• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.246-251
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• 2020

The annealing characteristics of cold-rolled Al-6.5Mg-1.5Zn-0.5Fe-0.5Mn alloy, newly designed as an automobile material, are investigated in detail, and compared with those of other aluminum alloys. Using multi-pass rolling at room temperature, the ingot aluminum alloy is cut to a thickness of 4 mm, width of 30 mm, and length of 100 mm to reduce the thickness to 1 mm (r = 75 %). Annealing after rolling is performed at various temperatures ranging from 200 to 500 ℃ for 1 hour. The specimens annealed at temperatures up to 300 ℃ show a deformation structure; however, from 350 ℃ they have a recrystallization structure consisting of almost equiaxed grains. The hardness distribution in the thickness direction of the annealed specimens is homogeneous at all annealing temperatures, and their average hardness decreases with increasing annealing temperature. The tensile strength of the as-rolled specimen shows a high value of 496 MPa; however, this value decreases with increasing annealing temperature and becomes 338 MPa after annealing at 400 ℃. These mechanical properties of the specimens are compared with those of other aluminum alloys, including commercial 5xxx system alloys.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.138-144
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• 2004

Effects of alloying elements such as Si, Mn, Zn on the fluidity and mechanical properties of high ductility Al-Mg based alloys were investigated. The fluidity of alloys was evaluated using a vacuum suction fluidity test, and Si addition was observed to increase the fluidity of AI-Mg binary alloys substantially while Zn somewhat decreased the fluidity. However, both the strength and ductility were significantly deteriorated by the Si additions. It was observed that a small amount of Mn addition to Al-Mg alloy increased the tensile strength effectively without losing much ductility but the effect of Zn addition on the strength was relatively small.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.67-74
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• 2015

In this study, Mg-Zn alloys are investigated in terms of their thermal properties after an addition of Cu. Al element is added to improve the mechanical properties and castability in general case. However, it was excluded here because it significantly decreases the thermal conductivity. On the other hand, Zn was added as a major element, which had less influence on reducing the conductivity and can complement the mechanical properties as well. Cu was also added, and it improved the heat transfer characteristics as the amount was increased. The composition ranges of Zn and Cu are 6 wt.% and 0~1.5 wt.%, respectively. Mg-6Zn-xCu alloy was prepared by a gravity casting method using a steel mold and then the thermal conductivity and the microstructure of the as-cast material were investigated. By measuring the density_(${\rho}$), specific heat_(Cp) and thermal diffusivity_(${\alpha}$), the thermal conductivity_(${\lambda}$) was calculated by the equation ${\lambda}={\rho}{\cdot}Cp{\cdot}{\alpha}$. As the amount of Cu increased in the Mg-6Zn-xCu alloy, the heat transfer characteristics were improved, resulting in a synergistic effect which is slow when the added Cu exceeds 1 wt.%. In order to investigate the relative thermal conductivity/emission of the Mg-6Zn-xCu alloy, AZ91 and AZ31 were experimentally evaluated and compared using a separate test equipment. As a result, the Mg-6Zn-1.5Cu alloy when compared to AZ91 showed improvements in the thermal conductivity ranging from 30 to 60% with a nearly 20% improvement in the thermal emission.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.62-65
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• 2008

Extrusion characteristics of Mg alloys were studied experimentally. The Al-Zn-Mg alloys, AZ31, AZ6l, AZ80, and AZ91 were extruded with hot hydrostatic extrusion process. The hydrostatic process was efficient to reduce surface friction and extend steady state region in extrusion which made it more convenient to examine deformation behavior of the alloys avoiding the disturbance caused by temporary contact state between billet and die, and billet and container. High pressure was cooperative to expand forming limit of the alloys which were applied on the billet during the extrusion process. Extrusion limits were traced in temperature and extrusion speed domain with changing composition of the alloying elements. Effects of process parameters on extrusion load and microstructure evolution were investigated also.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.241-251
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• 2021

7000-series aluminum alloys are noted for their superior strength compared with other Al alloys, and their billets are generally fabricated by direct-chill (DC) casting. Surface defects in a DC-cast aluminum billet are mainly related to exudation and the meniscus freezing phenomenon, which are influenced by alloy compositions, casting speed, and casting temperature. 7000-series aluminum alloys have a wide freezing range during solidification, which makes it easy for casting defects to occur. In this study, we investigated surface defect evolution in casting billets of Al-8Zn-2Mg-2Cu alloy fabricated by a DC casting process. The billets showed "wavy" or "dotted" surfaces. The wavy surface was formed by meniscus freezing at a lower casting speed (200 mm/min) and temperature (655 ℃). In the wavy surface, refined dendritic cells were observed in a concave region due to the constitutional supercooling caused by meniscus freezing. Meanwhile, at a higher casting temperature (675 ℃), the dotted surface was formed by pore formation. In the dotted surfaces in the billet formed at a high casting speed (230 mm/min), an exudation layer was formed by the high metallostatic head pressure. The dotted region and the smooth region had a refined dendritic morphology and a columnar morphology at the exudation layer, respectively. This is attributed to the formation of gas pores in the dotted region.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.213-213
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• 2000

