Using ball-indentation to evaluate the properties of an untrafine-grained Al-2% Si Alloy processed by ECAP

Venkateswarlu, K., Das, Gautam, Pramanik, A.K., Xu, Cheng and Langdon, Terence G. (2006) Using ball-indentation to evaluate the properties of an untrafine-grained Al-2% Si Alloy processed by ECAP. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 427 (1-2), 188-194. (doi:10.1016/j.msea.2006.04.053).

Abstract

As-cast Al–Si alloys exhibit excellent mechanical properties but these properties may be further improved through processing by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP). In this investigation, specimens of a hypo-eutectic Al–2% Si alloy were successfully pressed up to a maximum of four passes at room temperature and the microstructures and mechanical properties were evaluated. The results show that pressing through four passes reduces the grain size from ~40 to ~0.70 µm, reduces the size of the Si particles from ~12.0 to ~1.08 µm and increases the yield stress and the ultimate tensile strength by a factor of ~2 by comparison with the as-cast alloy. The mechanical properties were examined using a ball-indentation technique (BIT). It is suggested that, since BIT provides the capability of obtaining extensive mechanical data using only a very small sample, it is an ideal technique for evaluating the properties of samples processed by ECAP.

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Contributors

Author: Terence G. Langdon

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