Microstructural Evolution of Semisolid 6063 Aluminum Alloy Prepared by Recrystallization and Partial Melting Process

Abstract

Radial forging (RF) was proposed as a novel deformation method to prepare semisolid 6063 aluminum alloy in the recrystallization and partial melting (RAP) process. The effects of area reduction rate, isothermal holding temperature and time on the microstructural evolution of RF-deformed 6063 aluminum alloy were investigated. Results showed that RF can be successfully introduced in RAP process to prepare large semisolid 6063 aluminum alloy bar. With the increase of the area reduction rate, the average grain size firstly decreased and then no significant change occurred. Meanwhile, the spheroidization degree of solid grains firstly increased rapidly, and then increased slowly. The effects of isothermal holding temperature and time are similar, with the increase of the isothermal holding temperature or time, the average grain size initially decreased but then increased; and the spheroidization degree of solid grains gradually increased. High-quality semisolid 6063 aluminum alloy can be prepared with 70% area reduction rate and subsequent semisolid isothermal treatment (SSIT) at 630 °C for 10 min. The coarsening rate constant was 5185.2 µm3/s at 630 °C. Additionally, a strong deformation texture was created in the RF-deformed alloy with 70% area reduction rate, which was transformed to a weakened texture following the SSIT process.