Accumulative Roll Bonding Research Articles

PROPERTIES INVESTIGATION OF ALUMINUM-BASED COMPOSITES PROCESSED USING NEW METHODS OF SEVERE PLASTIC DEFORMATION AND THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

This paper aims to investigate the properties of aluminum-based composite Al2O3/SiC ceramics using new severe plastic deformation (SPD) methods and the finite element method. This research work also focused on the accuracy of the simulation results in manufacturing reinforced Al2O3/SiC ceramic. The latest method was developed by repetitive press-roll forming (RPRF) for processing ceramic-reinforced composite materials. The simulations were carried out to validate the experimental results of the strength testing conducted for composites with the hybrid reinforcement by having ultimate tensile strength (UTS) values that correspond to 123 N/mm2, 130 N/mm2, and 124 N/mm2 for the hybrid composites of two layers, four layers, and six layers, respectively. This is the best result among processes developed, such as accumulative roll bonding (ARB). The experimental results prove that the SPD of the RPRF process can significantly increase the UTS and hardness values in aluminum matrix-based composites type AA1100/5052. Samples with SiC reinforcements have the highest mechanical properties compared to the other reinforcements (Hybrid and Al2O3), with a resulting UTS value of 163 MPa and a resulting hardness value of 46.42 HV. The application of this experiment is a plate matrix attached where the surface of the end face is sprinkled with ceramic Al2O3/SiC material as reinforcement.

Effect of Al2O3 particles on the mechanical and wear properties of Al base composites

In this study as its novelty, Al/Al2O3 composites have been fabricated combined stir casting and accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process. Then, the next step was the investigation of the effect of Nano Al2O3 Vol.% on mechanical, wear and microstructural properties of these kind of composites. After the 4th cycle, an excellent particle distribution through the aluminum matrix has been achieved. Then, mechanical properties, wear resistance and microstructural properties have been investigated. The results showed that by higher the alumina Vol.% contents, the strength of these composites were enhanced and the elongation of samples decreased. Also, by increasing alumina content into the Al matrix through stir casting process, a significant increase in wear resistance was achieved.

Thermal and wear properties of Al/Cu functionally graded metal matrix composite produced by severe plastic deformation method

The past decade has witnessed a huge growth in functionally graded materials (FGM) with attractive properties. This paper is a preliminary attempt to investigate Al/Cu FGM produced by a new methodology consisting of cold roll bonding (CRB) and accumulative roll bonding (ARB) processes. The results of microstructural characterizations reveal that the volume fraction of copper changed gently across the FGM. The observed distribution of copper's pieces was achieved by using the ARB process in which the reinforcement can be well distributed in the matrix. The findings of tensile tests revealed that, with an increase in Cu content, the ultimate tensile strength of layers increased while the elongation decreased. Also, the elongation of FGMMC which was about 4.6 was the least value and its tensile strength which was around 367 MPa was as much as that of Al/80%Cu but less than that of Cu layer. The results of wear tests showed that as the volume fraction of the reinforcement rose, friction coefficient and volumetric worn loss declined; indeed, hard copper layers can be plastically deformed as much as aluminum. Then, a smaller amount of material was abraded during pin on disk interaction. Based on the results of thermal diffusivity, with an increase in copper content, the thermal conductivity increased from Al layer with 155.5 W/mK to Cu layer with 283.3 W/mK indicating the good conductance of the Al/Cu interface and copper's pieces. Further, the thermal conductivity of FGMMC with 201.67 W/mK was more than all laminated composites except Cu layer.

Stoichiometry and Texture Evolution of Individual Layers during Accumulative Roll Bonding of Al-Mg Laminated Composites

Stoichiometry and Texture Evolution of Individual Layers during Accumulative Roll Bonding of Al-Mg Laminated Composites

Research on Electromagnetic Shielding Effectiveness of Multi-layered LZ91/Al Alloy Composite Materials by Asynchronous Accumulative Roll Bonding

In this paper, the multi-layered LZ91/Al alloy composite materials were prepared by asynchronous accumulative roll bonding (AARB), and the effect of the multilayer structure on the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of the alloy was investigated. The result show that the number of LZ91 and Al layers increase exponentially with the increase of AARB passes, and the LZ91 layer and Al layer, α-Mg phase and β-Li phase in the alloy are arranged alternately. Besides, as the aggregate thickness of the Al layer increases in the AARB process, the electrical conductivity of the alloy also increases. Thish can effectively improve the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of the alloy.

