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Spheroidizing Process of 2A12 Aluminum Alloy Grains during Heating up and Semisolid Isothermal Treatment Stages

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Abstract

The billets of 2A12 aluminum alloy were prepared by a novel method called semisolid isothermal treatment of hot-rolled aluminum alloy (SSITHRAA). The spheroidizing process of elongated grains during temperature rising stage and semisolid isothermal treatment stage was investigated. The results showed that recrystallization degree increased with the increase in temperature or time. Appreciable recrystallization happened above 520 °C and even occurred in the semisolid region. Deformation textures (Brass and Copper) and recrystallization texture (Cube) were found in the microstructure at 580 °C. The semisolid isothermal treatment temperature and holding time had greatly influenced the grain morphologies. Average grain size increased with holding time or heating temperature in the proper range of 590-620 °C for 5-30 min generally. The spheroidization degree increased firstly and then decreased with time. Under the optimized condition of 620 °C and 25 min, near globular grains with average diameter (D) of 105 μm and roundness (R) of 1.24 were obtained. The fitting degree of coarsening kinetics curves showed slight differences among various exponents, and the grain growth constants ranged from 370 to 657 μm3/s with n = 3. Based on the principle of minimum Gibbs free energy, the whole processing could be explained from the point of thermodynamics and kinetics. EDS showed that eutectic phases rich in Cu and precipitates containing Fe appeared at the grain boundaries.

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Acknowledgment

This work is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program under Grant No. 2019YFB2006500 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under Grant No. 51875124.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, People’s Republic of China

    Jufu Jiang, Ying Zhang, Guanfei Xiao, Yingze Liu & Li Zeng

  2. School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, People’s Republic of China

    Ying Wang

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Jiang, J., Zhang, Y., Wang, Y. et al. Spheroidizing Process of 2A12 Aluminum Alloy Grains during Heating up and Semisolid Isothermal Treatment Stages. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 30, 5974–5986 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-021-05796-z

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