scholarly journals Effect of T6 Heat Treatment on the Microstructure and Hardness of Secondary AlSi9Cu3(Fe) Alloys Produced by Semi-Solid SEED Process

Metals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Fabrizi ◽  
Stefano Capuzzi ◽  
Alessandro De Mori ◽  
Giulio Timelli

The effect of the T6 heat treatment on the microstructure and hardness of a secondary semi-solid AlSi9Cu3(Fe) alloy have been investigated by using optical, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and hardness testing. The semi-solid alloy was produced using the swirled enthalpy equilibration device (SEED). The solution heat treatments were performed at 450, 470 and 490 °C for 1 to 6 h followed by water quenching and artificial ageing at 160, 180 and 220 °C for holding times ranging from 1 to 30 h. The microstructural investigations have revealed the spheroidization of the eutectic Si and the dissolution of the majority of Cu-rich compounds after all the solution heat treatments; moreover, the greater the solution temperature and time, the higher the hardness of the alloy. Unacceptable surface blistering has been observed for severe solution condition, 490 °C for 3 and 6 h. The artificial ageing at 160 °C for 24 h has led to the highest alloy strengthening thanks to the precipitation of β” and Q’ (or L) phases within the α-Al matrix. The hardening peaks at higher temperatures have been early achieved due to faster hardening kinetic; however, the lower number density of β” and Q’ (or L) phases and the presence of coarser θ’ precipitates result in a reduction of hardness values for peak aged condition at 180 and 220 °C, respectively.

2016 ◽  
Vol 256 ◽  
pp. 58-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kang Du ◽  
Qiang Zhu ◽  
Da Quan Li

T6 heat treatment is an effective method to improve the comprehensive properties of Al-Si-Cu-Mg series aluminium alloys. Solution treatment temperature and time, quench process and media, as well as artificial ageing temperature and time are the key factors to determine mechanical properties. Besides these factors, natural ageing, i.e. the holding time between quenching and the starting of artificial treatment at ambient temperature was observed to be significant affect mechanical properties of the aluminium alloys. This effect on semi solid processed aluminium alloys was lack of investigations as the semi solid process produces T6 treatable and weldable components. The present paper focuses on the change regularity of hardness and precipitate behaviour of semi-solid 319S aluminium alloy under different natural ageing (NA) treatment additional to standard T6. Density and morphology of hardening precipitates are analysed using TEM, and the influence mechanism of NA during T6 heat treatment will be discussed. The results show that NA has a positive influence on mechanical properties of the rheo-cast 319S alloy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miloš Matvija ◽  
Martin Fujda ◽  
Ondrej Milkovič ◽  
Marek Vojtko ◽  
Róbert Kočiško ◽  
...  

The changes in the microstructure and improvement in the mechanical properties of as-cast AlSi7MgCu0.5 alloy induced by the heat treatment and technique of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) were investigated. The heat treatment of as-cast alloy performed before the ECAP technique was required to increase the plasticity of the alloy. Therefore, the samples of analysed alloys were solution annealed at optimized temperature of 823 K for 4 hours to dissolve the particles of intermetallicπ(Al8FeMg3Si6) phase and to spheroidize the Si particles. Subsequently, water quenching and artificial ageing at optimized temperature of 573 K for 5 hours was used to obtain an overaged alloy state. The microstructure of alloy was consisted ofα(Al) solid solution, eutectic Si particles, and intermetallicβ(Mg2Si), Q-Al4Mg5Si4Cu,α-Al12(Fe,Mn)3Si, and/orα-Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2phase particles. The crystal structure of present phases was confirmed by hard X-ray diffraction at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg and by the selected area electron diffraction (SAED) performed inside the transmission electron microscope (TEM). The heat-treated alloy was processed by ECAP at room temperature following route A. Repetitive ECAP of alloy homogenized the heterogeneous as-cast microstructure and formed the ultrafine subgrain microstructure with elongated subgrains of 0.2 µm in width and 0.65 µm in length and the high dislocation density. Microstructural changes in alloy induced by both heat treatment and ECAP led to the high strain hardening of the alloy that appeared in an improvement in strength, ductility, and microhardness of alloy in comparison with as-cast alloy state.


Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingrong Zhang ◽  
Lingkun Zhang ◽  
Zhiming Wang ◽  
Anjiang Gao

In order to obtain high-strength and high-ductility Al–Si–Cu–Mg alloys, the present research is focused on optimizing the composition of soluble phases, the structure and morphology of insoluble phases, and artificial ageing processes. The results show that the best matches, 0.4 wt% Mg and 1.2 wt% Cu in the Al–9Si alloy, avoided the toxic effect of the blocky Al2Cu on the mechanical properties of the alloy. The addition of 0.6 wt% Zn modified the morphology of eutectic Si from coarse particles to fine fibrous particles and the texture of Fe-rich phases from acicular β-Fe to blocky π-Fe in the Al–9Si–1.2Cu–0.4Mg-based alloy. With the optimization of the heat treatment parameters, the spherical eutectic Si and the fully fused β-Fe dramatically improved the ultimate tensile strength and elongation to fracture. Compared with the Al–9Si–1.2Cu–0.4Mg-based alloy, the 0.6 wt% Zn modified alloy not only increased the ultimate tensile strength and elongation to fracture of peak ageing but also reduced the time of peak ageing. The following improved combination of higher tensile strength and higher elongation was achieved for 0.6 wt% Zn modified alloy by double-stage ageing: 100 °C × 3 h + 180 °C × 7 h, with mechanical properties of ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of ~371 MPa, yield strength (YS) of ~291 MPa, and elongation to fracture (E%) of ~5.6%.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2019) ◽  
pp. 892-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Süleyman Tekeli ◽  
Ijlal Simsek ◽  
Dogan Simsek ◽  
Dursun Ozyurek

AbstractIn this study, the effect of solid solution temperature on microstructure and mechanical properties of the AA7075 alloy after T6 heat treatment was investigated. Following solid solution at five different temperatures for 2 hours, the AA7075 alloy was quenched and then artificially aged at 120∘C for 24 hours. Hardness measurements, microstructure examinations (SEM+EDS, XRD) and tensile tests were carried out for the alloys. The results showed that the increased solid solution temperature led to formation of precipitates in the microstructures and thus caused higher hardness and tensile strength.


2013 ◽  
Vol 747-748 ◽  
pp. 158-165
Author(s):  
Juan Qu ◽  
Kui Zhang ◽  
Ming Long Ma ◽  
Yong Jun Li ◽  
Xing Gang Li

In this study, Mg-7Gd-5Y-1Nd-0.5Zr alloy (EW75) was produced by melting method and then press-forged into large size plate. The properties of the Mg-7Gd-5Y-1.2Nd-0.5Zr alloy were optimized through T6 heat treatment. The microstructures of alloy were observed by means of optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Its mechanical properties under different heat treatment conditions were determined by tensile tests. The results indicated that increasing the solid solution temperature and prolonging the solid solution time can both lead to the dissolution of second phase in the alloy back into the matrix. The solid solution temperature affects the dissolution process more than the solid solution time. Grain growth occurred during the solid solution process. The grain size of the matrix enlarges with the increase of solid solution temperature. The tensile test result showed that the tensile strength of the alloy was significantly improved after T6 heat treatment. Its tensile strength in the same direction was nearly 40% up after T6 heat treatment. The analysis shows that T6 heat treatment can effectively eliminate the larger deformed precipitates and beneficial to the formation of hard precipitates, which leads to an improvement in the alloys tensile strength.


Author(s):  
K. Raju ◽  
N. Gopi Krishna ◽  
L. Sankara Rao ◽  
S. N.Ojha

In the present study the microstructural features and tribological characteristics of hot forged A356 Al alloy subjected to SIMA (Strain induced melt activation) and T6 heat treatment (semi-solid) processes have been investigated. The SIMA process consists of hot forging of alloy at 325˚C followed by cold forging at room temperature, isothermal holding at 580˚C for 10 min and quenching. In case of T6 heat treatment, the hot forged alloy was solution treated at 540˚C for 4 hours followed by quenching in cold water and artificial aging at 155˚C for 3 hours. The microstructure of the alloy exhibited a spherical or globular morphology of the primary α-phase with uniform distribution of solutes in the interdendritic region. A detailed analysis of the solidification behaviour of the melt from semi-solid region of the alloy is reported. The reasons for the consequential changes in tribological properties of A356 Al alloy processed by SIMA andT6 heat treatment have been clearly brought out.