High strength and low electrical resistivity of Al-0.1 at%Ni alloys produced by accumulative roll bonding

An accumulative roll bonding up to 8 cycles increases ultimate tensile strength of Al-0.1at%Ni alloy around 2.5 times from around 60 MPa up to around 185 MPa. Whereas, electrical resistivity at 77 K increases less than 20% from 2.8 nΩm up to 3.3 nΩm. The change of the mechanical and electrical properties can be estimated based on the microstructure observations/measurements, such as, the increase in dislocation density from around 2×10 12 m -2 to around 1×10 14 m -2 , and the decrease in grain thickness from 100 μm down to 0.31 μm. Al-0.1at%Ni alloy gives better balance of mechanical and electrical properties than that of Al-0.1at%Fe alloy as previously reported. It is effective to design new aluminum alloy using the transition metals as alloying element for Al subjected to severe plastic deformation. • An accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process was applied Al-0.1at%Ni alloy. • Strength increases about 3 times higher. • Electrical resistivity increases about 20%. • These changes were associated with the microstructural change via ARB. • New strategy of adding low concentration transition metal to Al is shown.

Predicting the forming limit diagram of the fine-grained AA 1050 sheet using GTN damage model with experimental verifications

In this research, forming limit diagram (FLD) of aluminum alloy 1050 (AA 1050) sheet produced by Accumulative Roll Bonding (ARB) is investigated numerically and experimentally. The Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman (GTN) ductile damage model is used to predict sheet failure and obtain its FLD using numerical simulation in Abaqus/Explicit. Nucleation and growth of voids in the material during the deformation is the basic concept of the GTN damage model. This damage model has nine basic parameters that obtaining through experimental tests is time-consuming and costly, and in some cases, impossible. Thus, the present study tries to obtain the above parameters for fine-grained aluminum 1050 fabricated by ARB using the finite element method. Therefore, after considering each parameter’s interval, numerical simulation and the anti-inference method are used in the uniaxial tensile test to identify GTN parameters for the AA 1050 sheet using FEM. The optimum parameters of the GTN model are used in the FEM of the Nakazima test for FLD prediction. Also, The FLD of the fine-grained aluminum sheet is obtained experimentally using the Nakazima test. Finally, the numerical and experimental FLDs are compared for validation.

Accumulative Roll Bonding of Alloy 2205 Duplex Steel and the Accompanying Impacts on Microstructure, Texture, and Mechanical Properties

Accumulative Roll Bonding of Alloy 2205 Duplex Steel and the Accompanying Impacts on Microstructure, Texture, and Mechanical Properties

Evaluation of nanomechanical and nanoscratch response of Inconel 718 reinforced with graphene nanoplates produced by combined ARB-GTAW processes

An attempt was made to produce graphene reinforced Inconel 718 composite by new combining accumulative roll bonding (ARB) and gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). The phase composition analysis and wear behavior of the composite were assessed. The microstructure characterization was studied by Raman spectroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The results display that integrating ARB with GTAW can be consider as a suitable way to yield superalloy-based composite with enhanced tribological behavior due to carbide and carbonitride formation formed from decomposition of graphene nanoplates (GNPs). The elastic modulus and hardness were initial recorded by nanoindentation and then used to attain the yield stress, and subsequently for characterizing flow behavior parameters like n and K. The obtained results exposed that the load–displacement curve acquired from nanoindentation and Nanoscratching has an excellent potential to investigate microscopic behavior of particle based composites. Evaluation of scratch mechanisms in composite specimens presented that the key failure in specimens are due to tensile state Hertzian cracks. Though, as the applied load rises, the specimen undertakes increasing incremental plastic deformation and failures change to interfacial spallation.

The Effect of Preheating Temperature on the Forming Limit Diagram of AA1050/AA7050 Al Multilayered Sheets Produced by Accumulative Roll Bonding (ARB)

Multilayered sheets of AA1050 and AA7050 Al alloys produced by hot accumulative roll bonding (ARB) are tested to estimate their forming limit diagrams (FLDs). Sheets processed with preheating at 450 and 500 °C for up to six ARB cycles are submitted to Nakazima tests with an in situ digital image correlation system and tensile tests to analyze the mechanical behavior. X‐ray measurements and electron backscatter diffraction are performed to obtain the crystallographic texture and the mesotexture, respectively, and thus characterize the heterogeneous microstructure. A bimodal grain size distribution is observed in these sheets since AA7050 layers present elongated and fine grain size with nanometric precipitates and AA1050 layers present coarser and equiaxed grains. In addition, texture analysis indicates both rolling and shear components in the sheets. The FLDs show that the forming properties did not follow the expected rule of mixtures when compared with monolithic alloy sheets. Overall, the multilayered AA1050/AA7050 processed by means of ARB at 500 °C presents better formability than that at 450 °C, due to the combination of lower anisotropy measured by the Lankford coefficients values close to 1 and low normal anisotropy Δr values.

