance and mechanical properties.The USR produces double smooth surfaces with Ra 0.036μm and gradient nanostructured surface layers on the sheet.Due to this special microstructure modification,the USR sheet exhibits 55%and 50%improvements in yield strength and ultimate tensile strength without visibly sacrificed ductility comparable to its untreated counterpart,as well as a 24%improvement in surface hardness.The USR sheet also shows good corrosion resistance in 3.5wt%NaCl aqueous solution.The corrosion current density of the USR sheet reduces by 63%after immersion for 1 h,and 25%after immersion for 24 h compared to that of the untreated counterpart.The enhanced strength and hardness are mainly related to the gradient nanostructure.The improved corrosion resistance is mainly ascribed to the decreased surface roughness,nanostructured surface,and residual compressive stress.The present results state that USR is an effective and attractive method to improve the multiple properties of Mg alloy cast-ing parts,and thus can be used as an additional and last working procedure to achieve high-performance Mg alloy casting parts.

Influence of Ultrasonic Surface Rolling Process and Shot Peening on Fretting Fatigue Performance of Ti-6Al-4V

At present,there are many studies on the residual stress field and plastic strain field introduced by surface strengthening,which can well hinder the initiation of early fatigue cracks and delay the propagation of fatigue cracks.However,there are few studies on the effects of these key factors on fretting wear.In the paper,shot-peening(SP)and ultrasonic surface rolling process(USRP)were performed on Ti-6Al-4V plate specimens.The surface hardness and residual stresses of the material were tested by vickers indenter and X-ray diffraction residual stress analyzer.Microhardness were measured by HXD-1000MC/CD micro Vickers hardness tester.The effects of different surface strengthening on its fretting fatigue properties were verified by fretting fatigue experiments.The fretting fatigue fracture surface and wear morphology of the specimens were studied and analyzed by means of microscopic observation,and the mechanism of improving fretting fatigue life by surface strengthening process was further explained.After USRP treatment,the surface roughness of Ti-6Al-4V is significantly improved.In addition,the microhardness of the specimen after SP reaches the maximum at 80μm from the surface,which is about 123%higher than that of the AsR specimen.After USRP,it reaches the maximum at 150μm from the surface,which is about 128%higher than that of AsR specimen.It is also found that the residual compressive stress of the specimens treated by USRP and SP increases first and then decreases with the depth direction,and the residual stress reaches the maximum on the sub surface.The USRP specimen reaches the maximum value at 0.18 mm,about−550 MPa,while the SP specimen reaches the maximum value at 0.1 mm,about−380 MPa.The fretting fatigue life of Ti-6Al-4V effectively improved after USRP and SP.The surface integrity of specimens after USRP is the best,which has deeper residual compressive stress layer and more refined grain.In this paper,a fretting wear device is designed to carry out fretting fatigue experiments on specimens with different surface strengthening.

Microstructure and texture evolution in titanium subjected to friction roll surface processing and subsequent annealing

Commercial purity and high purity titanium sheets were initially strained by a new technique, named as friction roll surface processing （FRSP）. Severe strain was imposed into the surface layer and strain gradient was formed through the thickness of the sheet. The microstructure and texture in as-strained state were investigated by optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction technique On the surface of the sheets, ultra-fine grains were found to have a sharp texture with a preferred orientation strongly related to the FRSP direction. The evolution of microstructure and crystallographic texture of FRSPed samples during recrystallization were also studied by electron back-scattered diffraction （EBSD） technique after being annealed at selected temperatures and time. The results indicated that the preferred orientations resulting from FRSP and annealing in the surface layer were formed during rolling and its recrystallization textures were reduced by FRSP. In addition, the texture evolved stably without change in main components during the annealing.

