Preheating-assisted solid-state friction stir repair of Al-Mg-Si alloy plate at different rotational speeds

Additive friction stir deposition(AFSD)is a novel structural repair and manufacturing technology has become a research hotspot at home and abroad in the past five years.In this work,the microstructural evolution and mechanical performance of the Al-Mg-Si alloy plate repaired by the preheating-assisted AFSD process were investigated.To evaluate the tool rotation speed and substrate preheating for repair quality,the AFSD technique was used to additively repair 5 mm depth blind holes on 6061 aluminum alloy substrates.The results showed that preheat-assisted AFSD repair significantly improved joint bonding and joint strength compared to the control non-preheat substrate condition.Moreover,increasing rotation speed was also beneficial to improve the metallurgical bonding of the interface and avoid volume defects.Under preheating conditions,the UTS and elongation were positively correlated with rotation speed.Under the process parameters of preheated substrate and tool rotation speed of 1000 r/min,defect-free specimens could be obtained accompanied by tensile fracture occurring in the substrate rather than the repaired zone.The UTS and elongation reached the maximum values of 164.2MPa and 13.4%,which are equivalent to 99.4%and 140%of the heated substrate,respectively.

Additive friction stir deposition of AZ31B magnesium alloy

The current work explored additive friction stir deposition of AZ31B magnesium alloy with the aid of MELD?technology.AZ31B magnesium bar stock was fed through a hollow friction stir tool rotating at constant velocity of 400 rpm and translating at linear velocity varied from 4.2 to 6.3 mm/s.A single wall consisting of five layers with each layer of 140×40×1 mm^(3)dimensions was deposited under each processing condition.Microstructure,phase,and crystallographic texture evolutions as a function of additive friction stir deposition parameters were studied with the aid of scanning electron microscopy including electron back scatter diffraction and X-ray diffraction.Both feed material and additively produced samples consisted of theα-Mg phase.The additively produced samples exhibited a refined grain structure compared to the feed material.The feed material appeared to have a weak basal texture,while the additively produced samples experienced a strengthening of this basal texture.The additively produced samples showed a marginally higher hardness compared to the feed material.The current work provided a pathway for solid state additive manufacturing of Mg suitable for structural applications such as automotive components and consumable biomedical implants.

Mechanical strength and corrosion resistance of Al-additive friction stir welded AZ31B joints

Compared to other structural alloys,magnesium alloys have a relatively poor corrosion resistance and low mechanical strength,which can be further deteriorated when these alloys are subjected to joining processes using the existing joining methods.Herein,we propose for the first time an additive friction stir-welding(AFSW)using fine Al powder as an additive to improve the mechanical strength as well as corrosion resistance of AZ31B weld joints.AFSW is a solid-state welding method of forming a high-Al AZ31B joint via an in-situ reaction between pure Al powders filled in a machined groove and the AZ31B matrix.To optimize the process parameters,AFSW was performed under different rotational and transverse speeds,and number of passes,using tools with a square or screw pin.In particular,to fabricate a weld zone,where the Al was homogenously dispersed,the effects of the groove shape were investigated using three types of grooves:surface one-line groove,surface-symmetric grooves,and inserted symmetric grooves.The homogenous and defect-less AFS-welded AZ31B joint was successfully fabricated with the following optimal parameters:1400 rpm,25 mm/min,four passes,inserted symmetric grooves,and the tool with a square pin.The AFSW fully dissolved the additive Al intoα-Mg and in-situ precipitated Mg_(17)Al_(12)particles,which was confirmed via scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscope,and X-ray diffraction analyses.The microhardness,joint efficiency,and elongation at the fracture point of the AFS-welded AZ31B joint were 80 HV,101%,and 8.9%,respectively.These values are higher than those obtained for the FS-welded AZ31 joint in previous studies.The corrosion resistance of the AFS-welded AZ31B joint,evaluated via hydrogen evolution measurements and potentiodynamic polarization tests,was enhanced to 55%relative to the FS-welded AZ31B joint.

Study on Tribology Performance of Different Lubricant Additives under Atmospheric Pressure and High Vacuum Conditions

By using PAO-10 as the base oil, the tribological behavior of 11 additives under high vacuum condition was evaluated. By adopting some surface analytical instruments, such as scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), the tribological mechanisms of these additives were studied. In air, O_2 can react with metal to form metal oxide that can protect the surfaces of rubbing pair during the tribological tests. According to the theory of the competitive adsorption, the function of some active elements is weakened. In a vacuum environment, the additives contributed more to the lubrication performance. The sulfur-containing additives could react with Fe to produce Fe Sx and "M—C" bonds("M" represents metal). They both had contributions to the lubrication. As for the phosphorus-containing additives, they only generated the phosphates during the tests. When the sulfur and phosphorus-containing additives were applied, the generated phosphates and Fe Sx had the primary contribution to the lubrication performance during the tests.

