Selected Papers from the 5th International Conference on Light Materials LightMAT 2023

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 7476

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Sem Sælands veg 14, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
Interests: precipitation hardening; aluminum alloys; aluminum

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Guest Editor
Québec Metallurgy Center, Leader of the Metal Forming and Assembly Group, 3095 Westinghouse, Trois-Rivières, QC, Canada
Interests: metal forming processes; heat treatments and thermomechanical treatments; welding, structural adhesives

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Guest Editor
Head of Chair of Materials Science and Testing, Institute for Materials Engineering, University of Siegen, Paul-Bonatz-Straße 9-11, 57076 Siegen, Germany
Interests: lightweight materials; alloy development for additive manufacturing; multi-material-design and hybrid materials; processing; forming; selective laser melting; heat treatment; interface engineering; joining; modeling; testing and characterization; differential scanning calorimetry; x-ray microscopy; failure mechanisms; survival probability models
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The ongoing need of resource efficiency calls for advanced material solutions. Metallic light materials, such as aluminum, and magnesium alloys as well as titanium alloys, offer excellent prerequisites for this. Striving for optimal solutions requires a multidisciplinary approach that combines materials science and production technology with designing and dimensioning.

Taking up these aspects the 5th International Conference on Light Materials LightMAT 2023 (https://dgm.de/lightmat/2023/) provides a platform for academic and industrial researchers, scientists, and engineers to present and discuss the recent development and progress made in Magnesium, Aluminium, Titanium and their alloys and materials combinations. The materials are viewed individually or in multi-material designs, including processing, joining, and corrosion protection. In addition, LightMAT 2023 will focus on Eco-Efficiency in materials and processes. In this context, we address the question: What are the innovative research business models for materials and material processes shearing with industrial needs for contributing to the accelerated material circularity, sustainability, and also to the dematerialization of our economy related to less dependency on primary materials?

Beyond the metals standard processes and primary applications are addressed, intended to provide comparison and cross-fertilization, giving a comprehensive overview of individual advances, challenges, and highlights, covering:

  • Conventional and advanced lightweight applications and products in automotive, aerospace, and other relevant transport and applications
  • Fundamental aspects of the three metallic lightweight materials and their alloys, their processing and (physical) metallurgy issues involved
  • Microstructure evolution, related properties, and advanced simulation
  • Industrial fabrication, processing, joining, and corrosion protection issues
  • Additive Manufacturing of metallic structures enabling novel lightweight designs
  • Formability and advanced forming of light alloys to shape complex parts

This Special Issue on Light Materials is set to publish selected works presented at this event, in order to share recent progress and new achievements in this emerging field with broader scientific and industrial communities.

Prof. Dr. Bjørn Holmedal
Dr. Julíe Lévesque
Prof. Dr. Axel von Hehl
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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

  • processing and additive manufacturing
  • applications and performance
  • alloy development
  • joining and multi-material designs
  • characterization and testing
  • computational materials design and engineering
  • sustainable and innovative metal processing

