Microstructural evolution and deformation mechanisms of superplastic aluminium alloys:A review

Aluminium alloy is one of the earliest and most widely used superplastic materials.The objective of this work is to review the scientific advances in superplastic Al alloys.Particularly,the emphasis is placed on the microstructural evolution and deformation mechanisms of Al alloys during superplastic deformation.The evolution of grain structure,texture,secondary phase,and cavities during superplastic flow in typical superplastic Al alloys is discussed in detail.The quantitative evaluation of different deformation mechanisms based on the focus ion beam(FIB)-assisted surface study provides new insights into the superplasticity of Al alloys.The main features,such as grain boundary sliding,intragranular dislocation slip,and diffusion creep can be observed intuitively and analyzed quantitatively.This study provides some reference for the research of superplastic deformation mechanism and the development of superplastic Al alloys.

Superplasticity of fine-grained Mg-10Li alloy prepared by severe plastic deformation and understanding its deformation mechanisms

The superplastic behavior and associated deformation mechanisms of a fine-grained Mg-10.1 Li-0.8Al-0.6Zn alloy(LAZ1011)with a grain size of 3.2μm,primarily composed of the BCCβphase and a small amount of the HCPαphase,were examined in a temperature range of 473 K to 623 K.The microstructural refinement of this alloy was achieved by employing high-ratio differential speed rolling.The best superplasticity was achieved at 523 K and at strain rates of 10^(-4)-5×10^(-4)s^(-1),where tensile elongations of 550±600%were obtained.During the heating and holding stage of the tensile samples prior to tensile loading,a significant increase in grain size was observed at temperatures above 573 K.Therefore,it was important to consider this effect when analyzing and understanding the superplastic deformation behavior and mechanisms.In the investigated strain rate range,the superplastic flow at low strain rates was governed by lattice diffusion-controlled grain boundary sliding,while at high strain rates,lattice diffusion-controlled dislocation climb creep was the rate-controlling deformation mechanism.It was concluded that solute drag creep is unlikely to occur.During the late stages of deformation at 523 K,it was observed that grain boundary sliding led to the agglomeration of theαphase,resulting in significant strain hardening.Deformation mechanism maps were constructed forβ-Mg-Li alloys in the form of 2D and 3D formats as a function of strain rate,stress,temperature,and grain size,using the constitutive equations for various deformation mechanisms derived based on the data of the current tests.

Effect of superplastic deformation on the bonding property of 00Cr25Ni7Mo3N duplex stainless steel

The superplastic deformation diffusion bonding of 00Cr25Ni7Mo3N duplex stainless steel was performed on a hot simulator. The microstructure of the bonding interface was characterized by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and electron backscatter diffraction （EBSD）. The mechanical properties of the specimen were investigated by a shear strength test. The results indicated that the shear strength was improved with the increase of superplastic deformation reduction. When the deformation reduction was up to 50%, the shear strength of the specimen achieved 417 Mpa, approaching to that of the base metal. In addtion, the superplastic diffusion bonding technique was not very sensitive to surface roughness levels. When the surface roughness of the bonding specimen surpassed 0.416 pan （level G2）, the shear strength achieved at least 381 MPa.

The superplastic deformation of electron beam welded aluminum lithium alloy

The superplastic deformation behavior and microstructure evolution of electron beam welded 5A90 aluminum lithium alloy were investigated. The results indicated that the electron beam weld joint had good superplasticity under a suitable deformation condition. The elongation increased first and then decreased with increasing deformation temperature and initial strain rate,and the maximal elongation of 171.1% was obtained at the temperature of 450 ℃ and the strain rate of 5 × 10^(-3) s^(-1).The microstructure observation indicated that the fine equiaxed dendrite of weld bead transformed into coarse equiaxed in the initial stage( strain ε≤0.7),then refined in the later stage of superplastic deformation.The eutectic structure gradually decreased with the increase of strain. While the microstructure of HAZ was refined and equiaxed with the increase of strain.

Effect of current pulses on fracture morphology in superplastic deformation of 2091 Al Li alloy

The effect of current pulses on the fracture morphology in the superplastic deformation of 2091 Al Li alloy at two kinds of initial strain rate ( 1=3.33×10 -3 s -1 ; 2=3.33×10 -2 s -1 ) was investigated.Experimental results show that current pulse turns fracture of superplastic deformation at low strain rate from local interior fracture morphology to typical fracture by growth and interlinkage of cavities, and at high strain rate from rough grain boundary surface to smooth grain boundary surface. It is indicated that the characteristic, that current pulse promotes atomic diffusion, maintains an equiaxial grain microstructure at low strain rate, and accelerates the development of diffusional type of cavity and relaxes stress concentration at triple junction of grain boundaries at high strain rate, and makes the superplastic deformation at two kinds of strain rate show a normal superplastic fracture morphology.