A comparative study of machine learning in predicting the mechanical properties of the deposited AA6061 alloys via additive friction stir deposition

Additive friction stir deposition(AFSD)provides strong flexibility and better performance in component design,which is controlled by the process parameters.It is an essential and difficult task to tune those parameters.The recent exploration of machine learning(ML)exhibits great potential to obtain a suitable balance between productivity and set parameters.In this study,ML techniques,including support vector machine(SVM),random forest(RF)and artificial neural network(ANN),are applied to predict the mechanical properties of the AFSD-based AA6061 deposition.Expect for the stable parameters(temperature,force and torque)in situ monitored by the self-developed process-aware kit during the AFSD process and the other factors(rotation speed,traverse speed,feed rate and layer thickness)are also set as input variables.The output variables are microhardness and ultimate tensile strength(UTS).Prediction results show that the ANN model performs the best prediction accuracy with the highest R2(0.9998)and the lowest mean absolute error(MAE,0.0050)and root mean square error(RMSE,0.0063).Furthermore,analysis suggests that the feed rate(24.8%/24.1%)and layer thickness(25.6%/26.6%)indicate a higher contribution that affects the mechanical properties.

Friction stir based welding and processing technologies-processes,parameters,microstructures and applications:A review

Friction stir welding [FSW） has achieved remarkable success in the joining and processing of aluminium alloys and other softer structural alloys. Conventional FSW, however, has not been entirely successful in the joining, processing and manufacturing of different desired materials essential to meet the sophis- ticated green globe requirements. Through the efforts of improving the process and transferring the existing friction stir knowledge base to other advanced applications, several friction stir based daughter technologies have emerged over the timeline, A few among these technologies are well developed while others are under the process of emergence. Beginning with a broad classification of the scattered fric- tions stir based technologies into two categories, welding and processing, it appears now time to know, compile and review these to enable their rapid access for reference and academia. In this review article, the friction stir based technologies classified under the categol^J of welding are those applied for join- ing of materials while the remnant are labeled as friction stir processing （FSP） technologies. This review article presents an overview of four general aspects of both the developed and the developing friction stir based technologies, their associated process parameters, metallurgical features of their products and their feasibility and application to various materials. The lesser known and emerging technologies have been emphasized.

Radial Additive Friction Stir Repairing of Mechanical Hole Out of Dimension Tolerance of AZ31 Magnesium Alloy Assisted by Stationary Shoulder:Process and Mechanical Properties

Radial additive friction stir repairing(R-AFSR)assisted by stationary shoulder was put forward in the present study,which can be employed to repair the mechanical hole out of dimension tolerance of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheet.The results show that the stationary shoulder has sealed-barrier,heat-sink and extra-forging effects.The heat-sink effect improves the microstructure uniformity along the stir zone(SZ)thickness and the surface appearance of repaired hole,and the sealedbarrier and extra-forging effects eliminate the super-fine grain band in the SZ.Therefore,these three effects improve the formation quality of repaired region,thereby enhancing the mechanical properties of repaired mechanical hole compared with conventional R-AFSR.The tensile and compressive shear strengths of the repaired hole by stationary shoulder R-AFSR both increase first and then decrease when the rotating speed changes from 1200 to 1800 rpm,and these maximum values,respectively,reach 190±3 MPa and 64.5±2 MPa at 1400 rpm.The addition of stationary shoulder during R-AFSR can obtain a higher-quality repaired hole and broaden the repairing process window.

Enhancing the mechanical performance of Al-Zn-Mg alloy builds fabricated via underwater friction stir additive manufacturing and post-processing aging

Our previous studies have demonstrated that underwater friction stir additive manufacturing(FSAM)could effectively suppress the macroscale softening of the fabricated Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy build from top to bottom.However,the accompanying local softening problem,i.e.,a low-hardness region at the bottom of each stir zone,becomes prominent.In this study,an Al-Zn-Mg alloy with low quench sensitivity was used to fabricate a multilayered build via underwater FSAM.In-process water cooling could effectively solve the macroscale and local softening problems in the FSAM of the Al-Zn-Mg alloy and improve the mechanical performance of the build.The microhardness and ultimate tensile strength(UTS)of the water-cooled build in as-fabricated and aged states were more uniform along the building direction and higher than those of their counterparts.After 90 days of natural aging,the UTS of the water-cooled build in building and traveling directions reached 398 and 400 MPa,respectively,slightly higher than that of the base metal(392 MPa).The enhancement in the mechanical performance of the water-cooled build was attributed to a high degree of supersaturation and age-strengthening ability because of a high cooling rate of the underwater FSAM process and low quench sensitivity of the base metal.

