Laser processing of bulk Al–12Si alloy: influence of microstructure on thermal properties

The feasibility of enhancing the thermal conductivity of an alloy via microstructural refinement was examined using Al–12%Si alloy as a model material. Al–12Si alloy samples were fabricated at different process parameters using laser engineered net shaping (LENS?) and the effect of microstructural features on the thermal conductivity was studied and compared with conventionally cast alloy. The large difference in melting points and laser light absorptivities of Si and Al as well as the low melt viscosity of Al–12Si alloy resulted in a very small process window to successfully fabricate bulk Al–12Si alloy samples using LENS?. Comparison of microstructural features of laser-processed samples with cast Al–12Si alloy showed significant refinement in eutectic Si for laser processed samples. Microstructural refinement not only improved the thermal conductivity of Al–12Si alloy but also compensated the detrimental effect of porosity on thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity of cast alloy varied between 82 and 93?W/mK, which is ～21–76% lower than the values exhibited by laser-processed samples in the range 103–153?W/mK. The results of LENS? fabrication, microstructural evolution and thermal properties of Al–12Si alloy bulk structures can be extended to other immiscible alloys and metal matrix composites for a variety of engineering applications.     

Effect of irradiation and pre-ageing temperature on the mechanical properties of Al–Si alloy

Al–1wt.%Si alloy samples in the solid solution state were irradiated with doses of gamma rays up to 1.75 MGy for 2 h in the temperature range from 423 to 553 K. Induced variations in structure, mechanical and electrical properties were traced by suitable techniques. Observed changes in the measured parameters, internal friction Q ^?1, thermal diffusivity D _th, dynamic elastic modulus Y and resistivity, ρ, were explained in terms of the role and mode of interaction of lattice defects in irradiated and thermally treated samples. Composition inhomogeneity and variations in mass distribution in the matrix were also considered. The structure identification of the samples was carried out by using conventional X-ray diffraction techniques and transmission electron microscopy micrographs.     

Anti-corrosive properties of natural honey on Al–Mg–Si alloy in seawater

Anti-corrosive properties of natural honey on Al–Mg–Si alloy in seawater were evaluated by potentiodynamic polarization (PP), linear polarization resistance (LPR) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. All the studied parameters showed good anti-corrosive properties against the corrosion of Al–Mg–Si alloy in the tested solution and their performance increases with corrosion resistant concentration. Polarization data indicated that natural honey is a mixed-type corrosion resistant. LPR and EIS studies showed that there were significant increases in the overall resistance after the addition of natural honey. The adsorption of natural honey on the metal surface obeys Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The analysis of morphology studies confirmed the formation of precipitates of natural honey on the metal surface, which reduced the overall corrosion reaction.     

Wetting and reaction promoted by ultrasound between sapphire and liquid Al–12Si alloy

Ultrasonic-assisted wetting between sapphire bulks and liquid Al–12Si alloy in an atmospheric environment at 620 °C is carried out in this study. Complete, rather than partial, wetting and joining can be achieved with the aid of ultrasound. Growth of epitaxial alumina on sapphire bulks is promoted dramatically during ultrasonic-assisted wetting comparing to that during hot-dipping without ultrasound. XRD results show that the epitaxial alumina is non-crystalline. This indicates that the temperature on the surface of the sapphire substrate is not more than 1200 °C even though the collapse of acoustic cavitation bubbles could theoretically produce extremely high temperature. The bonding force at the interface between the Al–Si alloy and sapphire is strengthened because of the epitaxial alumina. The interfacial shear strength of sapphire/Al–Si alloy can reach as high as 60–65 MPa. The fracture morphology shows that cracks initiated at the interface between Si grains and the epitaxial alumina on sapphire. This result is especially useful for the joining of metals and ceramics.     

Studies of 6H–SiC devices

Silicon carbide (SiC) is recently receiving increased attention due to its unique electrical and thermal properties. It has been regarded as the most appropriate semiconductor material for high power, high frequency, high temperature, and radiation hard microelectronic devices. The fabrication processes and characterization of basic device on 6H–SiC were systematically studied. The main works are summarized as follows:The homoepitaxial growth on the commercially available single-crystal 6H–SiC wafers was performed in a modified gas source molecular beam epitaxy system. The mesa structured p⁺n junction diodes on the material were fabricated and characterized. The diodes showed a high breakdown voltage of 800 V at room temperature. They operated with good rectification characteristics from room temperature to 673 K.Using thermal evaporation, Ti/6H–SiC Schottky barrier diodes were fabricated. They showed good rectification characteristics from room temperature to 473 K. Using neon implantation to form the edge termination, the breakdown voltage was improved to be 800 V.n-Type 6H–SiC MOS capacitors were fabricated and characterized. Under the same growing conditions, the quality of poly-silicon gate capacitors was better than Al. In addition, SiC MOS capacitors had good tolerance to γ rays.     

