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Special Issue "Mechanical Performance and Microstructural Characterization of Light Alloys"

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Metals and Alloys".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 April 2023 | Viewed by 2754

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Dr. Qinghuan Huo

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Associate Professor, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
Interests: microstructure characterization; plastic deformation and recrystallization of light metals; mechanical property
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Light alloys, such as aluminum and magnesium, are important materials for the automobile, aircraft, and electronic industries. In recent decades, fruitful studies have reported on the microstructure characteristics, mechanical performance, and the advantages of light alloys. Many outstanding studies have accelerated the fast progress of our everyday life. Of course, to the best of our knowledge, there are still many unknown theories and unsolved problems in light alloys. Thus, to further trigger the development of light alloys, we should research the relationship between microstructure characteristics and mechanical performance more deeply. For this reason, the present Special Issue “Mechanical Performance and Microstructural Characterization of Light Alloys” is proposed. This Special Issue aims to collect excellent studies on light alloys from around the world, including but not limited to aluminum alloys; magnesium alloys; mechanical performance; microstructure characterization; heat treatment; plastic processing; precipitation; phase transformation; SEM; EBSD; FIB; TEM; and in situ X-ray.

We welcome you to submit your excellent work to this Special Issue, “Mechanical Performance and Microstructural Characterization of Light Alloys”, which will be published in Materials.

Prof. Dr. Qinghuan Huo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2300 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

aluminum alloys
magnesium alloys
mechanical performance
microstructure characterization
heat treatment
plastic processing
precipitation
phase transformation

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis and Characterization of Al Chip-Based Syntactic Foam Containing Glass Hollow Spheres Fabricated by a Semi-Solid Process

Yong-Guk Son

and

Yong-Ho Park

Materials 2023, 16(6), 2304; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16062304 - 13 Mar 2023

Viewed by 237

Abstract

In this study, aluminum (Al) chip matrix-based synthetic foams were fabricated by hot pressing at a semi-solid (SS) temperature. The densities of the foams ranged from 2.3 to 2.63 g/cm³, confirming that the density decreased with increasing glass hollow sphere (GHS) content. These values were approximately 16% lower than the densities of Al chip alloys without GHS. The Al chip syntactic foam microstructure fabricated by the semi-solid process comprised GHS uniformly distributed around the Al chip matrix and a spherical microstructure surrounded by the Mg₂Si phase in the interior. The resulting spherical microstructure contributed significantly to the improvement of mechanical properties. Mechanical characterization confirmed that the Al chip syntactic foam exhibited a compressive strength of approximately 225–288 MPa and an energy absorption capacity of 46–47 MJ/M³. These results indicate higher compressive properties than typical Al syntactic foam. The Al chip microstructure, consisting of the Mg₂Si phase and GHS, acted as a load-bearing element during compression, significantly contributing to the compressive properties of the foam. An analysis was performed using an energy-dispersive spectrometer to validate the interfacial reaction between the GHS and the matrix. The results showed that MgAl₂O₄ was uniformly coated around GHS, which contributed not only to the strength of the matrix, but also to the mechanical properties via the appropriate interfacial reactive coating. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanical Performance and Microstructural Characterization of Light Alloys)

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Open AccessArticle

Thermal Stability and Mechanical Behavior of Ultrafine-Grained Titanium with Different Impurity Content

and

Materials 2023, 16(4), 1339; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16041339 - 04 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 535

Abstract

Ultrafine-grained (UFG) commercially pure (Ti Grade 2) and high-purity (Ti 99.99%) titanium can be a good alternative to less biocompatible Ti alloys in many biomedical applications. Their severe plastic deformation may lead to a substantial increase of strength, but their highly refined microstructure show a lower thermal stability which may limit their range of applications. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of interstitial elements on the thermal stability of UFG Ti Grade 2 and high-purity Ti 99.99% processed by a multi-pass cold rolling to the total thickness reduction of 90%. The severely cold rolled Ti sheets were annealed at temperature in the range of 100–600 °C for 1 h and, subsequently, they were evaluated in terms of microstructure stability, mechanical performance as well as heat effects measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It was found that the microstructure and mechanical properties were relatively stable up to 200 and 400 °C in the case of UFG Ti 99.99% and Ti Grade 2, respectively. DSC measurements confirmed the aforementioned results about lower temperature of recovery and recrystallization processes in the high-purity titanium. Surprisingly, the discontinuous yielding phenomenon occurred in both investigated materials after annealing above their thermal stability range, which was further discussed based on their microstructural characteristics. Additionally, the so-called hardening by annealing effect was observed within their thermal stability range (i.e., at 100–400 °C for UFG Ti Grade 2 and 100 °C for UFG Ti 99.99%). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanical Performance and Microstructural Characterization of Light Alloys)

