Abnormal mechanical property evolution induced by heat treatment for a semi-solid forming hypereutectic Al-Fe base alloy

In the present study, Al-5.5Fe-4Cu-2Zn-0.4Mg-0.5Mn al oy samples were prepared by electromagnetic stirring and semi-solid forming processing, and then the effects of T6 and T1 heat treatments on the microstructures and mechanical properties of the semi-solid forming samples were investigated. The results indicate that after semi-solid forming, the mechanical properties of the sample improved significantly compared to that of the merely electromagnetically stirred sample. The grains of semi-solid forming alloy became almost fine equiaxed; big long strip-shaped Al3 Fe phases became short rod-like morphology and distributed uniformly in the matrix. However, the mechanical properties of the T6-treated semi-solid forming sample decreased significantly instead of increasing and, with solution temperature rising, the tensile strength of the al oy decreased further. The results of EDS show that after high temperature solid-solution treatment, the Cu element in the semi-solid forming alloy sample is mainly concentrated at the boundaries of the Al3 Fe phases instead of being dissolved in the matrix. At the same time, the grains of the semi-solid forming sample grew slightly after solid-solution treatment. Therefore, the growth of the grains and the accumulation of Cu element at Al3 Fe phase boundaries during solution treatment of the semi-solid forming alloy were the main reasons for the mechanical properties decreasing after T6 treatment. The mechanical properties of the alloy were improved after T1 heat treatment due to aging strengthening phase being precipitated in the matrix.

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...

Preparation of AZ91D Slurries for Semi-Solid Forming Using Al8 ( Mn, Fe) 5 Precipitates

During the solidification of the AZ91D-alloys, the Al8(Mn, Fe)5 phase is generally precipitated in the melt in advance of the precipitation of the primary α-Mg. The basic principle for manufacturing AZ91D-alloy slurries for semi solid forming is to use the Al8(Mn, Fe)5 precipitates as the heterogeneous nucleation sites for primary α-Mg phases. Microscopic analysis for the location of the Al8(Mn, Fe)5 precipitate explains that the Al8(Mn, Fe)5 precipitate is the effective heterogeneous nucleation site for the primary α-Mg phase. It was also observed that increase of the Mn content in the melt and the cooling rate below to the solid/liquid two-phase region resulted in smaller and more globular primary α-Mg due to the increase of heterogeneous nucleation sites. It was found that the average α-Mg diameter grew as a function of t0.278, where t is the holding time at the solid/liquid two-phase region. This would be attributed to the Ostwald type ripening and coalescence between primary α-Mg phases. The cooling rate below to the solid/liquid two-phase region, Mn content in AZ91D alloy, and the holding time and temperature affected on the quality of slurry.

Theory and application research development of semi-solid forming in China

In order to adapt to the trend of "energy saving and emission reduction" and impel the practical application of semi-solid processing (SSP) in China, the progress and application of semi-solid theory in China have been reviewed briefly and systematically.It was emphasized on basic theories, such as formation of globular grains, rheology, high pressure solidification and plastic deformation and applications, such as material design, preparation of semi-solid billets (slurries), thixoforming and application status, which are based on the advantage of semi-solid processing.The results show that the gap of SSP between world level and China exists, especially in application technologies, including market recognition, application fields exploiting, developing of billets (slurries) preparation technologies with low cost and special equipments.The prospect of semi-solid forming development path in China is presented.And we hope that application of SSP has great new breakthrough and development and China will be changed from a large metal processing country to a powerful metal processing country.

Microstructure and forming mechanism of metals subjected to ultrasonic vibration plastic forming: A mini review

Compared with traditional plastic forming,ultrasonic vibration plastic forming has the advantages of reducing the forming force and improving the surface quality of the workpiece.This technology has a very broad application prospect in industrial manufactur-ing.Researchers have conducted extensive research on the ultrasonic vibration plastic forming of metals and laid a deep foundation for the development of this field.In this review,metals were classified according to their crystal structures.The effects of ultrasonic vibration on the microstructure of face-centered cubic,body-centered cubic,and hexagonal close-packed metals during plastic forming and the mech-anism underlying ultrasonic vibration forming were reviewed.The main challenges and future research direction of the ultrasonic vibra-tion plastic forming of metals were also discussed.

