Processing of aluminium alloys by equal channel angular drawing at room temperature

Abstract The equal channel angular drawing (ECAD) process is an innovative method that allows continuous processing of alloys. The material is drawn through two intersecting channels at an angle commonly between 90 and 135°. The equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) process—in which the material is extruded instead of drawn—has been extensively studied in the literature in contrast with the ECAD process because of its novelty. In this work, the effect of different processing ways through the ECAD process and the heat treatment are analysed. This work shows the results obtained when the 1370 aluminium alloy is processed, at room temperature, with N=5 (N, number of passes), through two different routes. The experimental results confirm the refinement in final grain sizes in relation to the starting material.

[1]  J. Bowen,et al.  Analysis of the billet deformation behaviour in equal channel angular extrusion , 2000 .

[2]  P. Thomson,et al.  The development of microstructure and the influence of processing route during equal channel angular drawing of pure aluminum , 1999 .

[3]  P. Thomson,et al.  Microstructure development during equal channel angular drawing of Al at room temperature , 1998 .

[4]  F. J. Humphreys,et al.  Developing stable fine–grain microstructures by large strain deformation , 1999, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

[5]  Ruslan Z. Valiev,et al.  Microstructural characteristics of an ultrafine grain metal processed with equal-channel angular pressing , 1996 .

[6]  Ian Baker,et al.  An experimental study of equal channel angular extrusion , 1997 .

[7]  S. Semiatin,et al.  The equal channel angular extrusion process for materials processing , 1996 .

[8]  P. Prangnell,et al.  The effect of strain path on the development of deformation structures in severely deformed aluminium alloys processed by ECAE , 2000 .

[9]  T. Langdon.  The mechanical properties of superplastic materials , 1982 .

[10]  V. Segal.  Equal channel angular extrusion: from macromechanics to structure formation , 1999 .

[11]  R. Valiev,et al.  Plastic deformation of alloys with submicron-grained structure , 1991 .

[12]  T. Langdon,et al.  Influence of channel angle on the development of ultrafine grains in equal-channel angular pressing , 1998 .

[13]  Terence G. Langdon,et al.  The process of grain refinement in equal-channel angular pressing , 1998 .

[14]  R. E. Goforth,et al.  Development of a submicrometer-grained microstructure in aluminum 6061 using equal channel angular extrusion , 1997 .

[15]  A. Shan,et al.  Direct observation of shear deformation during equal channel angular pressing of pure aluminum , 1999 .

[16]  Terence G. Langdon,et al.  The shearing characteristics associated with equal-channel angular pressing , 1998 .

[17]  V. Segal.  Materials processing by simple shear , 1995 .