Influence of ageing on the low cycle fatigue behaviour of an Al–Mg–Si alloy

Abstract

The low cycle fatigue (LCF) performance of AA6063 Al–Mg–Si alloy at under-aged (UA), peak-aged (PA) and over-aged (OA) conditions has been examined to understand the micromechanism of fatigue and the associated dynamic structural changes in this alloy. The LCF behaviour of the differently aged AA6063 alloys has been studied at strain amplitudes ranging between 0.2 and 1.0% under strain control mode. The UA state exhibits pronounced cyclic hardening unlike the PA and the OA states at strain amplitudes greater than 0.4%. The PA and the OA states show hardening only for a few cycles followed by prolonged softening. Characterisations of the micro- and the sub-structural alterations due to LCF establish that the phenomenon of dynamic precipitation results in cyclic hardening the UA alloy. The softening of PA alloy occurs due to shearing of precipitates and that in the OA alloy takes place owing to reversibility of slip by the formation and annihilation of the Orowan loops around the β (Mg₂Si) precipitates. Analyses of the hysteresis loops reveal Masing, nearly-Masing and non-Masing behaviour in the UA, OA and PA states, respectively. Analyses of the asymmetry factor of the hysteresis loops assist to infer that the Masing behaviour in the UA alloy is due to dislocation–dislocation interactions, whereas the nearly-Masing behaviour in the OA alloy and the non-Masing behaviour in the PA alloy are the consequence of varying degrees of dislocation–precipitate interactions associated with inhomogeneous deformation.     

Microstructure evolution and properties of Al/Al–Mg–Si alloy clad wire during heat treatment

In this paper, heat treatment was carried out on Al/Al–Mg–Si alloy clad wire, and microstructure evolution and properties of Al/Al–Mg–Si alloy clad wire during heat treatment were investigated. During solution, contents of Mg and Si in inner matrix increased due to dissolution of primary Mg₂Si, and they also increased in outer matrix because Mg and Si diffused across the interface. Tensile strength of the clad wire increased firstly and then decreased, and elongation continuously increased, while conductivity continuously decreased with the increase in solution time. In aging process, Mg₂Si precipitated in both inner core and outer layer, and the content and average diameter of the precipitate increased with the increase in aging time. The content of precipitate was higher, and the average diameter was bigger in inner core. Tensile strength of the clad wire increased firstly and then decreased with the increase in aging time, and the elongation continuously decreased, while the conductivity continuously increased. The peak tensile strength of 202 MPa occurred at 8 h, when the corresponding elongation was 20 % and the conductivity reached 56.07 %IACS. Even tensile strength of the prepared clad wire approximately equaled to that of Al–0.5Mg–0.35Si alloy 203 MPa, the conductivity was obviously improved from 54.2 to 56.07 %IACS.     

Annealing texture of a cold-rolled Fe–Mn–Al–Si–C alloy

The study of recrystallization texture of a cold deformed Fe–Mn–Al–Si–C alloy, with about 30% Mn, has been discussed in this paper. The alloy is fully austenitic at room temperature, and therefore, principal FCC rolling textures were developed in this material at different stages of cold rolling. The present study was undertaken to observe the transformation of FCC rolling texture during recrystallization of a heavily cold deformed specimen. It was observed that isothermal annealing at 750 °C led to a weak recrystallisation texture, which was quite similar to the deformation texture developed at the early stage of cold rolling. During recovery stage, a strong Bs/Goss-type texture was developed, which was identified as a new observation in this work.     

