Analysis of Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Billet and Extrudate according to Heat Treatment for the Extrusion of 7075 alloy

Heating experiments using the 7075 aluminum alloy in the state of billet and extrudate have been performed to investigate the pertinent ranges of working temperatures and holding times for the application to the various automobile parts. The 7075 specimens from raw billet of 152 mm in diameter and 400 mm in length prior to extrusion were used for heating with a holding time of 10 minutes at temperatures between 380℃ and 550℃. Then, an extrusion process using the billet has been fulfilled at 380℃ with extrusion speed of 0.8 mm/min to get an plate-type extrudate of 75 mm in width and 4.2 mm in thickness. The samples from the extrudate were subjected to heating experiments at temperatures between 380℃ and 440℃ with holding times such as 10 min, 30 min, 60 min and 120 min at each heating temperature. The microstructures were investigated on the optical and EBSD micrographs. The hardness measurement and the tensile test have been performed to investigate the effect of the heat treatment on the mechanical property. The results showed for the 7075 extrusion process that the safe heating of billet can be performed below 450℃ and the extrusion can be done safely up to 400℃.

7075 합금의 압출에서 원소재 빌렛과 압출재의 열처리에 따른 미세조직 및 기계적 특성 분석