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 14490 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Deformation and Isothermal Heat Treatment of a 5005 Aluminum Alloy
by Jon Holmestad, Calin Daniel Marioara, Benedikte Jørgensen Myrold and Ola Jensrud
Metals 2024, 14(2), 225; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14020225 - 12 Feb 2024
Viewed by 841
Abstract
In the aluminum industry, forming is an important process step that introduces dislocations in the material. To investigate the effect of dislocation retention after ageing on 6xxx-series alloys, a non-heat-treatable 5005 alloy was selected to measure the change in mechanical properties due to [...] Read more.
In the aluminum industry, forming is an important process step that introduces dislocations in the material. To investigate the effect of dislocation retention after ageing on 6xxx-series alloys, a non-heat-treatable 5005 alloy was selected to measure the change in mechanical properties due to dislocation annihilation during dynamic recovery. However, the isothermal ageing treatment led to an unexpected and significant increase in mechanical properties after deformation. Increases in yield strength of 120% and tensile strength of 50% compared with the as-received material were achieved. However, this caused a significant decrease in elongation properties. The deformation start temperature did not have any impact on the final mechanical properties. TEM analysis attributed the increase in mechanical properties to an increased precipitation and dislocation density compared with the undeformed reference material. The precipitates are located along dislocation lines, showing that the solute elements are preferentially segregating to dislocations and precipitating. The precipitates were typical for the Al–Mg–Si(–Cu) system; therefore, the low amounts of Si and, to a lesser extent, Cu were responsible for the precipitation hardening in the 5005 alloy. Full article
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17 pages, 7584 KiB  
Article
Effect of Microstructure on the Precipitation of β-Mg2Si during Cooling after Homogenisation of Al-Mg-Si Alloys
by Endre Hennum, Knut Marthinsen and Ulf H. Tundal
Metals 2024, 14(2), 215; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14020215 - 9 Feb 2024
Viewed by 838
Abstract
For Al-Mg-Si alloys, cooling after homogenisation is a crucial step because the precipitation of the equilibrium β-Mg2Si phase determines the processing capabilities in subsequent steps, as well as the subsequent precipitation age hardening potential, and thus, the final properties. It is [...] Read more.
For Al-Mg-Si alloys, cooling after homogenisation is a crucial step because the precipitation of the equilibrium β-Mg2Si phase determines the processing capabilities in subsequent steps, as well as the subsequent precipitation age hardening potential, and thus, the final properties. It is therefore important to understand how microstructural variations affect the transformation of β-Mg2Si during cooling after homogenisation. In the present work, alloys with similar effective solute contents of Mg and Si, but with different microstructures and a different amount of primary Al-Fe-Si phases, were produced. Characterisation of the precipitation reaction was performed using interrupted quench experiments with cooling rates of 1–6 K/min, monitored by light optical microscopy (LOM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and conductivity measurements. Precipitation kinetics for β-Mg2Si was found to increase in microstructures with shorter secondary dendrite arm spacing (DAS). However, despite measuring both a higher density and volume fraction of the primary phases, no effect on the phase transformation from an increased iron content was found in terms of precipitation kinetics or particle count statistics. Furthermore, comparisons with iron-free high-purity-based alloys revealed that the precipitation reaction for β-Mg2Si was identical in the two different microstructures both in terms of onset temperature and overall kinetics. The present results show that nucleation of β-Mg2Si is not dependent on the larger constituent phases and indicates that overall transformation kinetics is governed by bulk diffusion rates. Full article
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13 pages, 8566 KiB  
Article
The Potential of Cast Stock for the Forging of Aluminum Components within the Automotive Industry
by Siri Marthe Arbo, Stig Tjøtta, Magne H. Boge, Ulf Tundal, Jørgen Li, Stephane Dumoulin and Ola Jensrud
Metals 2024, 14(1), 90; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14010090 - 11 Jan 2024
Viewed by 848
Abstract
In the automotive industry, there is a drive to reduce environmental impact, energy consumption, and costs related to the manufacturing of forged aluminum suspension components. The replacement of extruded stock with cast forging stock is one option that offers substantial potential for such [...] Read more.
In the automotive industry, there is a drive to reduce environmental impact, energy consumption, and costs related to the manufacturing of forged aluminum suspension components. The replacement of extruded stock with cast forging stock is one option that offers substantial potential for such savings. The casting technology, low-pressure casting (LPC), allows for production of high-quality cast forging stock with minimal surface segregation and smaller diameters than those achieved with traditional casting technologies. This study is a proof-of-principle, conducted to directly compare the microstructure and mechanical properties of LPC and extruded material after forging, through both generic and full-scale industrial forging trials. The results show the advantages of the cast material, including higher robustness against surface grain growth after forging and a positive correlation between mechanical properties, both strength and ductility and the introduction of plastic deformation. Overall, the work demonstrates how forged aluminum components produced from LPC forging stock can achieve mechanical properties and performance, on par with extruded forging stock, showcasing industrial relevance through the production of a safety-critical automotive component. Full article
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15 pages, 16247 KiB  
Article
In Situ Uniaxial Compression of Textured Magnesium AZ31B
by Lawrence Whitmore, Anton Nischler, Holger Saage and Otto Huber
Metals 2024, 14(1), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14010020 - 22 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 890
Abstract
Strain-controlled uniaxial compression tests on textured magnesium AZ31B sheet samples were carried out using a 5 kN Kammrath & Weiss tension–compression in situ stage using a scanning electron microscope in combination with real-time electron backscatter diffraction lattice orientation mapping. The distribution of deformation [...] Read more.