Superplastic Deformation Behavior of Hot-rolled AZ31 Magnesium Alloy Sheet at Elevated Temperatures

Uniaxial tensile tests were carride out in the temperature range of 250-450℃ and the strain rate range of 0.7×10^-3^-1.4×10^-1s^-1 to evaluate the superplasticity of AZ31 Mg aloy .The threshold stress which characterizes the difficulty for grain boundary sliding was calculated at various temperature .The surface relieves of superplastically deformed specimens were observde by using a scanning elctronic microscops （SEM）.Results show that ,at the temperature of 400℃ and strain rate of 1.7×10^-3^-1,the strain rate sensitivity exponent ,i e,m value reaches 0.47 and the maximum elongation of 362.5% is achieved .Grain boundary sliding （GBS）is the primary deformation mechanism and characterized by a pronounced improvement in the homogeneity with increasing temperatures.A large number of filaments were formed at the end of deformation and intergranular cavities produced with the necking and fracture of filaments.Finally ,the model for the formation of intergranular cavities was proposed.

CONSTITUTE EQUATIONS OF 40Cr STEEL UNDER SUPERPLASTIC COMPRESSIVE DEFORMATION

The microstructure of 40Cr steel sample and its surface is ultra-fined through salt-bath cyclic quenching and high frequency hardening, then the superplasticity is studied under isothermal superplastic compressive deformation condition. The experimental results indicate that the stress-strain curves are shown to take place obvious superplastic flow characteristic at the temperature of 750-770℃ and at the initial strain rate of (1.7-5.0)×10-4 s-1. Its strain rate sensitivity is 0.30-0.38, the steady superplastic flow stress is 60-70MPa, the superplastic flow activation energy is 198-217kJ/mol, and it is close to α-Fe grain boundary self-diffusion activation energy. The super-plastic compressive constitute equations of this steel are correspondingly set up. Due to the finer microstructure of high frequency hardening, it appears bigger strain rate sensitivity value, smaller the steady superplastic flow stress and the superplastic flow activation energy, so it has better superplastic deformation capability.

Effect of electric current pulse on grain growth in superplastic deformation of 2091 Al-Li alloy

The effect of electric current pulse on the grain growth in the superplastic deformation of 2091 Al Li alloy was investigated. Optical metallographic microstructure observation and average linear intercept measuring results show that at same strain, the grain size in the superplastic deformation loaded with electric current pulse is smaller than that unemploying electric current pulse, and so does the grain growth rate. TEM observation shows that the dislocation density at grain boundary in the superplastic deformation applied with electric current pulse is lower than that unemploying electric current pulse.It indicates that electric current pulse increases the rate of dislocation slip and climb in grain boundary, which leads to a decrease of both the density of the dislocation slipping across grain boundary at same strain rate and the driving force for grain growth, therefore the rate of grain growth decreases.The established model for grain growth shows an exponential relation of grain size with strain.

DYNAMIC RECRYSTALLIZATION IN SUPERPLASTIC DEFORMATION OF TiAl BASED ALLOY

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FRACTAL DIMENSION OF SHAPE CHANGE OF CAVITIFS DURING SUPERPLASTIC DEFORMATION IN HIGH STRENGTH Al ALLOY

The fractal dimension changes of cavities have been determined during superplastic deformation of the high strength aluminiurn alloy 7475 with different strain,temperature, strain rate and grain size.The fractal dimension of cavities may increase with the increase of strain.It becomes higher as the alloy deformed under lower temperatures,greater strain rate and coarser grain size.The alloy would be approaching to rupture if the fractal dimension of cavities raised to a certain extent.

Simulation on Grain Boundary Sliding during Superplastic Deformation Using Molecular Dynamics Method

Grain growth and grain boundary sliding are the two main superplastic deformation mechanisms. In the paper, simulation work is focused on the sliding of a S3 (111) symmetric twist coincidence grain boundary, a S13 (110) asymmetric tilt coincidence grain boundary, and a S3 (110) symmetric tilt coincidence grain boundary in Al, and the energies of grain boundary for each of equilibrium configurations are computed. An embedded atom method (EAM) potential was used to simulate the atomic interactions in a bicrystal containing more than 2000 atoms. At 0 K, the relationships between total potential energy and time steps for S3 (111) symmetric twist coincidence grain boundary and S3 (110) symmetric tilt coincidence grain boundary during sliding at 2 m/s represent the periodic characteristic. However, the relationship between total potential energy and time steps for S13 (110) asymmetric tilt coincidence grain boundary represents the damp surge characteristic. It is found that grain boundary sliding for S3 (110) symmetric tilt coincidence grain boundary is coupled with apparent grain boundary migration.

SUPERPLASTIC DEFORMATION OF TiAl BASED ALLOY

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SUPERPLASTICAL DEFORMATION AND FRACTURE MECHANISM 0F A SiC_p/2024Al COMPOSITE

Soperplastic tensions on an IM SiCp/2024Al composite were conducted. The microstrvcture and fmcture sudece of the composite under the optimum saperplastic deformation condition were examined. The eoperimental results show that as the increase of strain during superpldstic deformation, grains fundarnentally remained equiaxed structure, and dislocation density increases gradually and its structure changes hem intererossed into nets each other to tangled and cellular structure,and the amount of liquid phase at the intedeces or gruin boundaries increases gradually. Mcrostructure examination revealed that failure took place by damage accumulation of the pmpressive decohesion of the SiC particle-matrix until a critical volume fruction was reached.