MPI/OpenMP-Based Parallel Solver for Imprint Forming Simulation

In this research,we present the pure open multi-processing(OpenMP),pure message passing interface(MPI),and hybrid MPI/OpenMP parallel solvers within the dynamic explicit central difference algorithm for the coining process to address the challenge of capturing fine relief features of approximately 50 microns.Achieving such precision demands the utilization of at least 7 million tetrahedron elements,surpassing the capabilities of traditional serial programs previously developed.To mitigate data races when calculating internal forces,intermediate arrays are introduced within the OpenMP directive.This helps ensure proper synchronization and avoid conflicts during parallel execution.Additionally,in the MPI implementation,the coins are partitioned into the desired number of regions.This division allows for efficient distribution of computational tasks across multiple processes.Numerical simulation examples are conducted to compare the three solvers with serial programs,evaluating correctness,acceleration ratio,and parallel efficiency.The results reveal a relative error of approximately 0.3%in forming force among the parallel and serial solvers,while the predicted insufficient material zones align with experimental observations.Additionally,speedup ratio and parallel efficiency are assessed for the coining process simulation.The pureMPI parallel solver achieves a maximum acceleration of 9.5 on a single computer(utilizing 12 cores)and the hybrid solver exhibits a speedup ratio of 136 in a cluster(using 6 compute nodes and 12 cores per compute node),showing the strong scalability of the hybrid MPI/OpenMP programming model.This approach effectively meets the simulation requirements for commemorative coins with intricate relief patterns.

Analysis and Optimization of the Electrohydraulic Forming Process of Sinusoidal Corrugation Tubes

Aluminum alloy thin-walled structures are widely used in the automotive industry due to their advantages related to light weight and crashworthiness.They can be produced at room temperature by the electrohydraulic forming process.In the present study,the influence of the related parameters on the forming quality of a 6063 aluminum alloy sinusoidal corrugation tube has been assessed.In particular,the orthogonal experimental design(OED)and central composite design(CCD)methods have been used.Through the range analysis and variance analysis of the experimental data,the influence degree of wire diameter(WD)and discharge energy(DE)on the forming quality was determined.Multiple regression analysis was performed using the response surface methodology.A prediction model for the attaching-die state coefficient was established accordingly.The following optimal arrangement of parameters was obtained(WD=0.759 mm,DE=2.926 kJ).The attaching-die state coefficient reached the peak value of 0.001.Better optimized wire diameter and discharge energy for a better attaching-die state could be screened by CCD compared with OED.The response surface method in CCD was more suitable for the design and optimization of the considered process parameters.

Method of fabricating artificial rock specimens based on extrusion free forming(EFF)3D printing

Three-dimensional(3D)printing technology has been widely used to create artificial rock samples in rock mechanics.While 3D printing can create complex fractures,the material still lacks sufficient similarity to natural rock.Extrusion free forming(EFF)is a 3D printing technique that uses clay as the printing material and cures the specimens through high-temperature sintering.In this study,we attempted to use the EFF technology to fabricate artificial rock specimens.The results show the physico-mechanical properties of the specimens are significantly affected by the sintering temperature,while the nozzle diameter and layer thickness also have a certain impact.The specimens are primarily composed of SiO_(2),with mineral compositions similar to that of natural rocks.The density,uniaxial compressive strength(UCS),elastic modulus,and tensile strength of the printed specimens fall in the range of 1.65–2.54 g/cm3,16.46–50.49 MPa,2.17–13.35 GPa,and 0.82–17.18 MPa,respectively.It is capable of simulating different types of rocks,especially mudstone,sandstone,limestone,and gneiss.However,the simulation of hard rocks with UCS exceeding 50 MPa still requires validation.

A Hybrid Optimization Approach of Single Point Incremental Sheet Forming of AISI 316L Stainless Steel Using Grey Relation Analysis Coupled with Principal Component Analysiss

We investigated the parametric optimization on incremental sheet forming of stainless steel using Grey Relational Analysis(GRA) coupled with Principal Component Analysis(PCA). AISI 316L stainless steel sheets were used to develop double wall angle pyramid with aid of tungsten carbide tool. GRA coupled with PCA was used to plan the experiment conditions. Control factors such as Tool Diameter(TD), Step Depth(SD), Bottom Wall Angle(BWA), Feed Rate(FR) and Spindle Speed(SS) on Top Wall Angle(TWA) and Top Wall Angle Surface Roughness(TWASR) have been studied. Wall angle increases with increasing tool diameter due to large contact area between tool and workpiece. As the step depth, feed rate and spindle speed increase,TWASR decreases with increasing tool diameter. As the step depth increasing, the hydrostatic stress is raised causing severe cracks in the deformed surface. Hence it was concluded that the proposed hybrid method was suitable for optimizing the factors and response.