2022 ◽  
Vol 327 ◽  
pp. 207-222
Author(s):  
Jiehua Li ◽  
Xun Zhang ◽  
Johannes Winklhofer ◽  
Stefan Griesebner ◽  
Bernd Oberdorfer ◽  
...  

In order to reduce CO2 emission and energy consumption, more recycled secondary materials have to be used in foundry industry, especially for Al-Si-Mg based alloys for semi-solid processing. In this paper, Al-Si-Mg based alloys with the addition of recycled secondary materials up to 30 % (10, 20, 30 %, respectively) have been produced by semi-solid processing. The solidification microstructure was investigated using optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Furthermore, computed tomography (CT) was also used to elucidate the size, size distribution, number density, volume fraction of porosities. It was found that with the addition of the recycled secondary materials up to 30 %, there is no significant effect on the solidification microstructure in terms of the grain size and the shape factor of primary α-Al and the second α-Al. More importantly, the morphology of eutectic Si can be well modified and that of the Fe-containing phase (π-AlSiMgFe) can be tailored. Furthermore, with increasing recycled secondary materials, at least another two important issues should also be highlighted. Firstly, more TiB2 particles were observed, which can be due to the addition of Al-Ti-B grain refiners for the grain refinement of recycled secondary materials. Secondly, a significant interaction between Sr and P was also observed in the recycled secondary materials. The present investigation clearly demonstrates that Al-Si-Mg based alloys with the addition of recycled secondary materials at least up to 30% can be used for semi-solid processing, which may facilitate better sustainability.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1019 ◽  
pp. 47-54
Author(s):  
Carlien Taute ◽  
Heinrich Möller

Al-Mg-Si-Cu alloy 6066 is a heat-treatable wrought alloy that is commonly used in high performance bicycle frames. Wrought alloys are difficult to cast using conventional liquid casting techniques, as hot tearing can occur. However, a method that effectively reduces that risk is rheo-high pressure die casting (R-HPDC). Casting alloy 6066 using semi-solid metal processing makes it possible to be used for near-net shape forming of components. This study investigates the age-hardening response of R-HPDC alloy 6066. The effects of different solution heat treatments, natural pre-ageing and artificial ageing are studied. The different solution heat treatments investigated are a one-step and a two-step solution treatment. The one-step treatment was performed at 530°C only and the two-step treatment at 530°C followed by 550°C. It is shown that natural pre-ageing has a detrimental effect on the T6 properties and that the longer two-step solution heat treatment is justified due to an increase in hardness and prevention of incipient melting. The Vickers hardness in different temper conditions (F, T4, T5 and T6) were determined and compared to the typical hardness values of the alloy in the wrought condition.


2014 ◽  
Vol 887-888 ◽  
pp. 349-356
Author(s):  
Xiang Fan ◽  
Yi Tao Yang

The heat treatment process of a kind of hypereutectic aluminum silicon alloy which is suitable for semi-solid forming and the change of microstructure and performance during the process of heat treatment had been studied in this paper. In order to guide the heat treatment process, the phase diagram of the alloy had been calculated by the software of Thermo-Calc, and the theoretical solid and liquid line had been gotten. Twelve kinds of heat treatment process had been selected in this study. Finally the best process which the solution temperature is 495°C for 2h and aging temperature is 160°C for 8h had been gotten.


2016 ◽  
Vol 857 ◽  
pp. 256-260
Author(s):  
Chung Seok Kim ◽  
Jin Woo Jo ◽  
Hak Min Lee

The effects of solution heat treatment of Al6Si2Cu aluminum alloy on incipient melting of θ-Al2Cu phase have been investigated. Solution heat treatments, in this study, are applied to improve of mechanical properties through a single-step solution heat treatment. The microstructure of as-cast specimen represents a typical dendrite structure having a secondary dendrite arm spacing of 37um. In addition to the Al matrix, a large amount of coarsen eutectic Si, θ-Al2Cu intermetallic phases and Fe-rich phases are identified. As the solution temperature increases, the Vickers's hardness increases up to 510°C and thereafter hardness decreases at the temperature of 520°C and 530°C. This hardness behavior may closely related with microstructural evolution such as solubility of alloying elements up to 510°C and also melting of θ-Al2Cu intermetallic phases over 510°C in this study. Consequentially, the optimal single-step solution heat treatment temperature should be 510°C to improve mechanical property.


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