Strain-controlled uniaxial compression tests on textured magnesium AZ31B sheet samples were carried out using a 5 kN Kammrath & Weiss tension–compression in situ stage using a scanning electron microscope in combination with real-time electron backscatter diffraction lattice orientation mapping. The distribution of deformation twins in the samples was studied and correlated with the results of finite element simulation of the elastic strain to show that bands of twinned grains formed in areas where the principal compressive stress (σ3) was a maximum, and they formed normal to the trajectory of the principal direction of σ3. This was correlated with maps of lattice disorientation within the grains, which showed the inclination for twins to grow in alignment with local and larger-scale distributions of elastic strain. Mappings of the same area at different values of strain were made to examine the formation and growth of individual twins within the macroscopic bands of twinned grains. All the twins observed were consistent with the extension-type twin, with 86.3° disorientation with respect to the parent grain. Mappings of the grain internal disorientation were related to the elastic strain, and it was found that twin formation and growth followed the contours of the highest elastic strain within and across grains. The maximum angular disorientation found within the grains was approximately 10°, suggesting that this might correspond to a threshold of elastic strain required to initiate twinning. Full article
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22 pages, 5447 KiB  
Article
Effects of Fe, Si, Cu, and TiB2 Grain Refiner Amounts on the Hot Tearing Susceptibility of 5083, 6061, and 7075 Aluminum Ingots
by Kai-Yu Liang, Hao-Chuan Huang, Ching-Yao Tseng, Mien-Chung Chen, Sheng-Long Lee, Chi-Cheng Lin and Te-Cheng Su
Metals 2024, 14(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14010015 - 21 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1530
Abstract
Aluminum alloys 5083, 6061, and 7075 are prone to hot tearing under direct-chill casting conditions; the defects that form during solidification of those alloys are highly sensitive to variation in the alloying elements, with these elements commonly being Si, Fe, Cu, and Ti. [...] Read more.
Aluminum alloys 5083, 6061, and 7075 are prone to hot tearing under direct-chill casting conditions; the defects that form during solidification of those alloys are highly sensitive to variation in the alloying elements, with these elements commonly being Si, Fe, Cu, and Ti. This study investigates the influence of the morphology, content, and size of intermetallic compounds on the hot tearing behavior of the 5083, 6061, and 7075 aluminum alloys by combining a constrained rod casting technique, phase diagram calculation, and multiscale microstructural characterizations. The fishbone-shaped α-Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2 in 5083 can serve as a path for crack nucleation and growth, and an increase in Si content results in Mg2Si assuming fishbone morphology, thereby increasing hot tearing susceptibility. The amount of plate-like β-Al5FeSi is the primary factor controlling the hot tearing susceptibility of 6061. For 7075, increasing the Cu content can greatly enhance the remaining liquid fraction, feeding, and hot tearing susceptibility. For all three alloys, TiB2 grain refiner minimizes hot tearing. This study elucidates the influences of the amounts of Fe, Si, Cu, and TiB2 grain refiner on hot tearing susceptibility. The findings can help establish compositional control standards for the 5083, 6061, and 7075 aluminum alloy series, particularly when the recycling rate must be increased. Full article
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15 pages, 3391 KiB  
Article
Investigation of the Formability of AA6010 in an Integrated Forming and Hardening Process Aiming to Reduce the Energy Consumption in High Volume Production of Automotive Components
by Benedikte Myrold, Ola Jensrud and Jon Holmestad
Metals 2023, 13(11), 1877; https://doi.org/10.3390/met13111877 - 11 Nov 2023
Viewed by 805
Abstract
Hot deformation and in-die quenching of aluminum components for the automotive industry is a cost and energy efficient technique that has been developed and thoroughly evaluated in recent years. The performance of this process is considered higher when compared to traditional cold metal [...] Read more.
Hot deformation and in-die quenching of aluminum components for the automotive industry is a cost and energy efficient technique that has been developed and thoroughly evaluated in recent years. The performance of this process is considered higher when compared to traditional cold metal forming due to shorter process times, low-cost machinery, and a high level of structural integrity in fabricated parts. The work presented in this paper provides several approaches for the formability of age hardenable 6xxx alloy sheets when forming at different temperatures. Warm tensile testing and formability cup testing were carried out to investigate the alloy formability at different temperatures. The results indicate that the formability of candidate alloys is not significantly affected by deformation temperatures or conditions, which provides great freedom when designing an automated production process with high productivity and minimal environmental impact. The candidate alloy can be deep drawn without severe thinning at the whole temperature range, from room temperature (RT) to solutionizing temperature. Full article
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17 pages, 11761 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Homogenisation Parameters on the Microstructure and Hardness of AlMnFeMgSi(Zr) Wrought Alloys
by Jette Broer, Sina Mallow, Kevin Oldenburg, Benjamin Milkereit and Olaf Kessler
Metals 2023, 13(10), 1706; https://doi.org/10.3390/met13101706 - 7 Oct 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 863
Abstract
The purpose of this investigation is to improve the mechanical properties of AlMnFeMgSi wrought alloys by forming a high number density of nano-scaled strengthening dispersoids during homogenisation annealing. The process chain for AlMnFeMgSi wrought alloys includes homogenisation annealing after continuous casting. In this [...] Read more.
The purpose of this investigation is to improve the mechanical properties of AlMnFeMgSi wrought alloys by forming a high number density of nano-scaled strengthening dispersoids during homogenisation annealing. The process chain for AlMnFeMgSi wrought alloys includes homogenisation annealing after continuous casting. In this step, inhomogeneities and segregations are dissolved and dispersoids are precipitated. The formed dispersoids hinder grain growth, but usually cannot increase the strength due to their coarse size of some 100 nm. Lower homogenisation temperatures should result in the precipitation of smaller dispersoids during homogenisation. The addition of Zr was investigated to increase this effect. Zr should form further dispersoids from the Al3Zr phase. This requires a fundamental understanding of the temperature-dependent kinetics and the nature of precipitation formation during homogenisation. For this purpose, the as-cast state is first characterised via differential scanning calorimetry. Subsequently, a large number of homogenisation parameters are investigated and quantified via hardness testing. The micro- and nanostructure are investigated for promising parameters and a particle analysis is performed. In the present study, it was possible to precipitate fine dispersoids of few 10 nm by reducing the homogenisation temperature, which resulted in a significant increase in hardness. Alloying with Zr enabled the precipitation of further dispersoids with a size of a few nm in a high number density, which further increased the strength. Full article
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