Achieving enhanced mechanical properties of SiC/Al–Cu nanocomposites via simultaneous solid-state alloying of Cu and dispersing of SiC nanoparticles

In this study, SiC/Al–Cu nanocomposites were fabricated via simultaneous solid-state alloying of Cu and dispersing of SiC nanoparticles in Al matrix, for the first time. We showed that a complete solid solution of Cu (4.5 wt%) and a uniform dispersion of dense (up to 15 vol%) SiC nanoparticles in Al matrix can be successfully achieved, by accumulative roll-bonding (ARB) of pure Al, Cu and SiC nanoparticles to high cycles. The as-prepared SiC/Al–Cu nanocomposites exhibited excellent mechanical properties at room temperature and at 300 °C. The microhardness and tensile strength of the SiC/Al–Cu nanocomposites were both significantly increased by incorporating Cu solutes and dense SiC nanoparticles, surpassing those of other Al–Cu matrix composites. The SiC/Al–Cu nanocomposites also exhibited enhanced high-temperature creep resistance with the increase of SiC content. The synergy of solid-solution strengthening and Orowan strengthening was responsible for the excellent mechanical properties of the nanocomposites. Our study indicated the high efficiency of the ARB-induced matrix alloying and dispersing of nanoparticles for optimizing the microstructure and mechanical performances of Al matrix composites.

Feasibility study of producing Al–5Zn–1 Mg alloy by accumulative roll bonding process and subsequent heat treatment

In this research work, Al/5Zn/1Mg (wt.%) composite sheets were produced by the accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process and then converted into Al-5Zn-1 Mg (wt.%) alloy sheets by a suitable heat treatment process. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used for structural investigations. Mechanical properties of the specimens were also examined by using tensile and microhardness measurements. SEM microstructural analyses revealed the uniform distribution of Zn layers and Mg powder particles in the Al matrix by increasing the number of ARB cycles, as well as the formation of the α phase after the seventh ARB cycle and subsequent heat treatment at 390 °C in the alloy samples. XRD results confirmed the microstructural evolution and showed only peaks related to Al for the alloy samples after the seventh cycle. Tensile results showed that by increasing the number of ARB cycles from first to seventh, tensile strength and elongation increased from 117 MPa to 370 MPa and 8 to 13 %, respectively. Microhardness measurements also depicted the progressive increase in hardness by increasing the ARB cycles up to the seventh cycle. The results confirmed that the ARB process with subsequent heat treatment is a suitable method for Al-based alloy sheets fabrication with high mechanical properties responses.

Microstructural evolution, shielding effectiveness, and the ballistic response of Mg/Al7075/B4C/Pb composite produced by combination of coating and severe plastic deformation (SPD) processes

Light-weight metal matrix composites reinforced by Pb and B4C are of interests in aerospace industry due to high strength to weight ratio and excellent shielding effectiveness. This paper investigates microstructure, shielding effectiveness, tensile properties, and high-velocity impact behavior of Mg/Al/B4C/Pb composite. In this composite, the B4C layer was deposited by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) on aluminum layers, then the sandwich with the stacking sequence of Mg/Al/B4C/Pb was fabricated through accumulative roll bonding (ARB). The optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images illustrated that by increasing the cycles, all layers within composite experienced instabilities including necking and fracture. In addition, increasing the number of rolling cycles improved tensile properties, namely Young's modulus, elongation, yield, and ultimate strength. Furthermore, according to the results of the high-velocity impact test, by increasing the rolling cycle, less failure such as cracks and perforation was found on surfaces, indicating the enhanced ballistic resistance of composites. Plus, when composites were subjected to electron radiation, less relative doses of radiation were detected by dosimeter at higher rolling cycles which confirmed the attenuation of transmitted rays and then the enhancement of shielding effectiveness of composites.

