Gaosong Wang

Effects of solution treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-9.0Zn-2.8Mg-2.5Cu-0.12Zr-0.03Sc alloy

Abstract Effects of additions minor contents of 0.03% Sc and 0.12% Zr and solution treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-9.0Zn-2.8Mg-2.5Cu alloy were studied by metallographic microscopy, differential thermal analysis (DSC) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), in order to obtain high-performance Al alloys. The minor additions of Sc (less than 0.1%) were carried out. The results show that with the additions of 0.03% Sc and 0.12% Zr, the petaloid Al3(Sc,Zr) precipitated phases occur in Al-9.0Zn-2.8Mg-2.5Cu alloy, and Al3(Sc,Zr) particles obviously hinder the recrystallization of Al-9.0Zn-2.8Mg-2.5Cu alloy during homogenizing and extruding processes due to their strong pinning effect on dislocation. Multi-stage solution is better than single solution, for it can avoid recrystallization of Al-9.0Zn-2.8Mg-2.5Cu alloy with the minor contents of Sc (less than 0.1%). The proper solution treatment is (420 °C, 3 h)+(465 °C, 2 h) under which Al-9.0Zn-2.8Mg-2.5Cu-0.12Zr-0.03Sc alloy obtains a tensile strength of 777.29 MPa and a elongation of 11.84%.

Microstructure and RRA treatment of LFEC 7075 aluminum alloy extruded bars

The microstructures after casting and extruding, the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity after RRA treatment of conventional DC casting and low frequency electromagnetic casting (LFEC) 7075 aluminum alloy were investigated. The results showed that finer grains which distributed more homogeneously was obtained in LFEC ingots compared with those conventional DC ingots. The extruded bars of LFEC alloy kept its fine grain features of original as-cast structure. In the RRA treatment, with the extension of second aging time, the tensile strength and hardness of alloy decreased, but the electrical conductivity increased. Meanwhile, as the second aging temperature raised, the phase change rate in precipitation also increased. Under the same conditions, extruded bars of LFEC alloy had better performance than that of conventional DC cast alloy. The optimum RRA heat treatment process was 120 °C/24 h+180 °C/30 min+120 °C/24 h. The LFEC extruded bars acquired tensile strength 676.64 MPa, hardness 198.18, and electrical conductivity 35.7% IACS respectively, which were higher than that in the T6 temper, indicating that a notable RRA response takes place in LFEC extruded bars, whose second-step retrogression time was 30 min, and it was suitable for mass production.

As-cast structure of DC casting 7075 aluminum alloy obtained under dual-frequency electromagnetic field

We have experimentally determined the as-cast structures of semi-continuous casting 7075 aluminum alloy obtained in the presence of dual-frequency electromagnetic field. Results suggest that the use of dual-frequency electromagnetic field during the semi-continuous casting process of 7075 aluminum alloy ingots reduces the thickness of the surface segregation layer, increases the height of the melt meniscus, enhances the surface quality of the ingot, and changes the surface morphology of the melt pool. Moreover, low-frequency electromagnetic field was found to show the most obvious influence on improving the as-cast structure because of its high permeability in conductors.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of the welding joint filled with microalloying 5183 aluminum welding wires

In this study, 7A52 aluminum alloy sheets of 4 mm in thickness were welded by tungsten inert gas welding using microalloying welding wires containing traces of Zr and Er. The influence of rare earth elements Zr and Er on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the welded joints was analyzed by optical microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, hardness testing, and tensile mechanical properties testing. Systematic analyses indicate that the addition of trace amounts of Er and Zr leads to the formation of fine Al3Er, Al3Zr, and Al3(Zr,Er) phases that favor significant grain refinement in the weld zone. Besides, the tensile strength and hardness of the welded joints were obviously improved with the addition of Er and Zr, as evidenced by the increase in tensile strength and elongation by 40 MPa and 1.4%, respectively, and by the welding coefficient of 73%.

Cerium Addition Improved the Dry Sliding Wear Resistance of Surface Welding AZ91 Alloy

In this study, the effects of cerium (Ce) addition on the friction and wear properties of surface welding AZ91 magnesium alloys were evaluated by pin-on-disk dry sliding friction and wear tests at normal temperature. The results show that both the friction coefficient and wear rate of surfacing magnesium alloys decreased with the decrease in load and increase in sliding speed. The surfacing AZ91 alloy with 1.5% Ce had the lowest friction coefficient and wear rate. The alloy without Ce had the worst wear resistance, mainly because it contained a lot of irregularly shaped and coarse β-Mg17Al12 phases. During friction, the β phase readily caused stress concentration and thus formed cracks at the interface between β phase and α-Mg matrix. The addition of Ce reduced the size and amount of Mg17Al12, while generating Al4Ce phase with a higher thermal stability. The Al-Ce phase could hinder the grain-boundary sliding and migration and reduced the degree of plastic deformation of subsurface metal. Scanning electron microscopy observation showed that the surfacing AZ91 alloy with 1.5% Ce had a total of four types of wear mechanism: abrasion, oxidation, and severe plastic deformation were the primary mechanisms; delamination was the secondary mechanism.

Dynamic strain aging precipitation of Mg17Al12 in AZ80 magnesium alloy during multi-directional forging process

Dynamic aging precipitation of Mg17Al12 phases in AZ80 magnesium alloy was studied by multi-directional forging (MDF) with decreasing temperatures from 410 to 300 °C. The results show that the morphology of the dynamically precipitated β-Mg17Al12 phases (formed during forging process) exhibited granular shape. During the multi-directional forging process, the inhomogeneous dynamic precipitation of the β-Mg17Al12 phases result in the coexistence of the fine grains (with many granular Mg17Al12 phases) and coarse grains (without Mg17Al12 phases) in the samples. The fine grains (with many granular Mg17Al12 phases) area expands with the decreasing of final forging temperature. The inhomogenous Al content distribution in the Mg matrix leads to the non-uniform dynamic precipitation of the Mg17Al12 phase. These Mg17Al12 phase retards the growth of the DRX grains, which in turns results in the formation fine grains area during the during the MDF process with temperature decreasing.

Rapid air film continuous casting of aluminum alloy using static magnetic field

The influences of the cooling style and static magnetic field on the air film casting process were investigated. Ingots of 6063 aluminum alloy were produced by AIRSOL VEIL casting with double-layer cooling water and static magnetic field. Surface segregation, hot crack and variation of solute content along the radius direction of ingot were examined. The results showed that double-layer cooling water can improve the surface quality and avoid of hot crack, which created conditions to increase the casting speed. The electromagnetic casting process can effectively improve the surface quality in high speed casting process, and static magnetic field has a great influence on solute distribution along the radius direction of ingot.