This study was performed to investigate types and formation mechanism of cracks in two Al alloy welds, A5083 and A7NO1 spot-welded by pulse Nd: YAG laser, using SEM, EPMA and Micro-XRD. In the weld zone, three types of crack were observed: center line crack($C_{C}$), diagonal crack($C_{D}$), and U shape crack($C_{U}$). Also, HAZ crack($C_{H}$), was observed in the HAZ region, furthermore, mixing crack($C_{M}$), consisting of diagonal crack and HAZ crack was observed.White film was formed at the hot crack region in the fractured surface after it was immersed to 10%NaOH water. In the case of A5083 alloy, white films in C crack and $C_D crack region were composed of low melting phases, Fe₂Si$Al_8$ and eutectic phases, Mg₂Al₃ and Mg₂Si. Such films observed near HAZ crack were also consist of eutectic Mg₂Al₃. In the case of A7N01 alloy, eutectic phases of CuAl₂, $Mg_{32}$ (Al,Zn) ₃, MgZn₂, Al₂CuMg and Mg₂Si were observed in the whitely etched films near $C_{C}$ crack and $C_{D}$ crack regions. The formation of liquid films was due to the segregation of Mg, Si, Fe in the case of A5083 alloy and Zn, Mg, Cu, Si in the case of A7N01 aooly, respectively.The $C_{D}$ and $C_{C}$ cracks were regarded as a result of the occurrence of tensile strain during the welding process. The formation of $C_{M}$ crack is likely to be due to the presence of liquid film at the grain boundary near the fusion line in the base metal as well as in the weld fusion zone during solidification. The $C_{U}$ crack is considered a result of the collapsed keyhole through incomplete closure during rapid solidification. (Received October 7, 1999)

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.359-366
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• 2023

Changes in microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-1.0Al-1.0Zn-0.2Mn-0.5Ca (AZMX1100) alloy sheet manufactured by normal casting and twin roll casting process, were studied according to process and heat treatment. Non-uniform microstructure was observed in the initial sheet produced through both processes, and in particular, tilted dendrites and shifted central segregation were observed in the twin roll casting sheet. It was homogenized through hot rolling and heat treatment, and heat treated at 350℃ and 400℃ to compare the effect of heat treatment temperature. Both sheets were homogenized by the hot rolling process, and the grain size increased as the heat treatment temperature and time increased. It was confirmed that the grain size, deviation, and distribution of the second phase were finer and more homogenized in the TRC sheet. Accordingly, mechanical properties such as hardness, formability, and tensile strength also showed better values. However, unlike other previously reported AZMX alloy systems, it showed low formability (Erichsen value), which was judged by the influence of Al2Ca present in the microstructure.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.190-199
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• 2015

The study is intended to investigate the effect of solution treatment on microstructure and corrosion behavior of AZ91(Mg-9%Al-1%Zn-0.3%Mn)-2%Ca casting alloy. In as-cast state, the AZ91-2%Ca alloy consisted of intermetallic ${\beta}(Mg_{17}Al_{12})$, $Al_8Mn_5$ and $Al_2Ca$ phases in ${\alpha}-(Mg)$ matrix. After the solution treatment, Al within the ${\alpha}-(Mg)$ matrix was distributed more homogeneously, along with the slight decrease in the total amount of intermetallic compounds. The corrosion resistance of the AZ91-2%Ca alloy was improved after the solution treatment. The microstructural examinations for the solution-treated samples revealed that the better corrosion resistance may well be related to the incorporation of more oxides and hydroxides such as $Al_2O_3$, $Al(OH)_3$, CaO and $Ca(OH)_2$ into the surface corrosion product without dissolution of the intermetallic phases along the grain boundaries.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.86-90
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• 2012

Aluminium-silicon based casting alloys have received an attention for high electrical and thermal conductivity applications, however relatively low conductivity of Al-Si alloys often limits the application. Efforts have been made to develop new high conductivity aluminium casting alloys containing no or less silicon. In this study Al-Zn-Fe based alloys were selected as the new alloys, and the effect of Mg additions on their properties and casting characteristics were investigated. As the magnesium content was increased, the tensile strength of Al-2Zn-0.2Fe based alloy was remarkably increased, while the electrical conductivity was deteriorated. It was observed that the fluidity of the alloys was generally inversely proportional to the Mg content but the hot cracking resistance was rather proportional to it. Cooling curve analyses were carried out to measure the actual solidification range and dendrite coherency temperature.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.10
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• pp.574-579
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• 2013

The milling and particulate characteristics of Al alloy-$Al_2O_3$ powder mixtures for a reaction-bonded $Al_2O_3$ (RBAO) process were studied. A commercially available prealloyed Al powder with Zn, Mg, Cu and Cr alloying elements (7475 series) was mixed with a calcined sinter-active $Al_2O_3$ powder and then milled in centrifugal milling equipment for ~48 hrs. The Al alloy-$Al_2O_3$ powder mixtures after milling were characterized and evaluated in various ways to reveal their particulate characteristics during milling. The milling efficiency of the Al alloy increased with a longer milling time. Comminution of the Al alloy particles started with its elongation, showing a high aspect ratio. With a longer milling time, the elongated Al alloy particle changed in terms of its shape and size, becoming equiaxially fine particles. Regardless of the milling efficiency of the Al alloy particles, all of the Al alloy particles repeatedly experienced strong plastic deformation during milling, giving rise to higher density of surface defects, such as microcracks, and leading to higher residual microstress within the Al alloy particles. The chemical reactions, oxidation behavior and hydration behavior of the Al alloy particles and the hydrolysis characteristics of their reaction with the environment were also observed during the milling process and during the subsequent powder handling steps.