Investigation of Mg and Zr Addition on the Mechanical Properties of Commercially Pure Al

Authors: Samiul Kaiser, M. S. Kaiser

Abstract:

The influence of Mg and Zr addition on mechanical properties such as hardness, tensile strength and impact energy of commercially pure Al are investigated. The microstructure and fracture behavior are also studied by using Optical and Scanning Electron Microscopy. It is observed that magnesium addition improves the mechanical properties of commercially pure Al at the expense of ductility due to formation of β″ (Al₃Mg) and β′ (Al₃Mg₂) phase into the alloy. Zr addition also plays a positive role through grain refinement effect and the formation of metastable L1₂ Al₃Zr precipitates. In addition, it is observed that the fractured surface of Mg added alloy is brittle and higher numbers of dimples are observed in case of Zr added alloy.

Keywords: Al-alloys, hardness, tensile strength, impact energy, microstructure.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3461988

References:

[1] J. R. Davis, “Alloying: Understanding the Basics,” ASM International, Ohio, USA, 2001.
[2] L. S. Marks, Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers, 10th edition, McGraw-Hill, USA, 1996.
[3] M. S. Kaiser, “Grain refinement and precipitation hardening of cast Al-6Mg alloy through ternary scandium and quaternary zirconium and titanium addition,” International Journal of Research in Mechanical Engineering and Technology, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 57-62, 2011.
[4] A. Sharma, Y. S. Shin, and J. P.Jung, “Influence of various additional elements in Al based filler alloys for automotive and brazing industry,” Journal of Welding and Joining, vol. 33, no.5, pp. 1-8, 2015.
[5] M. S. Kaiser, S. H. Sabbir, M. S. Kabir, M. R. Soummo, and M. Al Nur, “Study of mechanical and wear behaviour of hyper-eutectic Al-Si automotive alloy through Fe, Ni and Cr addition,” Materials Research, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 1-9. 2018
[6] A. A Canales, E. Carrera, J. T. Silva, S. Valtierra, and R. Colas, “Mechanical properties in as-cast and heat treated Al–Si–Cu alloys,” International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 281-300, 2012.
[7] S. Jayalakshmi, Q. Dezhi, S. Sankaranarayanan, and M. Gupta, “Microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg–Al alloys with in situ Al4C3 phase synthesised by CO2 incorporation during liquid state processing,” International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties, vol. 8, no. 4/5, pp. 283-298, 2013.
[8] Y. Kaygisiz, and N. Marasli, “Microstructural, mechanical and electrical characterization of directionally solidified Al-Si-Mg eutectic alloy,” Journal of Alloys and Compounds, vol. 618, pp. 197-203, 2014.
[9] Y Shu-qing, and L Xing-fu, “The effect of Si morphology on the microstructure and wear property of ZA48 alloy,” International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 88–96, 2014.
[10] I. Luna, H. Molinar, M. Roman, J. Bocardo, and M. Trejo, “Improvement of the tensile properties of an Al-Si-Cu-Mg aluminium industrial alloy by using multi stage solution heat treatments,” Materials Science and Engineering: A., vol. 561, pp. 1-6, 2013..
[11] A. Shokuhfar, and O Nejadseyfi, “A comparison of the effects of severe plastic deformation and heat treatment on the tensile properties and impact toughness of aluminium alloy 6061,” Materials Science and Engineering: A, vol. 594, pp. 140-148, 2014.
[12] M. Krupinski, K. Labisz, T. Tanski, B. Krupinska, M. Krol and M. Polok- Rubiniec, “Influence of Mg addition on crystallisation kinetics and structure of the Zn–Al–Cu alloy,” Archives of Metallurgy and Materials, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 785-90, 2016.
[13] J. D. Robson, and P. B. Prangnell, "Modelling Al3Zr dispersoid precipitation in multicomponentaluminium alloys,” Materials Science and Engineering: A., vol. 352, pp. 240-250, 2003.
[14] S. Park, S. Z. Han, S. K. Choi, and H. M. Lee, “Phase equilibria of Al(Ti,V,Zr) Intermetallic System,” Scripta Materialia, vol. 34, no. 11, pp. 1697-1704, 1996.
[15] P. Cavaliere, “Effect of friction stir processing on the fatigue properties of a Zr modified 2014 aluminium alloy,” Materials Characterization, vol. 57, pp. 100-104, 2006.
[16] J. R. Davis, “Corrosion of Aluminum and Aluminum Alloys,” ASM International. Ohio, USA, 1999.
[17] M. J. Starink, and A. M. Zahra, Low temperature decomposition of Al-Mg alloys: GP zones and L12 ordered precipitates,” Philosophical Magazine A, vol. 76, pp. 701-714, 1997.