Effects of asymmetric rolling process on ridging resistance of ultra-purified 17%Cr ferritic stainless steel

In ferritic stainless steels, a significant non-uniform recrystallization orientation and a substantial texture gradient usually occur, which can degrade the ridging resistance of the final sheets. To improve the homogeneity of the recrystallization orientation and reduce the texture gradient in ultra-purified 17%Cr ferritic stainless steel, in this work, we performed conventional and asymmetric rolling processes and conducted macro and micro-texture analyses to investigate texture evolution under different cold-rolling conditions. In the conventional rolling specimens, we observed that the deformation was not uniform in the thickness direction, whereas there was homogeneous shear deformation in the asymmetric rolling specimens as well as the formation of uniform recrystallized grains and random orientation grains in the final annealing sheets. As such, the ridging resistance of the final sheets was significantly improved by employing the asymmetric rolling process. This result indicates with certainty that the texture gradient and orientation inhomogeneity can be attributed to non-uniform deformation, whereas the uniform orientation gradient in the thickness direction is explained by the increased number of shear bands obtained in the asymmetric rolling process.

Non-linear Dynamics of Inlet Film Thickness during Unsteady Rolling Process

The inlet film thickness directly affects film and stress distribution of rolling interfaces. Unsteady factors, such as unsteady back tension, may disturb the inlet film thickness. However, the current models of unsteady inlet film thickness lack unsteady disturbance factors and do not take surface topography into consideration. In this paper, based on the hydrodynamic analysis of inlet zone an unsteady rolling film model which concerns the direction of surface topography is built up. Considering the small fluctuation of inlet angle, absolute reduction, reduction ratio, inlet strip thickness and roll radius as the input variables and the fluctuation of inlet film thickness as the output variable, the non-linear relationship between the input and output is discussed. The discussion results show that there is 180° phase difference between the inlet film thickness and the input variables, such as the fluctuant absolute reduction, the fluctuant reduction ratio and non-uniform inlet strip thickness, but there is no phase difference between unsteady roll radius and the output. The inlet angle, the steady roll radius and the direction of surface topography have significant influence on the fluctuant amplitude of unsteady inlet film thickness. This study proposes an analysis method for unsteady inlet film thickness which takes surface topography and new disturbance factors into consideration.

Thermal Scratch on Surface of SUS430 Stainless Steel Strip in Cold Rolling Process

The thermal scratch significantly influences the surface quality of the stainless steel in cold strip rolling. The thermal scratch has a close relation to the rolling parameters, the rolls surface and the emulsions used in rolling. In order to explain the thermal scratch on the strip surface, the cold roiling process of SUS430 stainless steel strip was investigated in the laboratory. The thermal scratch defect occurs frequently in the second rolling pass （maximum reduction in height is 32.3 ~）, especially on the lower surface of strips. When concentration and temperature of the emulsion are the same, the thermal scratch on the surface o{ the strip is aggravated with increasing the roll surface roughness. With the same roll surface roughness and emulsion concentration, the thermal scratch is obviously more severe at an emulsion temperature of 63 ℃ than 55 ℃. With the same roll surface roughness and emulsion tempera- ture, the thermal scratch is distinctly weaker at the emulsion concentration of 6 % than that of 3 %.

Contribution of ultrasonic surface rolling process to the fatigue properties of TB8 alloy with body-centered cubic structure

The effect of ultrasonic surface rolling process(USRP) as a severe plastic deformation technology was investigated on the evolution of microstructure, residual stress and surface morphology of TB8 alloys with body-centered cubic structure. Stress-controlled rotating-bending fatigue tests indicated increased fatigue strength in USRP samples prepared using different number of passes compared to the base material, which was attributed to the presence of gradient structure surface layers. Five subsequent USRP passes resulted in the highest fatigue strength, due to the optimal surface properties including higher extent of grain refinement, larger compressive residual stresses, "smoother" surface morphology and increased micro-hardness. However, the effect of USRP technology on improving fatigue strength of TB8 alloy was not significant in comparison with that of other titanium alloys(for example, Ti6 Al4 V), which was attributed to the notable surface residual stresses relaxation revealed from measurements on postfatigued USRP samples. Electron backscatter diffraction analysis confirmed that fatigue crack initiation occurred in the larger grains on the surface with high Schmid factor. Small cracks were found to propagate into the core material in a mixed transgranular and intergranular mode. Further analysis indicated that grain growth existed in post-fatigued USRP-treated TB8 samples and that the average geometrically necessary dislocations value reduced after fatigue loading.

