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Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Ultrafine-Grained Al-6061 Prepared Using Intermittent Ultrasonic-Assisted Equal-Channel Angular Pressing

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Abstract

Equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) is an efficient technique to achieve grain refinement in a wide range of materials. However, the extrusion process requires an excessive extrusion force, the microstructure of ECAPed specimens scatters heterogeneously because of considerable fragmentation of the structure and strain heterogeneity, and the resultant ultrafine grains exhibit poor thermal stability. The intermittent ultrasonic-assisted ECAP (IU-ECAP) approach was proposed to address these issues. In this work, ECAP and IU-ECAP were applied to produce ultrafine-grained Al-6061 alloys, and the differences in their mechanical properties, microstructural characteristics, and thermal stability were investigated. Mechanical testing demonstrated that the necessary extrusion force for IU-ECAP was significantly reduced; even more, the microhardness and ultimate tensile strength were strengthened. In addition, the IU-ECAPed Al alloy exhibited a smaller grain size with a more homogeneous microstructure. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the intensities of the textures were weakened using IU-ECAP, and a more homogeneous microstructure and larger dislocation densities were obtained. Investigation of the thermal stability revealed that the ultrafine-grained materials produced using IU-ECAP recrystallized at higher temperature or after longer time; the materials thus exhibited improved thermal stability.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51575360, 51375315, and 51405306), Major Science and Technology Project of Guangdong Province (No. 2014B010131006), PhD Start-up Fund of Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 2016A030310036), Science and Technology Project of Shenzhen (No. JSGG20140519104809878), Science and Technology Project of Nanshan District of Shenzhen (No. KC2014JSJS0008A), Research and Development Foundation of Science and Technology Project of Shenzhen (Nos. JCYJ20140418095735629, JCYJ20150525092941049, JCYJ20160308091758179, and JCYJ20150525092941026), and Fundamental Research Funds for Shenzhen University (2015-27). We thank Tiffany Jain, M.S., from Edanz Group (www.edanzediting.com/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano Optomechatronics Engineering, Shenzhen University, Nan-hai Ave 3688, Shenzhen, 518060, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Jianxun Lu, Xiaoyu Wu, Zhaozhi Wu, Zhiyuan Liu, Dengji Guo, Yan Lou & Shuangchen Ruan

  2. Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Manufacturing Technology for Mold & Die, Shenzhen University, Nan-hai Ave 3688, Shenzhen, 518060, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China

    Jianxun Lu, Xiaoyu Wu, Zhaozhi Wu, Zhiyuan Liu, Dengji Guo & Yan Lou

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  1. Jianxun Lu
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  2. Xiaoyu Wu
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  3. Zhaozhi Wu
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  4. Zhiyuan Liu
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  7. Shuangchen Ruan
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Correspondence to Xiaoyu Wu or Shuangchen Ruan.

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Lu, J., Wu, X., Wu, Z. et al. Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Ultrafine-Grained Al-6061 Prepared Using Intermittent Ultrasonic-Assisted Equal-Channel Angular Pressing. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 26, 5107–5117 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-017-2946-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-017-2946-6

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