Microstructure-Based Modeling and Mechanical Characteristics of Accumulative Roll Bonded Al Nanocomposites with SiC Nanoparticles

This research work aims to fabricate the Al-4 wt.% SiC nanocomposite using the accumulative roll bonding (ARB) technique. Moreover, a finite element model based on real microstructure representative volume element representation and cohesive zone modeling was developed to predict the mechanical response of the produced composites. The results demonstrated that SiC particles were homogenously distributed inside the Al matrix after five passes. The tensile strength and hardness were improved by increasing the number of ARB passes. The microhardness of an Al-4%SiC composite subjected to five ARB passes was increased to 67 HV compared to 53 HV for Al sheets subjected to the same rolling process. Moreover, owing to greater bonding and grain refinement, tensile strength was increased by a factor of three compared to pure Al. The result of the proposed micro-model successfully predicts the experimentally obtained results of the Al–SiC macro composite. The numerically obtained stress–strain curve was comparable with the experimental one. The results also showed that the size of the used RVE was significantly influential in the prediction of the stress–strain behavior.

Investigating the Effect of Al- 1050-H4 Sample Position on Grain Size and Mechanical Properties During Accumulative Roll Bonding Process

— Nanocrystalline material polycrystals with grain sizes less than 100 nm—have the unique mechanical properties highly desirable for a wide range of applications. This paper compares the microstructure, grain sizes and hardness of top and bottom Al 1050-H4 rolled samples through an accumulative roll bonding process. The samples were rolled once at the speed of 9 rpm and an applied load of 5 ton. Rolled samples were characterised by optical microscopy and a linear intercept method based on the ASTM E122-12 standard was followed. The hardness test was performed on both samples following the ASTM E384 test standard. Simulation was performed using an Auto Desk Inventor and the mesh sizes of the samples were correlated with their grain sizes to analyse the material properties during the accumulative roll bonding (ARB). The obtained results show more property enhancement under the applied load and strain during the ARB process. The bottom sample was more refined and had higher mechanical properties (hardness) compared to the top sample. The average grain size of the bottom sample was 42.6 µm , and 47.6 µm for the top sample. The hardness results were 51.28 HV for the bottom sample and 42.08 HV for the top sample. From the simulation, it was observed that the elongation was useful, without any possibility of material failure in both 42.6 µm and 47.6 µm microstructural analyses. It was also observed that the elongation during the ARB process occurred without any material defects during the grain refining process. The length of the elongation during the ARB process was also revealed during the simulation process. . Keywords—ARB, properties, elongation, material, samples.

Tensile properties optimization of Al/electroplating-Cu composites fabricated by accumulative roll bonding (ARB)

A novel method combing electroplating and ARB was used to manufacture multilayer composites in this research. Pure Cu was electroplated on the Al-1060 and stacked with the Al-1060 sheets alternately; as a result, the multilayer metals were made into composites by ARB. It is indicated that both grains and AlCu intermetallic compounds significantly refined, together with well-bonded interfaces after ARB. Note that the tensile properties improved significantly. By applying 6 cycles of ARB, both the yield stress (YS) and ultimate tensile stress (UTS) were increased by more than 100 MPa and a negligible adverse influence on the elongation was caused. Therefore, it is very promising to apply this strategy of combining electroplating and ARB to produce composites with superior properties.

Immiscible tri-phase Cu/Ag/Cu/Nb nanolamellar composite structures generate exceptional strength-conductivity and thermal stability combination in Cu-based composites

It is of significance, but still remains a key challenge, to realize simultaneously high strength, high conductivity and excellent thermal stability in Cu-based materials, as these desirable properties often display a mutually exclusive relationship with each other. Here we propose an effective strategy to overcome this trade-off dilemma by constructing an immiscible tri-phase Cu/Ag/Cu/Nb nanolamellar composite structure in Cu-based materials using accumulative roll bonding (ARB) technique. The resultant immiscible tri-phase Cu/Ag/Cu/Nb nanolamellar structure with an average lamellar spacing of 20 nm produces an exceptional property combination: high tensile strength exceeding 1.0 GPa combined with excellent electrical conductivity above 80% IACS (International Annealed Cu Standard), while maintaining mechanical and thermal stability up to 700 °C for 10h. These desirable properties originate from the synergistic contributions from the unusually high density of immiscible Cu/Ag and Cu/Nb heterophase interfaces, the low density of defects accumulated within the layers and the unique immiscible tri-phase Cu/Ag/Cu/Nb nanolamellar structure. Our results demonstrate the concurrent improvement of several mutually exclusive properties in Cu-based materials including strength-thermal stability, and strength-electrical conductivity, and thus represent a promising route to engineering high performance nanostructured materials.