Research on semi-solid thixoforming process of AZ91D magnesium alloy brackets for generators in JH70-type motorbikes

The investment on semi-solid die casting processes of AZ91D magnesium alloy brackets for generators in JH70-type motorbikes is introduced. The processes of low super-heat and cooling slope for the preparation of billets with non-dendritic microstructure, the remelting of billets for thixoforming and the parameters in the process of semi-sohd thixoforming have been researched. The results show that primary billets with non-dendritical structures can be prepared by forming great amount of nuclei in melt via the process of low super heat. By optimizing the remelting process through adjusting the current of the induced equipment, semi-solid billets with a structure of spherical grains were obtained from the primary billets with non-dendritical structure. The range of 580℃ to 583℃ is the proper remelting temperatures by which the billets have an expected thixotropy and can be transferred to a die-casting machine. The optimized parameters of semi-solid forming in a die-casting machine are as follows： the area of the ingate in the die is 383.5 mm^2, the speed of the pierce of the machine 5 m/s, the shot pressure of the pierce 75 MPa, and the maintenance pressure of the pierce 350 MPa. The castings of brackets for supporting generators in JH70 type motorbikes were formed by adopting the optimized processes and parameters mentioned above.

Structure of miniature components from steel produced by forming in semi-solid state

To obtain new unconventional structures with specific mechanical and physical properties is possible not only by the development of new types of materials but also by treatment of conventional materials using unconventional innovative technological procedures.One of these technologies is the forming in semi-solid state involving rapid solidification of miniature components from steels.Production of such components is complicated by a number of technical problems.To explain phenomena of the process and structure development,the production of miniature components from the tool steel X210Cr12 difficult to form was experimentally tested.The structure of this originally ledeburite steel consisted of 95 % of metastable austenite after the treatment.Metastable austenite was located particularly in globular and polygonal grains while the remaining interspaces were filled by lamellar network.The detected high stability of extremely high fraction of metastable austenite was tested under different conditions of thermal exposition and mechanical loading.

Study on Semi-solid Rheocasting Forming for Magnesium Alloy by Mechanical Stirring

In this paper the effect of pouring temperature of magnesium melt, preheating temperature of the barrel of screw mixer and shear rate on the solidified microstructures of semi-solid slurry was investigated by mechanical stirring method. The appropriate processing parameters of slurry preparation were obtained. The mold filling for thin walled casting was examined. Results indicated that the solid volume fraction of non-dendritic structure increased with decrease in pouring temperature of magnesium melt and the barrel preheating temperature of screw mixer. Also the grain size of primary α phase was reduced. Furthermore, the solid volume fraction of semi-solid non-dendritic structure decreased with the increase in shear rate. In the same time, grain size of primary α phase slightly changed. The fine-round granular solidified structure with 30～50 μm of prepared AZ91D magnesium semi-solid slurry was presented. Finally, it is successful to fabricate 1.0 mm extremely thin walled casting with clear contour and good soundness.

Prediction and Verifcation of Forming Limit Diagrams Based on a Modifed Shear Failure Criterion

The forming limit diagram plays an important role in predicting the forming limit of sheet metals.Previous studies have shown that,the method to construct the forming limit diagram based on instability theory of the original shear failure criterion is efective and simple.The original shear instability criterion can accurately predict the left area of the forming limit diagram but not the right area.In this study,in order to improve the accuracy of the original shear failure criterion,a modifed shear failure criterion was proposed based on in-depth analysis of the original shear failure criterion.The detailed improvement strategies of the shear failure criterion and the complete calculation process are given.Based on the modifed shear failure criterion and diferent constitutive equations,the theoretical forming limit of TRIP780 steel and 5754O aluminum alloy sheet metals are calculated.By comparing the theoretical and experimental results,it is shown that proposed modifed shear failure criterion can predict the right area of forming limit more reasonably than the original shear failure criterion.The efect of the pre-strain and constitutive equation on the forming limits are also analyzed in depth.The modifed shear failure criterion proposed in this study provides an alternative and reliable method to predict forming limit of sheet metals.