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Open AccessArticle

Hardness Distribution of Al2050 Parts Fabricated Using Additive Friction Stir Deposition

and

Materials 2023, 16(3), 1278; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16031278 - 02 Feb 2023

Viewed by 520

Abstract

The solid-state additive friction stir deposition (AFSD) process is a layer-by-layer metal 3D-printing technology. In this study, AFSD is used to fabricate Al–Cu–Li 2050 alloy parts. The hardness values for various regions of the as-deposited built parts are measured, and the results are contrasted with those of the feedstock material. The as-fabricated Al2050 parts are found to have a unique hardness distribution due to the location-specific variations in the processing temperature profile. The XRD results indicate the presence of the secondary phases in the deposited parts, and EDS mapping confirms the formation of detectable alloying particles in the as-deposited Al2050 matrix. The AFSD thermal–mechanical process causes the unique hardness distribution and the reduced microhardness level in the AFSD components, in contrast to those of the feedstock material. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanical Performance and Microstructural Characterization of Light Alloys)

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Open AccessArticle

Microstructure Evolution, Constitutive Modelling, and Superplastic Forming of Experimental 6XXX-Type Alloys Processed with Different Thermomechanical Treatments

Andrey G. Mochugovskiy

Ahmed O. Mosleh

Anton D. Kotov

Andrey V. Khokhlov

Ludmila Yu. Kaplanskaya

and

Anastasia V. Mikhaylovskaya

Materials 2023, 16(1), 445; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16010445 - 03 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 582

Abstract

This study focused on the microstructural analysis, superplasticity, modeling of superplastic deformation behavior, and superplastic forming tests of the Al-Mg-Si-Cu-based alloy modified with Fe, Ni, Sc, and Zr. The effect of the thermomechanical treatment with various proportions of hot/cold rolling degrees on the secondary particle distribution and deformation behavior was studied. The increase in hot rolling degree increased the homogeneity of the particle distribution in the aluminum-based solid solution that improved superplastic properties, providing an elongation of ~470–500% at increased strain rates of (0.5–1) × 10⁻² s⁻¹. A constitutive model based on Arrhenius and Beckofen equations was used to describe and predict the superplastic flow behavior of the alloy studied. Model complex-shaped parts were processed by superplastic forming at two strain rates. The proposed strain rate of 1 × 10⁻² s⁻¹ provided a low thickness variation and a high quality of the experimental parts. The residual cavitation after superplastic forming was also large at the low strain rate of 2 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹ and significantly smaller at 1 × 10⁻² s⁻¹. Coarse Al₉FeNi particles did not stimulate the cavitation process and were effective to provide the superplasticity of alloys studied at high strain rates, whereas cavities were predominately observed near coarse Mg₂Si particles, which act as nucleation places for cavities during superplastic deformation and forming. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanical Performance and Microstructural Characterization of Light Alloys)

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Open AccessArticle

Tailoring of Dissimilar Friction Stir Lap Welding of Aluminum and Titanium

and

Materials 2022, 15(23), 8418; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15238418 - 26 Nov 2022

Viewed by 538

Abstract

An approach was proposed to optimize dissimilar friction stir lap welding of aluminum and titanium alloys. The basic concept of the new technique included (i) the plunging of the welding tool solely into the aluminum part (i.e., no direct contact with the titanium side) and (ii) the welding at a relatively high-heat input condition. It was shown that sound welds could be readily produced using an ordinary cost-effective tool, with no tool abrasion and no dispersion of harmful titanium fragments within the aluminum side. Moreover, the intermetallic layer was found to be as narrow as ~0.1 µm, thus giving rise to excellent bond strength between aluminum and titanium. On the other hand, several important shortcomings were also revealed. First of all, the high-heat input condition provided significant microstructural changes in the aluminum part, thereby resulting in essential material softening. Furthermore, the new approach was not feasible in the case of highly alloyed aluminum alloys due to the relatively low rate of self-diffusion in these materials. An essential issue was also a comparatively narrow processing window. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mechanical Performance and Microstructural Characterization of Light Alloys)

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