Deformation Behavior of Zr_(65)Cu_(17.5)Ni_(10)Al_(7.5)in Superplastic Forming with Silicon Mould: Simulation and Application

We investigated the deformation behaviors of Zr_65Cu_17.5Ni_10Al_7.5 in superplastic forming in silicon mould via numerical modeling and experiments. The data needed for the constitutive formulation were obtained from compressive tests to establish a material library for finite-element simulation using a DEFORM 3D software. A constant speed forming process of a micro gear was modeled where the loading force, feature size and amount of deformation in the micro gear in silicon mould were analyzed in detail for the optimal requirements of micro gear forming and the protection of silicon mould. Guided by the modeling parameters, an amorphous metal micro gear was successfully obtained by our home-made superplastic forming system with the optimized parameters （temperature of 683 K, top speed of 0.003 mm/s until the load force reaching limiting value at 1960 N, and a gradually decelerating process for holding the force to the end）. Our work gives a good example for optimization of superplastic forming and fabrication of BMGs in microparts.

GRAIN SHAPE EFFECT IN SUPERPLASTIC DEFORMATION

The method controlling grain shape in TMT processing and the effect of grain shape on char- acteristic parameters in superplastic deformation were discussed.The accommodation velocity of grahl boundary sliding,which is the dominant mechanism in superplastic deformation,and the contribution of each mechanism to the total strain,as influenced by grain shape,were ana- lyzed.Grain shape has been shown to be an essential structural factor for superplasticity.Then an analysis was made about the effect of grain shape on the region transition strain rate so that a new concept,critical aspect for superplasticity,was worked out.These predictions were compared with the measured results in an Al-Zn-Mg alloy.

DISLOCATION BEHAVIOR IN THE SUPERPLASTIC DEFORMATION OF ALLOY Al-Li 2091

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FORMING LIMIT DURING SUPERPLASTIC DEFORMATION OF SHEET METALS

A thermo-viscoplastic damage potential and Hill's normal anisotropy (isotropy in plane) yield criterion in the quadratic form of stress components were combined to describe the interaction process of damage and instability during superplastic deformation, based on the kinetic equation for damage during superplastic deformation and the deformation features of superplastic materials. The superplastic deformation process was divided into four stages, namely, stable; quasi-stable; strain path drift to plane strain and plane strain stages, and a damage instability model during superplastic deformation of sheet metals was developed through numerical method. On the basis of the above results and taking the occurrence of localized instability or the cavity volume fraction reaching the critical value as a fracture criterion, the forming limit during superplastic deformation of sheet metals was predicted.

Effect of initial microstructure on superplastic deformation of AZ70 magnesium alloy

The mechanical properties and deformation mechanism of semi-continuously casting and as-extruded AZ70 magnesium alloys in a wide range of grain sizes(from 14 to 103μm)were investigated at 653 K and 1×10-3s -1.It is discovered that with reducing grain size,flow stress is weakened and plasticity is improved and even superplasticity exhibits.SEM and OM were used to clarify the deformation mechanism.It is suggested that dynamic recrystallization(DRX)is the coordination deformation mechanism of grain boundary sliding(GBS)for coarse grain,and cavity and intracrystalline slip are the coordination deformation mechanisms of GBS for fine grain.

Inter-granular liquid phase aiding grain boundary sliding in superplastic deformation of fine-grained ZK60 Mg alloy

For 7475 Al alloy,there were micrographs showing filaments or whiskers formation during the separation stage of superplastic elongation.This indicates the presence of liquid phase which accommodates grain boundary sliding to reach superplasticity.On the other hand,there is no such phenomenon reported regarding Mg alloy in literatures.Scanning electron microscopic(SEM)fractography exceptionally exhibits a mark of grain boundary sliding and its accommodating mechanism of inter-granular liquid phase.Under the testing conditions of 350℃ and 1×10- 4s -1,the initially fine-grained structure(3.7μm)yields 642%superplastic elongation and exhibits fluffy appearance on the fractured surface.For other specimens showing less superplasticity,their fractured surfaces exhibit partial fluffy appearance.

SLIP SYSTEMS AND DISLOCATION DISTRIBUTION IN α-PHASE OF SUPERPLASTICALLY DEFORMED Ti-6AI-4V ALLOY

The activated slip systems in the α-phase of the superplastically deformed Ti-6Al-4V alloy were analyzed by systematic operation method with TEM.The results show that the dominately activated slip systems in the α-phase are{01(?)0}〈2(?)0〉and{01(?)}2(?)0〉, The{0001}〈2(?)0〉system as well as the c+a dislocalions of b=[1/3]〈11(?)3〉will be acti- vated when the deformation temperature is lowered.Large amounts of TEM observations in- dicate that the dislocations in the α-phase were mainly activated near the triple grain bounda- ry junctions,α/α grain boundaries and α/β interlaces.