Microstructure evolution and mechanical behavior of α/β alternative Mg–Li alloy composite sheets with different initial thickness ratios prepared by accumulative roll bonding

α/β alternative Mg–Li composite sheets with different initial thickness ratio of α to β (H) were prepared by accumulative roll-bonding (ARB). The hard layer necking, microstructure evolution and the strain hardening sequence of the α/β alloys in the composite sheets during the ARB process were studied by optical microscopy (OM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), microhardness and tensile test. The results showed that, with the increase of H, the necking of the LA51 layer was relieved, and the grains of the two alloys were gradually refined. With the increase of ARB passes and H, the strength of the composite sheets increased first and then decreased, and the plasticity decreased first and then increased. When H = 1, the ARB3 composite sheet possesses the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS) and elongation (EL) of 286 ± 1 MPa, 262 ± 6 MPa and 6.4 ± 0.1%, respectively. During the ARB process, the work hardening of the LA141 layer first increased, then that of the LA51 layer increased gradually, and finally that of the two alloy layers increased simultaneously.

Regulating Electrochemical Growth of Metals at Rechargeable Battery Electrodes

Control of crystallography of thin metal electrodeposit films has recently emerged as key to achieving long operating lifetimes in next-generation electrochemical systems for energy storage. Very recent studies show that the crystallography of metal deposits impacts both morphological evolution and chemical kinetics of the interfaces between metal anodes and electrolytes in a battery. We report that the large crystallographic heterogeneity, e.g., broad orientational distribution, that appears characteristic of commercial metal foils results in rough morphology upon plating/stripping. On this basis, we develop an accumulative roll bonding (ARB) methodology—a severe plastic deformation process—that uses commercial metal foils as input. Zn metal—a promising, low-cost-competitive battery anode material— is used as a first example to interrogate the proposed concept. We demonstrate that the ARB process is highly effective in achieving uniform, mono-domain quality crystallographic control on macroscopic materials. After the ARB process, the Zn grains exhibit a strong (002) texture (i.e. [002]Zn//ND). We report further that the texture transitions from a classical bipolar pattern to a nonclassical unipolar pattern under large nominal strain, almost completely eliminating the orientational heterogeneity of the foil. Evaluated as anodes in aqueous Zn coin cells, the strongly (002)-textured Zn suppresses the rough plating/stripping landscape, promotes uniform, homoepitaxial growth of Zn and remarkably improve the continuous plating/stripping performance by nearly two orders of magnitude under practical conditions (e.g., 4 mAh at 40 mA/cm2). The performance improvements are readily scaled to achieve pouch-type Zn full batteries that deliver exceptional reversibility. The ARB process is thermo-mechanical and can in principle be applied to any metal chemistry to achieve similar crystallographic uniformity, provided the appropriate temperature and accumulated strains are employed to achieve severe levels of plastic deformation. We evaluate this concept using ARB to induce strong texturing phenomena in commercial Li and Na foils, which unlike Zn (HCP) are BCC crystals, and demonstrate its success using morphological and electrochemical analysis of these metals as electrodes. Our simple process for creating strong textures in both hexagonal and cubic metals and illustrating the critical role such built-in crystallography plays underscores potentially transformative opportunities for developing scalable, highly reversible thin metal anodes (e.g. hexagonal Zn, Mg, and cubic Li, Na, Ca, Al) with specific crystal textures for next generation batteries that have practical N:P ratios.Key

Solid-state alloying of Al-Mg alloys by accumulative roll-bonding: Microstructure and properties

In this study, a novel solid-state alloying approach was adopted to fabricate Al-Mg alloys with high Mg contents (CMg) by accumulative roll-bonding (ARB) of Al and Mg elemental materials to ultrahigh cycles. Experimental results showed that the degree of alloying increased with the increase of ARB cycles and a supersaturated α-Al solid solution accompanied with nanoprecipitates was formed in the Al-Mg alloys by ARB to 70 cycles. The as-prepared Al-Mg alloys exhibited enhanced mechanical properties, with a maximum tensile strength of ∼ 615 MPa and a tensile elongation of ∼ 10% at CMg = 13 wt.%. The high strength can be attributed to different mechanisms, namely solid solution strengthening, grain boundary strengthening, dislocation strengthening, and precipitation strengthening. The Al-Mg alloys showed increased work hardening with increasing CMg, due to the enhanced formation of nanoprecipitates. Meanwhile, no obvious drop in the intergranular corrosion (IGC) resistance was found in the Al-Mg alloys with CMg up to 13 wt.%. Moreover, sensitization treatment was found to induce little decrease in the IGC resistance of the Al-Mg alloys with CMg ≤13 wt.%. We found that the excellent IGC resistance was due to the suppression of grain boundary precipitation by the preferred formation of precipitates within the grains that were induced by ARB. Our study indicated the novelty of the present solid-state alloying approach to achieving a superior combination of high mechanical properties and IGC resistance in Al-Mg alloys.