Local Buckling-Induced Forming Method to Produce Metal Bellows

A novel buckling-induced forming method is proposed to produce metal bellows.The tube billet is firstly treated by local heating and cooling,and the axial loading is applied on both ends of the tube,then the buckling occurs at the designated position and forms a convolution.In this paper,a forming apparatus is designed and developed to produce both discontinuous and continuous bellows of 304 stainless steel,and their characteristics are discussed respectively.Furthermore,the influences of process parameters and geometric parameters on the final convolution profile are deeply studied based on FEM analysis.The results suggest that the steel bellows fabricated by the presented buckling-induced forming method have a uniform shape and no obvious reduction of wall thickness.Meanwhile,the forming force required in the process is quite small.

Design and analysis of longitudinal–flexural hybrid transducer for ultrasonic peen forming

Ultrasonic peen forming(UPF)is an emerging technology that exhibits great superiority in both its flexible operating modes and the deep residual stress that it produces compared with conventional plastic forming methods.Although ultrasonic transducers with longitudinal vibration have been widely studied,they have seldom been incorporated into UPF devices for machining in confined spaces.To meet the requirements of this type of machining,a sandwich-type piezoelectric transducer with coupled longitudinal-flexural vibrational modes is proposed.The basic structure of the transducer is designed to obtain large vibrational amplitudes in both modes.Experimental results obtained with a prototype device demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed transducer.The measured vibrational amplitude for the working face in the longitudinal vibrational mode is 1.0μm,and electrical matching increases this amplitude by 40%.The flexural vibration characteristics of the same prototype transducer are also tested and are found to be slightly smaller than those of longitudinal mode.The resultant working strokes of the UPF impact pins reach 1.7 mm and 1.2 mm in the longitudinal and flexural modes,respectively.The forming capability of the prototype has been evaluated via 15-min machining on standard 2024-T351 aluminum plates.After UPF,an improved surface morphology with lower surface roughness is obtained.The aluminum plate test piece has an apparent upper deformation with an arc height of 0.64 mm.The measured peak value of the compressive residual stress is around 250 MPa,appearing at a depth of 100μm.The proposed longitudinal-flexural hybrid transducer thus provides a high-performance tool for plate peen forming in confined spaces.

Numerical investigation of film forming characteristics and mass transfer enhancement in horizontal polycondensation kettle

The process of producing high viscosity polyester by transesterification polycondensation needs to adjust the operating conditions and equipment structure of pre-polycondensation kettle and final polycondensation kettle to realize process intensification.In view of this,the fluid volume function method of computational fluid dynamics numerical simulation was used to investigate the film formation and surface renewal characteristics of horizontal polycondensation kettle under different operating conditions,including viscosity,rotating speed and liquid height.The results show that the viscosity and rotating speed were positively correlated with the film area and surface renewal in the pre-polycondensation stage.However,increasing the viscosity by several orders of magnitude in the final polycondensation kettle,the larger the film area and film thickness,but the overall surface renewal of the disk decreased.Therefore,a hexagonal hole disk is designed.By comparison,it is found that the film is more uniform,the surface update frequency is higher,and the power consumption can be reduced by more than 20%.

Recent research and development on forming for large magnesium alloy components with high mechanical properties

The lightweight of high-end equipment relies on high mechanical properties magnesium(Mg) alloy structural components, because it is the best way to improve equipment service performance and reduce energy consumption. This article summarizes the current progress and characteristics of large-scale high-performance Mg alloy components by analyzing the strengthening-toughening mechanisms, characteristics of plastic forming, and the preparation of large high mechanical properties forging blanks. Due to the lack of breakthroughs in the key technologies for forming large-scale Mg alloy components, their uniformity of mechanical properties and consistency are poor, the forming accuracy of components is low, and the production cost is high, which limit their engineering application and restrict the lightweight level of high-end equipment. In view of the above problems, the forming trends and research directions of large-scale and high mechanical properties Mg alloy components are proposed in this paper. It can provide help for the breakthrough of the key technology of large-scale Mg alloy components with high mechanical properties and expand the application of Mg alloy in high-end products.

