Hesam Askari

A study of the hot and cold deformation of twin-roll cast magnesium alloy AZ31

Recent advances in twin-roll casting (TRC) technology of magnesium have demonstrated the feasibility of producing magnesium sheets in the range of widths needed for automotive applications. However, challenges in the areas of manufacturing, material processing and modelling need to be resolved in order to fully utilize magnesium alloys. Despite the limited formability of magnesium alloys at room temperature due to their hexagonal close-packed crystalline structure, studies have shown that the formability of magnesium alloys can be significantly improved by processing the material at elevated temperatures and by modifying their microstructure to increase ductility. Such improvements can potentially be achieved by processes such as superplastic forming along with manufacturing techniques such as TRC. In this work, we investigate the superplastic behaviour of twin-roll cast AZ31 through mechanical testing, microstructure characterization and computational modelling. Validated by the experimental results, a novel continuum dislocation dynamics-based constitutive model is developed and coupled with viscoplastic self-consistent model to simulate the deformation behaviour. The model integrates the main microstructural features such as dislocation densities, grain shape and grain orientations within a self-consistent viscoplasticity theory with internal variables. Simulations of the deformation process at room temperature show large activity of the basal and prismatic systems at the early stages of deformation and increasing activity of pyramidal systems due to twinning at the later stages. The predicted texture at room temperature is consistent with the experimental results. Using appropriate model parameters at high temperatures, the stress–strain relationship can be described accurately over the range of low strain rates.

Multiscale Modeling of Inclusions and Precipitation Hardening in Metal Matrix Composites: Application to Advanced High-Strength Steels

AbstractThe strengthening effect of precipitates in metals is investigated within a multiscale approach that utilizes models of various length scales; namely, molecular mechanics (MM), discrete dislocation dynamics (DD), and an equivalent inclusion method (EIM). In particular, precipitates are modeled as particles whose stress fields interact with dislocations. The stress field resulting from the elastic mismatch between the particles and the matrix is accounted for by using the EIM, whereas the MM method is employed to develop rules for the DD method for short range interactions between a single dislocation and an inclusion. The DD method is used to predict the strength of the composite structure resulting from the interaction between ensembles of dislocations and particles. As an application to this method, the mechanical behavior of advanced high strength steel is investigated and the results are compared to the experimental data published in previous studies. The results show that the finely dispersiv...

Prediction of flow stress and textures of AZ31 magnesium alloy at elevated temperature

The viscoplastic behaviour of magnesium alloys at high temperatures leads to highly temperature-dependent mechanical properties. While at high strain rates a notable strain hardening response is observed, at low strain rates the material shows a smooth plastic response with negligible amount of hardening. This complicated behaviour is due to different deformation mechanisms that are active at different strain rate regimes, resulting in different strain rate sensitivity parameters. In this study we show, by utilizing both numerical simulations and experiments, that this behaviour can be predicted by a model that combines two deformation mechanisms, grain boundary sliding mechanism and dislocation glide mechanism. We discuss the importance of each deformation mechanism at different strain rate regimes based on the findings of modelling and experimental results for AZ3 magnesium alloy. By developing a model that includes the above-mentioned two deformation mechanism, the prediction of flow properties is expanded to a wide range of strain rate regimes compared to previous study. The obtained numerical findings for the stress–strain behaviour as well as texture evolution show good agreement with the experimental results.

Microstructural stability after severe plastic deformation of AZ31 Magnesium

Friction stir processing (FSP) and equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) were used to modify the microstructure of twin roll cast (TRC) AZ31 magnesium. The influence of these processes on the microstructural properties of the material was investigated. It was found that both processes produced microstructures with an average grain size of less than 10 pm, suggesting that they have the potential for superplastic deformation. Heat treatments were performed on the TRC, ECAP and FSP materials to assess their microstructural stability. Both the ECAP and TRC material were found to be fairly stable, showing normal grain growth while the FSP material grew substantially at temperatures above 200°C. The activation energy of grain boundary motion of the TRC material was calculated to be 167 kJ/mol.