• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2008

In this study, the bottom-up powder metallurgy and the top-down severe plastic deformation (SPD) techniques for manufacturing bulk nanomaterials were combined in order to achieve both full density and grain refinement without grain growth of rapidly solidified Al-20 wt% Si alloy powders during consolidation processing. Continuous equal channel multi-angular processing (C-ECMAP) was proposed to improve low productivity of conventional ECAP, one of the most promising method in SPD. As a powder consolidation method, C-ECMAP was employed. A wide range of experimental studies were carried out for characterizing mechanical properties and microstructures of the ECMAP processed materials. It was found that effective properties of high strength and full density maintaining nanoscale microstructure are achieved. The proposed SPD processing of powder materials can be a good method to achieve fully density and nanostructured materials.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.739-746
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• 2004

The plastic deformation behavior of an aluminum alloy containing a particle and porosities was investigated at room temperature during equal channel angular pressing (ECAP). Finite element analysis by using ABAQUS shows that ECAP is a useful tool for eliminating residual porosity in the specimen, and more effective under friction condition. The simulation, however, shows considerably low density distributions for matrix near a particle at which many defects may occur during severe deformation. Finite element results of effective strains and deformed shapes for matrix with a particle were compared with theoretical calculations under simple shear stress. Also, based on the distribution of the maximum principal stress in the specimen, Weibull fracture probability was obtained for particle sizes and particle-coating layer materials. The probability was useful to predict the trend of more susceptible failure of a brittle coating layer than a particle without an interphase in metal matrix composites.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.222-226
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• 2018

Severe plastic deformation (SPD) is a promising method for drastically enhancing the mechanical properties of the materials by grain refinement of metallic materials. However, inhomogeneous deformation during the SPD process results in the inhomogeneous microstructure of the SPD-processed material. We manufactured cylindrical copper specimens of 42 mm in diameter with ultrafine grains (UFG) using an equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) to figure out the relationship between homogeneous microstructure and the number of the processing passes. Two specimens, which are ECAP-processed 4 times (4pass) and 6 times (6pass) each with Route Bc, are prepared for comparison of mechanical properties and microstructure. The results show that the mechanical properties of the two specimens (4pass and 6pass) are similar. Moreover, both the specimens show highly enhanced mechanical properties. The 4pass specimen, however, shows inhomogeneity in hardness distribution, while the 6pass specimen shows a homogeneous distribution. Microstructure analysis reveals that the 4pass specimen has an inhomogeneous microstructure with incompletely refined grain structure. This inhomogeneity of the 4pass specimen could be explained by the circumferential rotation during ECAP process.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.50 no.12
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• pp.931-937
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• 2012

The microstructure of Cu-15 wt%Ag composites fabricated by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) with intermediate heat treatment at $320^{\circ}C$ was investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations. Ag precipitates with a thickness of 20-40 nm were observed in the eutectic region of the Cu-15 wt%Ag composite solution treated at $700^{\circ}C$ before ECAP. The Cu matrix and Ag precipitates had a cube on cube orientation relationship. ECAPed composites exhibited ultrafine-grained microstructures with the shape and distribution dependent on the processing routes. For route A in which the sample was pressed without rotation between each pass, the Cu and Ag grains were elongated along the shear direction and many micro-twins were observed in elongated Cu grains as well as in Ag filaments. The steps were observed on coherent twin boundaries in Cu grains. For route Bc in which the sample was rotated by 90 degrees after each pass, a subgrain structure with misorientation of 2-4 degree by fragmentation of the large Cu grains were observed. For route C in which the sample was rotated by 180 degrees after each pass, the microstructure was similar to that of the route A sample. However, the thickness of the elongated grains along the shear direction was wider than that of the route A sample and the twin density was lower than the route A sample. It was found that more microtwins were formed in ECAPed Cu-15 wt%Ag than in the drawn sample. Grain boundaries were observed in relatively thick and long Ag filaments in Cu-15 wt%Ag ECAPed by route C, indicating the multi-crystalline nature of Ag filaments.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.275-281
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• 2007

The effect of annealing on the pitting corrosion resistance of anodized Al-Mg alloy (AA5052) processed by equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) was investigated by electrochemical techniques in a solution containing 0.2 mol/L of $AlCl_3$ and also by surface analysis. The Al-Mg alloy was annealed at a fixed temperature between 473 and 573 K for 120 min in air after ECAP. Anodizing was conducted for 40 min at $100-400A/m^2$ at 293 K in a solution containing 1.53 mol/L of $H_2SO_4$ and 0.0185 mol/L of $Al_2(SO_4)_3$. The internal stress generated in anodic oxide films during anodization was measured with a strain gauge to clarify the effect of ECAP on the pitting corrosion resistance of anodized Al-Mg alloy. The time required to initiate the pitting corrosion of anodized Al-Mg alloy was shorter in samples subjected to ECAP, indicating that ECAP decreased the pitting corrosion resistance. However, the pitting corrosion resistance was greatly improved by annealing after ECAP. The time required to initiate pitting corrosion increased with increasing annealing temperature. The strain gauge attached to Al-Mg alloy revealed that the internal stress present in the anodic oxide films was compressive stress, and that the stress was larger with ECAP than without. The compressive internal stress gradually decreased with increasing annealing temperature. Scanning electron microscopy showed that cracks occurred in the anodic oxide film on Al-Mg alloy during initial corrosion and that the cracks were larger with ECAP than without. The ECAP process of severe plastic deformation produces large internal stresses in the Al-Mg alloy; the stresses remain in the anodic oxide films, increasingthe likelihood of cracks. It is assumed that the pitting corrosion is promoted by these cracks as a result of the higher internal stress resulting from ECAP. The improvement in the pitting corrosion resistance of anodized AlMg alloy as a result of annealing appears to be attributable to a decrease in the internal stresses in anodic oxide films

