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Effects of processing temperature and number of passes on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AA 6063 processed by cyclic expansion extrusion

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Abstract

The effects of the working temperatures (260 °C, 200 °C and 130 °C) on microstructure formation in the AA 6063 alloy, processed upto ten passes by cyclic expansion extrusion (CEE) was studied. The microstructures of the CEE-processed specimens in the convergent and extrusion regions (center and edge) were examined after every two passes. The EBSD analysis revealed a decrease in the average grain size from 22 ± 5 µm to 2 ± 0.5 µm after four passes, with a simultaneous presence of a large fraction of HAGBs (45%) at 130 °C processing temperature. The TEM observations also confirmed the presence of nano-grains of sizes in the range of 50–100 nm. The CEE-processed specimen showed the highest improvement in hardness and ultimate tensile strength from 38 ± 3.4 HV and 118 ± 6 MPa to 122 ± 1 HV and 267 ± 2 MPa, respectively, after four passes at 130 °C. The specimens processed at 260 °C (ten passes), and 200 °C (four passes) showed moderate improvement in strength of 184 ± 3 MPa and 216 ± 3 MPa, respectively. On further straining (at 200 °C and 130 °C after six to ten passes), continuous dynamic recovery and dynamic re-crystallization took place which led to grain growth during SPD and, as a result, the alloy lost its strain hardening capacity and there was a decrease in the mechanical properties. At higher number of passes, the grains were elongated and coarsened, i.e., a non-equiaxed microstructure was seen after ten passes at 200 °C and 130 °C. In contrast, the specimen processed at 260 °C after ten passes, showed a homogeneous microstructure with near-equiaxed grains with 38% of HAGBs. A lower processing temperature produced a microstructure with a fine grain size distribution after a lower number of passes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Prof. Indradev Samajdar, IIT Bombay, for extending the use of the EBSD facility. The authors also acknowledge the help of PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, India for making available the TEM facility for this work.

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This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for profit sectors.

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University, Chennai, 600025, India

    V. Babu, Balasivanandha Prabu Shanmugavel & K. A. Padmanabhan

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Babu, V., Shanmugavel, B.P. & Padmanabhan, K.A. Effects of processing temperature and number of passes on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AA 6063 processed by cyclic expansion extrusion. Archiv.Civ.Mech.Eng 21, 38 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43452-020-00160-9

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