The role of internal stresses on the plastic deformation of the Al–Mg–Si–Cu alloy AA6111

In this work, we have investigated the internal stress contribution to the flow stress for a commercial 6xxx aluminium alloy (AA6111). In contrast to stresses from forest and precipitation hardening, the internal stress cannot be assessed properly with a uniaxial tensile test. Instead, tension–compression tests have been used to measure the Bauschinger stress and produce a comprehensive study which examines its evolution with (i) the precipitation structure, and (ii) a wide range of applied strain. A large set of ageing conditions was investigated to explore the effect of the precipitation state on the development of internal stress within the material. It is shown that the Bauschinger stress generally increases with the applied strain and critically depends on the average radius of the precipitate and is thus linked to the shearable/non-shearable transition. Further work in the case of non-shearable particles shows that higher strain eventually leads to particle fracture and the Bauschinger stress then rapidly decreases. Following the seminal work of Brown et al. a physically based approach including plastic relaxation and particle fracture is developed to predict the evolution of the internal stress as a function of the applied strain. Knowing the main characteristics of the precipitation structure–such as the average precipitate radius, length and volume fraction–allows one to estimate accurately the internal stress contribution to the flow stress with this model.     

Precipitation and solute distribution in an interrupted-aged Al–Mg–Si–Cu alloy

Quantitative analysis of the precipitate species and solute distribution was carried out on Al–Mg–Si–Cu alloy 6061 aged to peak hardness using a conventional T6 heat treatment and the so-called T6I6 heat treatments. In this latter, a dwell period at reduced temperature (65°C) is introduced into the T6 ageing cycle (at 177°C or 150°C) which modifies the microstructure and results in the simultaneous improvement of both tensile properties and fracture toughness. Analysis of three-dimensional atom probe data reveals that the superior mechanical properties of the T6I6/177 temper are achieved by a combined effect of a greater consumption of solute atoms by precipitates, an increased number density of fine precipitates and the presence of greater fractions of the effective strengthening precipitates in the final microstructure. Three types of precipitates were found to be characteristic of the peak aged conditions: β′′ precipitates, Guinier–Preston zones and Mg–Si(–Cu) co-clusters. The composition of the strengthening precipitates was found to vary over a wide range for the different heat treatment schedules, corresponding to a variation in the number density of stable nuclei, without any accompanying change in their morphology. All precipitates were found to contain substantial quantities of aluminium. The results also indicate that the strengthening precipitates are preferentially formed from Si-rich nuclei that contain Cu atoms, as opposed to Cu-free nuclei.     

Mechanism of texture and microstructure evolution during warm rolling of Ti–6Al–4V alloy

Ti–6Al–4V (Ti64) plates were subjected to rolling at 600°C and 800°C, respectively, for reductions up to 90% reduction in thickness. The mechanism of texture and microstructure evolution during rolling was studied in the present study. Extension twins of coherent nature were observed in the samples rolled up to 50% of reduction. The deformation was relatively inhomogeneous in the samples rolled at 600°C compared to that at 800°C. Visco-plastic self-consistent (VPSC) simulation showed that relative activity of pyramidal <c+a> slip was higher during rolling at 800°C compared to that at 600°C. The average activity of slip systems per grain was less than five for the samples rolled at 600°C and this might be responsible for the strain heterogeneity in the large grains. Further, twinning activity was found to be limited to a true strain of 0.5, as supported by the microstructural observation. VPSC simulation also showed the presence of contraction twins in the samples which was further supported by X-ray texture measurement. Dominant basal texture was observed in the samples irrespective of the temperature of rolling.     

Scanning transmission electron microscopy investigation of an Al–Mg–Si–Ge–Cu alloy

Precipitation in a Mg-rich Al–Mg–Si–Ge–Cu alloy was investigated using aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy. The precipitates were needle or lath shaped with the longest dimension parallel to ?001?_Al. The precipitates had no repeating unit cell when viewed along this direction. However, the precipitate structure in projection consisted of a hexagonal network of mixed Si and Ge columns, with Mg, Al, and Cu columns occupying specific sites in between the network columns. The Cu columns appeared with the same local arrangement of atomic columns as in Al–Mg–Si–Cu precipitates, and the Cu-free regions consisted of structural units with Mg and Al at specific sites. These structural units were often arranged in a locally ordered fashion, and in some cases the projected structure possessed and overall point symmetry. The amount of strain on the surrounding matrix was found to vary depending on the width of the precipitate cross section.     

Lattice dynamics and debye temperature of AlCu,AlSi and AlGe alloy systems

The lattice dynamics and specific heat at constant volume for AlCu alloy system is studied using our previous treatment based on the microscopic electronic theory. Considering the volume and electron density effect on the dynamical matrix of the pure constituent, we obtain the band and local mode frequencies at the temperature-dependent specific heat in the Al_1−x Cu_x solid solution. Then, using the data about the mean elastic wave and the specific heat extrapolated to the absolute zero temperature, the Debye temperature is presented for the Al_1−xCu_x, Al_1−xSi_x and Al_1−xGe_x alloy systems. The Debye temperature decreases as a function of the Cu atomic fraction x for Al_1−xCu_x alloy, and remarkably for Al_1−xSi_x and Al_1−xGe_x solid solutions.     

