Search

Interdiffusion between Fe (Armco) and Cu single crystals of similar orientation (around [110]) annealed at temperatures of 873 and 973K in air for 0.5 up to 4 h is studied. Formation of three phases different in their chemical composition has been observed: 1) oxide layer on Cu border (porous), 2) a layer rich in copper, iron and oxygen, 3) a layer of iron and oxygen with only small addition of Cu. All reactions of interface formation occurred in solid state. It was noted that oxygen plays an important role in development of new phases. Strong Kirkendall effect is observed due to large difference in diffusion coefficients of copper atoms to iron, DCu→Fe=300exp(-67800/RT) and iron atoms to copper DCu→Fe=0.091exp(-46140/RT).

The analysis of the connection steel/Al/steel made by resistance welding was performed. The used low-carbon steel had low content of carbon and other elements, aluminum was of 99.997 wt.% Al purity. Formation of various FeAl intermetallic phases found in the phase diagram depending on the duration of the process was analyzed. Two distinctively different types of structure depending on time of welding were observed: 1) hypoeutectic structure for samples processed for 5 s, and 2) eutectic structure for samples processed for 10 s and more. The shear test showed increase of mechanical properties of the connection for the samples welded 10 s.

Processes of severe plastic deformation (SPD) are defined as a group of metalworking techniques in which a very large plastic strain is imposed on a bulk material in order to make an ultra-fine grained metal. The present study attempts to apply Equal-Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP), Hydrostatic Extrusion (HE) and combination of ECAP and HE to 99.5% pure aluminium. ECAP process was realized at room temperature for 16 passes through route Bc using a die having an angle of 90°. Hydrostatic extrusion process was performed with cumulative strain of 2.68 to attain finally wire diameter of d = 3 mm. The microstructure of the samples was investigated by means of transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, the microhardness was measured and statistical analysis of the grains and subgrains was performed. Based on Kikuchi diffraction patterns misorientation was determined. The measured grain/subgrain size show, that regardless the mode of deformation process (ECAP, HE or combination of ECAP and HE processes), grain size is maintained at a similar level – equal to d = 0.55-0.59 μm. A combination of ECAP and HE has achieved better properties than either single process and show to be a promising procedure for manufacturing bulk UFG aluminium.