To improve robustness of mechanical properties of semi-solid cast A356 alloy using taguchi design method

Mechanical properties of semi-solid casting are dependent on multiple processing parameters,and improper processing parameters will not only reduce mean data but also increase variations.The present study investigated the impact of parameters in slurry preparation and heat treatment on the yield strength and ductility of T6 heat-treated A356 Al-Si alloy using rapid slurry forming(RSF)semi-solid casting.The focus was primarily on the robustness of mechanical properties based on Taguchi design method.By analyzing signal-to-noise ratio and minimum value calculated from-3S,the optimum slurry preparation parameters and heat treatment parameters were determined to be no quench,enthalpy exchange material(EEM)temperature of 140℃,EEM-to-melt ratio of 6mass%,stirring time of 18 s,solution heat treated at 520℃ for 2 h,and ageing heat treated at 190℃ for 6 h.In a small batch validation,the-3S yield strength and-3S elongation reach 256.1 MPa and 5.03% respectively,showing a satisfactory robustness.The hardness and microstructure of heat-treated samples with the best and worst properties were characterized to gain insight into the underlying mechanisms affecting the mean value and variations of mechanical properties.

Assessment of the Drafting Quality of Request Forms Submitted to the Malaria and Parasitology Units at the Institut Pasteur de Cote d’Ivoire

Biological tests provide information on the medical analysis requested by both the patient and the prescriber. It is a communication link between the prescriber and the laboratory staff. The lack of some information on request forms not only affects the drafting quality of the test and patient care, but could also make thousands of data produced by healthcare centers unusable. The aim of this study was to assess the drafting quality of request forms submitted to the Malaria and Parasitology Units at the Institut Pasteur de Côte d’Ivoire. Methods: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study to assess the drafting quality of request forms of various prescribers received at the Institut Pasteur de Côte d’Ivoire. This study was conducted at the Malaria and Parasitology Units, department of Parasitology and Mycology (Institut Pasteur de Côte d’Ivoire), from 6th December 2020 to 6th December 2021. The information on each request forms was recorded on a data collection form designed for this purpose. Each data collection form corresponds to a request forms and each test to a patient. Results: Out of a total of 1990 request forms received, the patient’s age and sex were missing on 18% and 26.8% of the tests respectively. More than half (51.80%) of request forms did not indicate the patient’s place of residence. Clinical information was not provided on 45.90% of the tests. Prescribers omitting their signatures were 51%, stamps were 50.3% and contacts were 71.2%. Only 5.4% of request forms were of good drafting quality. Providing all the required information on the forms could facilitate the use and analysis of data and samples.

Boulder-induced form roughness and skin shear stresses in a gravel-bed stream

Boulder spacing in mountain rivers and near-wake flow zones within the boulder array is very useful for fish habitat and growth of aquatic organisms.The present study aims to investigate how the boulder array and spacing influence the near-bed flow structures in a gravel-bed stream.Boulders are staggered over a gravel-bed stream with three different inter-boulder spacing namely(a)large(b)medium and(c)small spacing.An acoustic Doppler velocimeter was used for flow measurements in a rectangular channel and the results were compared with those acquired from numerical simulation.The time-averaged velocity profiles at the near-wake flow zones of boulders experience maximum flow retardation which is an outcome of the boulder-induced form roughness.The ratio of velocity differences associated to form and skin roughness and its positive magnitude reveals the dominance of form roughness closest to the boulders.Form roughness computed is 1.75 to 2 times higher than the skin roughness at the near-wake flow region.In particular,the collective immobile boulders placed at different inter-boulder spacings developed high and low bed shear stresses closest to the boulders.The low bed shear stresses characterised by a secondary peak developed at the trough location of the boulders is attributed to the skin shear stress.Further,the spatial averaging of time-averaged flow quantities gives additional impetus to present an improved illustration of fluid shear stresses.The formation of form-induced shear stress is estimated to be 17%to 23%of doubleaveraged Reynolds shear stress and partially compensates for the damping of time-averaged Reynolds shear stress in the interfacial sub-layer.The quadrant analysis of spatial velocity fluctuations depicts that the form-induced shear stresses are dominant in the interfacial sub-layer and have no significance above the gravel-bed surface.