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.1157-1162
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• 2003

Behavior of aluminum alloy embedding a particle was investigated at room temperature under ECAP. Finite element analysis by using ABAQUS shows that ECAP is a useful tool for eliminating residual porosity in the specimen, and much more effective under friction condition. The simulation, however, shows considerably low density distributions for matrix near a particle at which rich defects may occur during severe deformation. Finite element results of effective strains and deformed shapes for matrix with a particle were compared with theoretical calculations under simple shear stress. Also, based on the distribution of the maximum principal stress in the specimen, Weibull fracture probability was obtained for particle sizes and particle-coating layer materials. The probability was useful to predict the trend of more susceptible failure of a brittle coating layer than a particle without an interphase in metal matrix composites.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.179-182
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• 2003

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) provides an efficient procedure for introducing an ultrafine grain size into a material. In this study, ECAP were conducted on IF-steel to investigate the effect of friction and processing temperatures on the deformation characteristics of the samples. Due to the blocking effect of the previously pressed samples residing in the exit channel, the shear pattern (especially on the bottom region) changes.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.15 no.2 s.83
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• pp.105-111
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• 2006

A study was made to investigate the microstructure and the mechanical properties of low-carbon steel, Al-Mg alloy and Ti-6Al-4V alloy each representing bcc, fcc and hcp crystal structures, respectively fabricated by equal-channel angular(ECA) pressing. After a series of ECA pressings was performed, most grains were significantly refined below ${\mu}m$ in diameter with high mis-orientation of grain boundaries irrespective of different crystal structure used. Regarding the strain hardening capability, tensile tests of ultrafine grain (UFG) dual-phase (ferrite/martensite) steel which was different from UFG ferrite-pearlite steel were carried out at ambient temperature, and corresponding mechanical properties were discussed in relation to modified C-J analysis. Low-temperature and/or high strain-rate superplasticity of the UFG Al-Mg alloy and UFG Ti-6Al-4V alloy were also studied. Based on the analysis used in this study, it was concluded that UFG alloys exhibited the enhanced mechanical properties as compared to coarse-grained (CG) counterparts.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.492-500
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• 2019

Equal channel angular pressing(ECAP) is a severe plastic deformation technique capable of introducing large shear strain in bulk metal materials. However, if an ECAPed material has an inhomogeneous microstructure and anisotropic mechanical properties, this material is difficult to apply as structural components subjected to multi-axial stress during use. In this study, extruded oxygen-free copper(OFC) rods with a large diameter of 42 mm are extruded through ECAP by route Bc up to 12 passes. The variations in the microstructure, hardness, tensile properties, and microstructural and mechanical homogeneity of the ECAPed samples are systematically analyzed. High-strength OFC rods with a homogeneous and equiaxed-ultrafine grain structure are obtained by the repeated application of ECAP up to 8 and 12 passes. ECAPed samples with 4 and 8 passes exhibit much smaller differences in terms of the average grain sizes on the cross-sectional area and the tensile strengths along the axial and circumferential directions, as compared to the samples with 1 and 2 passes. Therefore, it is considered that the OFC materials, which are fabricated via the ECAP process with pass numbers of a multiple of 4, are suitable to be applied as high-strength structural parts used under multi-axial stress conditions.

• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.12-18
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• 2016

Although magnesium alloy has received much attention to date for its lightweight and high specific strength, their applications are impeded by the low formability which is caused by the hexagonal crystal structure at room temperature. In general, equal-channel angular extrusion(ECAE) is recognized as one of the attractive severe plastic deformation techniques where the processed bulk metals generally achieve ultrafine-grained microstructure leading to improved physical characteristics and mechanical properties. ECAE process has several parameters such as angle of die, process temperature, process route and speed. During ECAE process of Mg alloy, these parameters has great influence on the extrudability and the mechanical properties of alloy. The aim of this study is to estimate the influences of process conditions on the formability of AZ31 and AZ31-CaO alloys. Mg alloys are processed through ECAE at elevated temperatures using three types of die with channel angle of $90^{\circ}$, $110^{\circ}$, $135^{\circ}$ using route $B_c$, respectively. This study discusses the feasibility of using ECAE to improve both formability and strength on magnesium alloys by comparative analyzing the mechanical properties and microstructural evolution in each condition.