Enhanced Surface Mechanical Properties and Microstructure Evolution of Commercial Pure Titanium Under Electropulsing-Assisted Ultrasonic Surface Rolling Process

The effects of electropulsing-assisted ultrasonic surface rolling process on surface mechanical properties andmicrostructure evolution of commercial pure titanium were investigated. It was found that the surface mechanical prop-erties were significantly enhanced compared to traditional ultrasonic surface rolling process （USRP）, leading to smallersurface roughness and smoother morphology with fewer cracks and defects. Moreover, surface strengthened layer wasremarkably enhanced with deeper severe plastic deformation layer and higher surface hardness. Remarkable enhancementsof surface mechanical properties may be related to the gradient refined microstructure, the enhanced severe plasticdeformation layer and the accelerated formation of sub-boundaries and twins induced by coupling effects of USRP andelectropulsing. The primary intrinsic reasons for these improvements may be attributed to the thermal and athermal effectscaused by electropulsing treatment, which would accelerate dislocation mobility and atom diffusion.

Active and passive compliant force control of ultrasonic surface rolling process on a curved surface

Ultrasonic surface rolling process(USRP)is one of the effective mechanical surface enhancement techniques.During the USRP,unstable static force will easily do harm to the surface quality.In order to achieve a higher surface quality on the part with a curved surface,an active and passive compliant USRP system has been developed.The compliant USRP tool can produce the natural obedience deformation along the part surface.Force control based on the fuzzy Proportional-integral-derivative(PID)method is then designed to maintain the static force during the USRP.Experiments have been performed on a real aero-engine blade with curved surface.It is proved that the deigned active and passive compliant USRP system can significantly reduce the force variation from 42.2 N to 4.2 N,and achieve a uniform surface quality after processing.

Gradient microstructure,recrystallization and mechanical properties of copper processed by high pressure surface rolling

The microstructure,hardness and tensile properties have been studied in copper processed by high pressure surface rolling(HPSR)both in the as-deformed condition and after subsequent annealing at 150℃.It is found that a gradient structure with significant differences in the scale of microstructural features is formed by HPSR.The deformed microstructure varies from nano-and ultrafine-scale structures with a large fraction of high angle boundaries near the surface to lightly deformed grains at depths of 1-3 mm below the surface.Tensile tests of 1-mm-thick specimens demonstrate that the asdeformed material has a high strength and a low uniform elongation.Annealing at 150℃results in partial recrystallization,which creates new through-thickness gradients.Except for the topmost layer and several bands in the adjacent layer,recrystallization is more pronounced close to the surface.The fraction recrystallized is at least 80%at depths of 60-300μm after annealing for 960 min.The fraction recrystallized in the subsurface decreases with increasing depth,and the deformed layer at depths greater than 500μm re-mains largely non-recrystallized after annealing.This partially recrystallized condition demonstrates an improved combination of strength and ductility.

Analyse of Warm Surface Rolling on the Grooved Steel Axle

Warm surface rolling is a working process between room temperature and re-crystallization temperature.With warm surface rolling of steel grade 45 grooved axle,its fatigue lifespan was measured by the endurance bending test.The influence of surface rolling reduction on the axle fatigue life period was experimentally studied at different surface rolling temperatures.The experimental results show that the fatigue life of the steel axles can be significantly improved by the warm surface rolling process.The optimum rolling reductions for the maximum fatigue life at different warm surface rolling temperatures were explored.The microstructures of the steel axles were analyzed.The surface strength improved by refining grains after the warm surface rolling was calculated by the Hall-Petch model.These research achievements could be also valuable to the relevant works.