Chemical Composition Effect on Microstructures and Mechanical Properties in Friction Stir Additive Manufacturing

The variation of chemical compositions can affect the mechanical property of friction stir additive manufacturing(FSAM).Quantitative characterization of the relationship between the chemical composition and the mechanical property of FSAM components is key to control the quality of FSAM components.The effect of chemical composition on the mechanical property of 6 xxx series aluminum alloy FSAM joint was studied by both experimental and numerical methods.A moving heat source model was established to simulate the heat transfer in FSAM process.The average grain size was calculated by Monte Carlo model,and the precipitate evolution model was used to calculate the hardness and constitutive stress-strain relationship.The validity of the numerical model was verified by experiments.Results indicate that the hardness and yield stress of 6 xxx series aluminum alloy FSAW joint can be enhanced by increasing silicon or magnesium contents.By increasing the content of magnesium(silicon),the volume fraction and the mean radius of MgSi can be increased when the content of silicon(magnesium) is excessive.With the decrease in volume fraction,the average grain size can be increased.By changing the weight percentage of magnesium and silicon in different layers,the hardness and yield stress along the build direction can be controlled.

Grain growth stagnation at 525℃by nanoparticles in a solid-state additively manufactured Mg-4Y-3RE alloy

Ultrafine-grained(UFG)materials exhibit high strengths due to grain boundary strengthening,but grains can grow rapidly if post heat treatment is required,making it challenging to achieve grain boundary and precipitation strengthening simultaneously.Grain growth stagnation at 525℃(0.87 T_(m),melting point)was observed in a Mg-4Y-3RE alloy fabricated by additive friction stir deposition(AFSD),a novel solidstate additive manufacturing technology.The AFSD processing produced a UFG microstructure and two major second phases,Mg_(41)RE_(5)and nanoparticles containing Y and O.After solid solution treatment(SST)at 525℃for 72 h,no noticeable grain growth occurred.While Mg_(41)RE_(5)particles dissolved into the matrix within 4 h of SST,the nanoparticles remained stable and unaltered.The observed grain growth stagnation is attributed to Zener pinning by these thermally stable nanoparticles.These new findings offer a novel approach to designing UFG materials with exceptional thermal stability for high-temperature applications.

3D printing of fine-grained aluminum alloys through extrusion-based additive manufacturing:Microstructure and property characterization

Additive manufacturing(AM)has the potential to transform manufacturing by enabling previously un-thinkable products,digital inventory and delivery,and distributed manufacturing.Here we presented an extrusion-based metal AM method(refer to“SoftTouch”depositionin thefiledpatent)thatis suitablefor making the metal feedstock flowable prior to the deposition through dynamic recrystallization induced grain refinement at elevated temperatures.The flowable metal was extruded out of the printer head like a paste for building dense metal parts with fine equiaxed grains and wrought mechanical properties.Off-the-shelf metal rods were used as feedstock and the printing process was completed in an open-air environment,avoiding pricy powders and costly inert or vacuum conditions.The resulting multi-layer de-posited 6061 aluminum alloys yield strength and ductility comparable to wrought 6061 aluminum alloys after the same T6 heat treatment.The extrusion-based metal AM method can also be advanced as green manufacturing technologies for fabricating novel alloys and composites,adding novel features to existing parts,repairing damaged metal parts,and welding advanced metals for supporting sustainable manufac-turing,in addition to being developed into a cost-effective manufacturing process for the fabrication of dense metal of complex structural forms.

Study of tribological properties of ecofriendly lubricant additives derived from leaf-surface waxes

Three kinds of leaf-surface waxes are extracted from the leaves of Euonymus japonicas(EJ), Sabina chinensis(SC) and Sabina procumbens(SP) to be tested for their tribological properties. Lubricating oils containing these 3 waxes respectively were analyzed via gas chromatography-mass spectrometer(GC-MS) for their chemical constituents and tested with friction and wear testing machine and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry(TOF-SIMS) for the tribological mechanism. It was found that all the tested cuticular wax can reduce the coefficient of friction, and the waxes of SC and EJ can reduce the wear width. The contents of acid and esters in the wax can improve the friction reducing property by forming tribochemical films on the metal, but result in the increase of wear due to corrosion. The increase of ions containing C, H, O and the decline of aluminum positive ions on the worn surface,demonstrate that the tribofilms derived from long chain compounds play a role of protecting the metal surfaces.

Microencapsulated paraffin as a tribological additive for advanced polymeric coatings

Numerous tribological applications,wherein the use of liquid lubricants is infeasible,require adequate dry lubrication.Despite the use of polymers as an effective solution for dry sliding tribological applications,their poor wear resistance prevents the utilization in harsh industrial environment.Different methods are typically implemented to tackle the poor wear performance of polymers,however sacrificing some of their mechanical/tribological properties.Herein,we discussed the introduction of a novel additive,namely microencapsulated phase change material(MPCM)into an advanced polymeric coating.Specifically,paraffin was encapsulated into melamine-based resin,and the capsules were dispersed in an aromatic thermosetting co-polyester(ATSP)coating.We found that the MPCM-filled composite exhibited a unique tribological behavior,manifested as“zero wear”,and a super-low coefficient of friction(COF)of 0.05.The developed composite outperformed the state-of-the-art polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE)-filled coatings,under the experimental conditions examined herein.