Search

The tensile and fracture behaviors of AA6061 alloy were investigated in order to provide quantitative data about this alloy at cryogenic temperatures. Specimens of AA6061 alloy were solution heat treated before tensile tests at 298, 173 and 77 K and tested at strain rates in the range from 0.1 to 0.0001 s−1. The results indicate the suppression of the Portevin−Le Chatelier (PLC) effect and dynamic strain aging (DSA) at 77 K. In contrast, at 298 K, a remarkable serrated flow, characteristic of the PLC effect, is observed. Furthermore, the tensile behavior at 77 K, compared with that observed at 173 and 298 K, shows a simultaneous increase in strength, uniform elongation, modulus of toughness, strain-hardening exponent and strain rate sensitivity, which is related to a decrease in the dynamic recovery rate at low temperature. These responses are reflected on the fracture morphology, since the dimple size decreases at 77 K, while the area covered by dimples increases. Comparisons of the Johnson−Cook model show that a good agreement can be obtained for tests at 173 and 77 K, in which DSA is suppressed.

AA1050/AA7050 multilayered composite sheets with a proportion of 1:1 were produced by Accumulative Roll Bonding (ARB) and Asymmetric Accumulative Roll-Bonding (AARB), using up to 8 cycles and intermediate annealing treatments at 500°C. The main purpose was to produce one composite sheet with high strength and moderate ductility, taking advantage of the mechanical properties of these aluminum alloys. Microstructural features were investigated in order to evaluate the potential to achieve a refined microstructure and the development of structural patterns. The strain distributions as a function of friction and asymmetry were simulated by finite element analysis. Texture was evaluated by X-ray diffraction and electron backscatter diffraction. A continuous layer pattern was obtained by ARB, up to 6 cycles but after 8 cycles shear bands fragmented the harder layers. In the early AARB cycles, the bending and necking of the AA7050 layers yielded a wavy-pattern. The shear strain in the AARB process has a strong influence on achieving a wavy-pattern, more than the flow stress differences of the alloys in the composite. Shear texture increased with the degree of the layers’ discontinuity. Different sources of shear contributed to the formation of microstructural patterns: the shear due to asymmetry, the frictional shear at roll-sheet interface and at the central layer interface and the shear at the layers’ interface. In addition, the ARB process achieved a better interfacial adhesion at the middle interface and higher strength and elongation than the AARB process.

The deformation behaviour of metals and alloys is significantly affected by both stacking-fault energy and processing temperature. By lowering the former, deformation twinning is favoured over dislocation slip, whilst cryogenic processing partially suppresses dynamic recovery. Three materials having different stacking-fault energies, that is, Al AA1050 (high), pure Cu (medium) and Cu–15Zn alloy (low) were rolled at room (RTR) and at cryogenic (CR) temperatures up to a true strain equal to 1.5. Annealed coarse-grained samples were tested in tension at room and cryogenic temperatures. The processed samples were characterized by optical and transmission electron microscopy, hardness measurements and room-temperature tensile tests. CR increases the tensile strength with respect to RTR for the three materials; elongation to failure is decreased for AA1050, whilst for Cu and Cu–15Zn the CR effectively increases the ductility. Cu–15Zn sample after CR exhibits a microstructure relatively heterogeneous, suggesting static recrystallization events in the temperature excursion from 77 to 298 K. Finally, it was concluded that cryogenic deformation increases strength, whilst low SFE increases the ability to absorb plastic deformation, an effect strongly increased at cryogenic temperatures. The present investigation gives some basis for the development of cryogenic severe plastic deformation processes.

Titanium alloys are suitable for construction of the Coriolis mass flow meter due to their high strength to weight ratio, high thermal stability and excellent corrosion resistance. However, environments with high hydrogen content can be very harmful to titanium and its alloys, since this element may cause hydride formation and leads to hydrogen embrittlement. In this context, this paper reports on the analysis of a grade 9 titanium tube of a mass flow meter, which was performed using cyclohexanol (68%), water (2%) and Raney nickel catalyst (30%). After the active period, the flow meter was deactivated and left on standby for one year, and then reassembled on a production line, whereupon it failed prematurely. The failure was analyzed by OM, SEM, EDS, Vickers microhardness and XRD, whose results indicated that the cause was hydride embrittlement due to the chemical interaction between Raney nickel and the titanium tube during the deactivated period.