Optimization on cooperative feed strategy for radial–axial ring rolling process of Inco718 alloy by RSM and FEM

During radial-axial ring rolling process, cooperative strategy of the radial axial feed is critical for dimensional accuracy and thermo mechanical parameters distribution of the formed ring. In order to improve the comprehensive quality of the ring parts, response surface method （RSM） is employed for the first time to optimize the cooperative feed strategy for radial-axial ring rolling process by combining it with an improved and verified 3D coupled thermo-mechanical finite element model. The feed trajectory is put forward to describe cooperative relationship of the radial- axial feed and three variables are designed based on the feed trajectory. In order to achieve multi- objective optimization, four responses including thermo mechanical parameters distribution and rolling force are proposed. Based on the FEM results, RSM is used to establish a response model to depict the function relationship between the objective response and design variables. Through this approximate model, effects of different variables on ring rolling process are analyzed connect- edly and optimal feed strategy is obtained by resorting to the optimal chart specific to a constraint condition.

Strain-induced formation of a gradient nanostructured surface layer on an ultrahigh strength bearing steel

In the present work, an ultrahigh strength bearing steel（AISI 52100） was subjected to surface mechanical rolling treatment（SMRT） at room temperature. Microstructural observations showed that martensitic laths, twins and cementite particles in the initial microstructure underwent distinct plastic strains and were gradually refined into nanostructures. Consequently, a gradient nanostructured（GNS） surface layer with a mean grain size of -24 nm at the top surface was obtained on the bearing steel, resulting in an increment of -20% in the surface hardness. Analyses based on microstructural evolution, phase constitution and in-depth hardness distribution revealed a mechanically induced formation mechanism of the GNS surface layer. The multiple surface severe plastic deformation under fine lubrication and cooling during SMRT contributed to the formation of a thick hardened surface layer on the bearing steel.

Enhanced Fatigue Property of Welded S355J2W Steel by Forming a Gradient Nanostructured Surface Layer

Welded joints are usually characterized by microstructural and compositional inhomogeneities, which may significantly degrade their fatigue properties and result in unpredictable failures. The present work demonstrates a novel and simple method to effectively optimize the microstructure in the surface layer and promote the fatigue properties of welded specimens. By a recently developed approach—surface mechanical rolling treatment(SMRT), a gradient nanostructured surface layer is formed on welded S355 J2 W steel specimens. The mean grain size is refined to nanometer scale, and the hardness is significantly enhanced in the SMRT surface layer. Independent of the initially inhomogeneous microstructure and hardness distributions, the microstructure and hardness distributions in the surface layers are comparable on different zones of a welded specimen after SMRT with the same procedure. Consequently, fatigue property of the SMRT specimens is significantly enhanced relative to that of the as-welded specimens within the high cycle fatigue regime.

Deformation mechanism and in-situ TEM compression behavior of TB8βtitanium alloy with gradient structure

Severe plastic deformation is known to induce grain refinement and gradient structure on metals’surfaces and improve their mechanical properties.However,the fundamental mechanisms behind the grain refinement and micromechanical properties of materials subjected to severe plastic deformation are not still well studied.Here,ultrasonic surface rolling process(USRP)was used to create a gradient microstructure,consisting of amorphous,equiaxed nano-grained,nano-laminated,ultrafine laminated and ultrafine grained structure on the surface of TB8βtitanium alloy.High energy and strain drove element co-segregation on sample surface leading to an amorphous structure during USRP processing.In situ transmission electron microscope compression tests were performed in the submicron sized pillar extracted from gradient structure and coarse grain,in order to reveal the micromechanics behavior of different grain morphologies.The ultrafine grained layer exhibited the lowest yield stress in comparison with single crystal and amorphous-nanocrystalline layers;the ultrafine grained layer and single crystal had an excellent strain hardening rate.The discrepancy among the grain sizes and activated dislocation sources led to the above mentioned different properties.Dislocation activities were observed in both compression test and microstructure evolution of USRP-treated TB8 alloy.An evolution of dislocation tangles and dislocation walls into low angle grain boundaries and subsequent high angle grain boundaries caused the grain refinement,where twinning could not be found and no phase transformation occurred.