[18] D. Hamana, M. Bouchear, M. Betrouche, A. Derafa, and N. Y. Rokhmanov, “Comparative study of formation and transformation of transition phases in Al–12 wt.% Mg alloy”, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, vol. 320, no. 1, pp. 93-102, 2001.
[19] J. R. Croteau, S. Griffiths, M. D. Rossell, C. Leinenbach, C. Kenel, V. Jansen, D. N. Seidman, D. C. Dunand, and N. Q. Vo, “Microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Mg-Zr alloys processed by selective laser melting,” Acta Materialia, vol. 153, pp. 35-44, 2018,
[20] A.E. Mahmoud, M. G. Mahfouz, H. G. Gad- Elrab, “Influence of zirconium on the grain refinement of Al 6063 alloy,” International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications, vol. 4, no. 7, pp. 188-194, 2014.
[21] M. Bouchear, D. Hamana, and T. Laoui, “GP Zones and Precipitate Morphology in Aged Al-Mg Alloys,” Philosophical Magazine A, vol. 73, no. 6, pp. 1733-1740, 1996.
[22] B. H. Lee, S. H. Kim, J. H. Park, H. W. Kim, and J. C. Lee, “Role of Mg in simultaneously improving the strength and ductility of Al–Mg alloys,” Materials Science and Engineering: A, vol. 657, pp. 115-122, 2016.
[23] H. Qian, D. Zhu, C. Hu, and X. Jiang, “Effects of Zr additive on microstructure, mechanical properties, and fractography of Al-Si Alloy,” Metals - Open Access Metallurgy Journal, vol. 8, no. 124, pp. 1-10, 2018.
[24] X. Sauvage, G. Wilde, S. Divinsky, Z. Horita, R.Z. Valiev, “Grain boundaries in ultrafine grained materials processed by severe plastic deformation and related phenomena”, Materials Science and Engineering: A., vol. 540, pp. 1-12, 2012.
[25] S. Amirkhanlou, Y. Zhang, S. Ji, and Z. Fan, Light Metals, The Minerals, Metals and Materials Series, Gewerbestrasse, Switzerland, 2017.
[26] A. Bahrami, A. Razaghian, M. Emamy, and R. Khorshidi, “The effect of Zr on the microstructure and tensile properties of hot-extrudedAl–Mg2Si composite,” Materials and Design, vol. 36, pp. 323-330, 2012.
[27] P. Jain, D. P. Mondal, R. Dhok, and A. Badkul, “The Effect of magnesium addition on the microstructure and compressive deformation behavior of Al-Ca Alloy,” Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, vol. 11, no. 5, pp. 71-82, 2014.
[28] D. P. Mondal, N. V. Ganesh, V. S. Muneshwar, S. Das, and N. Ramakrishnan, “Effect of SiC concentration and strain rate on the compressive deformation behaviour of 2014Al–SiCp composite,” Materials Science and Engineering: A, vol. 433, pp. 18-31, 2006.
[29] A. Ma, N. Saito, I. Shigematsu, K. Suzuki, M. Takagi, Y. Nishida, H. Iwata, T. Imura, Effect of heat treatment on impact toughness of aluminum silicon eutectic alloy processed by rotarydie equal-channel angular pressing,” Materials Transactions, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 399-402, 2004.
[30] M. S. Kaiser, Solution treatment effect on tensile, impact and fracture behaviour of trace Zr added Al–12Si–1Mg–1Cu piston alloy,” Journal of The Institution of Engineers (India): Series D, vol. 99, no. 1, pp 109-114, 2018.
[31] A. Waheed, G.W. Lorimer, Pinning of subgrain boundaries by Al3Zr dispersoids during annealing in Al–Li commercial alloys,” Journal of Materials Science Letters, vol. 16, pp. 1643-1646, 1997.
[32] T. V.Rajan, C. P. Sharma, and A. Sharma, “Principles and techniques of heat treatment,” Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited, New Delhi 1988.
[33] A. Mostafapor, and V. Mohammadinia, “Mechanical properties and microstructure evolution of AA1100 aluminum sheet processed by accumulative press bonding process,” Acta Metallurgica Sinica, vol. 29, no. 8, pp. 735-741, 2016.
[34] M. S. Kaiser, S. Datta, A. Roychowdhury and M. K. Banerjee: “Effect of scandium on the microstructure and ageing behaviour of cast Al-6Mg alloy,” Materials Characterization, vol. 59, no.11, pp. 1661-1666, 2008.
[35] L. Dang, Y. Huang, and J. Cheng, “Effect of Sc and Zr on microstructure and mechanical properties of as-cast Al-Mg-Si-Mn alloys,” Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China, vol. 19, pp. 540-544, 2009.
[36] J. P. Hou, Q. W. H. J. Yang, X. M. Wu, C. H. Li, Z. F. Zhang, and X. W. Li, “Fatigue and fracture behavior of a cold-drawn commercially pure aluminum wire,” Materials, vol. 9, no. 9, pp. 764, 3-11, 2016.
[37] E. Romhanji, T. Radetic, and M. Popovic, “Homogenization of an Al-Mg alloy and alligatoring failure: alloy ductility and fracture,” Materials and Technology, vol.50, no. 3, pp. 403-407, 2016.