Investigation of the structural and electrical properties of air-annealed ruthenium thin films on 6H–SiC at different temperatures

Ruthenium (Ru) Schottky contacts and thin films on n-type 6H–SiC were fabricated and characterised by physical and electrical methods. The characterisation was done after annealing the samples in air at various temperatures. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) analysis of the thin films indicated the oxidation of Ru after annealing at a temperature of 400 °C, and interdiffusion of Ru and Si at the Ru–6H–SiC interface at 500 °C. XRD analysis of the thin films indicated the formation of RuO₂ and RuSi in Ru–6H–SiC after annealing at a temperature of 600 °C. The formation of the oxide was also corroborated by Raman spectroscopy. The ideality factor of the Schottky barrier diodes (SBD) was seen to generally decrease with annealing temperature. The series resistance increased astronomically after annealing at 700 °C, which was an indication that the SBD had broken down. The failure mechanism of the SBD is attributed to deep inter-diffusions of Ru and Si at the Ru–6H–SiC interface as evidenced by the RBS of the thin films.     

HRTEM study of the effect of deformation on the early precipitation behaviour in an AA6060 Al–Mg–Si alloy

The effect of 10% pre-ageing deformation on the early precipitation behaviour in an AA6060 Al–Mg–Si alloy aged 10?min at 190°C was investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) in ?100?Al projections. The precipitate nucleation was heterogeneous since all precipitates were found to grow on dislocation lines. The pre-ageing deformation suppresses growth of Gunier–Preston zones and β″ phase. The resulting precipitates are still largely coherent with the aluminium matrix. They appear with two main morphologies; one consists of independent, small cross-sections arising from needles with disordered β′ and B′ structures. The other morphology is a much more continuous decoration where precipitates have elongated and conjoined cross-sections and where a particular precipitate phase could not be determined. All precipitates in this work were found to contain a common near-hexagonal sub-cell (SC) with projected bases a?=?b?≈?0.4?nm. This strongly indicates that they are built over the same Si network, which recently has been demonstrated to exist in all precipitates in the Al–Mg–Si(–Cu) system. For the discrete morphology type the network has one hexagonal base vector parallel to or very near a ?510?Al direction. For the continuous type, one base vector falls along a ?100?Al direction. This orientation of the network is different from previous studies of ternary Al–Mg–Si alloys and must be a direct consequence of the deformation.     

Electronic structures of Al–Si clusters and the magic number structure Al8Si4

The low-energy structures of Al₈Si_m (m = 1–6) have been determined by using the genetic algorithm combined with density functional theory and the Second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) models. The results show that the close-packed structures are preferable in energy for Al–Si clusters and in most cases there exist a few isomers with close energies. The valence molecular orbitals, the orbital level structures and the electron localisation function (ELF) consistently demonstrate that the electronic structures of Al–Si clusters can be described by the jellium model. Al₈Si₄ corresponds to a magic number structure with pronounced stability and large energy gap; the 40 valence electrons form closed 1S²1P⁶1D¹⁰2S²1F¹⁴2P⁶ shells. The ELF attractors also suggest weak covalent Si–Si, Si–Al and Al–Al bonding, and doping Si in aluminium clusters promotes the covalent interaction between Al atoms.     

Hardness and microstructural variation of Al–Mg–Mn–Sc–Zr alloy

Variations of Vickers hardness were observed in Al–Mg–Mn alloy and Al–Mg–Mn–Sc–Zr alloy at different ageing times, ranging from a peak value of 81.2 HV at 54 ks down to 67.4 HV at 360 ks, below the initial hardness value, 71.8 HV at 0 ks for the case of Al–Mg–Mn–Sc–Zr alloy. Microstructures of samples at each ageing stage were examined carefully by transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) both in two-dimensions and three-dimensions. The presence of different types, densities, and sizes of particles were observed dispersed spherical Al₃Sc_1−xZr_x and also block-shaped Al₃Sc precipitates growing along <1 0 0>_Al with facets {1 0 0} and {1 1 0} of the precipitates. TEM analysis both in two-dimensions and three-dimensions, performed on various samples, confirmed the direct correlation between the hardness and the density of Al₃Sc.