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The Al-5Ti-1B, Al-10Ti, Al-4B master alloys and TiB2 powder were applied to refine the pure aluminum, respectively. The effects of the TiAl3 phase, TiB2 particle, and AlB2 phase on the grain size of pure aluminum were compared. The grain refinement mechanism of the Al-5Ti-1B grain refiner was studied. The results showed that the TiAl3 phase was an effective heterogeneous nucleus of the α-Al grain. But the TiAl3 phase in the Al-5Ti-1B grain refiner was not the heterogeneous nucleus of the α-Al grain due to its re-melting in the Al melt. The separate TiB2 particle or AlB2 phase was not the heterogeneous nucleus of the α-Al grain. However, the TiB2 coated by the TiAl3 phase can be the effective heterogeneous nucleus of the α-Al grain. The grain refinement mechanism of the Al-5Ti-1B grain refiner can be summarized as follows: when the Al-5Ti-1B grain refiner is added into the Al melt, the TiAl3 phases are re-melted to release the Ti atoms, while the TiB2 particles are remaining in the Al melt. During the solidification of the Al melt, the Ti atoms are segregating on the surface of TiB2 particles to form the TiAl3 phases. The TiB2 particles coated by the TiAl3 phases then reacts with the Al melt to generate α-Al crystal nucleus.

A typical process was developed to manufacture Cu-Cr-Zr-Mg alloy bars with high strength and high electrical conductivity. The microstructure and properties of the alloys were investigated by observations of optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and measurements of tensile strength and electrical conductivity. The results showed that the process and thermo mechanical treatments were successfully developed to manufacture Cu-Cr-Zr-Mg alloy bars with good combinations of the ultimate tensile strength (602.5 MPa) and conductivity (85.4% IACS). The achievement of high strength and high electrical conductivity in the alloy could be ascribed to the interactions of strain hardening and precipitation hardening.

In the present investigation the casting-forging integrated technology was adopted to manufacture Al-1.1Mg-0.6Si-0.4Cu alloy automobile brake calipers. The effect of forging pressure on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-1.1Mg-0.6Si-0.4Cu alloy calipers were studied. The results showed that the shrinkage porosities and cracks in the Al-1.1Mg-0.6Si-0.4Cu alloy calipers could be removed by the forging process. The ultimate tensile strength and elongation of Al-1.1Mg-0.6Si-0.4Cu alloy calipers increased with the increase of forging pressure. When the forging pressure was 120 MPa, the ultimate tensile strength and elongation of Al-1.1Mg-0.6Si-0.4Cu alloy calipers with T6 heat treatment were 365.3 MPa and 11.5%, which were improved by 22.8% and 38.2%, respectively compared with that of Al-1.1Mg-0.6Si-0.4Cu alloy calipers without forging. The tensile fracture images revealed that the fracture modes of Al-1.1Mg-0.6Si-0.4Cu alloy calipers were more ductile at higher forging pressure.

In order to develop high-performance lead-free brasses, the effect of magnesium content on the machinability of lead-free brass alloys was carefully studied in the present work. The ingots of the Cu-Zn-Bi-Sb alloy were fabricated in terms of different magnesium contents of 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 wt%. The difference in the machinability of the Cu-Zn-Bi-Sb alloy ingots was discussed in terms of their microstructure, mechanical properties and chip morphologies. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that α phase (0~38 Zn by atom %), β phase (45~49 Zn by atom %), CuMgSb and CuMgZn existed in the Cu-Zn-Bi-Sb alloys with the different magnesium contents. With increasing the content of magnesium, the machinability of the present lead-free brass alloys was markedly improved, which is mainly attributed to the formation of intermetallic compounds such as CuMgSb and CuMgZn.

The dynamic recrystallization (DRX) behavior of the new lead-free machinable brass was investigated by compression tests on a Gleeble-1500 thermal mechanics simulator in the temperatures range of 823-973 K and strain rates ranging from 0.01 to 1 s-1. On the basis of the hot compression data, critical stress (strain) or peak stress (strain) were determined with the assistance of the strain hardening rate versus stress curves. The dynamic recrystallization kinetics model of the lead-free machinable brass was established to evaluate the DRX behavior. The results will be beneficial to optimizing hot working processes of this new lead-free machinable brass.

The microstructure of Al-5Ti-1B grain refiner was analyzed by XRD and SEM. The effect of the Al-5Ti-1B grain refiner on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 7075 aluminum alloy were studied. Results show that when the addition amount of Al-5Ti-1B grain refiner is 0.1%, the microstructure of 7075 aluminum alloy is refined from coarse dendrite to equiaxed grains with an average diameter of 55.1μm. The tensile strength and elongation of 7075 aluminum alloy are improved by 11.32% and 36.04% compared with that of 7075 aluminum alloy without adding Al-5Ti-1B grain refiner. With increasing the addition amount of Al-5Ti-1B grain refiner from 0.1% to 0.5%, both the tensile strength and elongation are improved. When the addition amount of Al-5Ti-1B grain refiner increases to 0.5%, the microstructure of 7075 aluminum alloy is refined to uniform equiaxed grains with an average diameter of 32.5μm. The tensile strength and elongation are improved by 18.11% and 48.76%, respectively.

An Al-5Zr-1.1B grain refiner was prepared by in-situ synthesis from Al melt and K2ZrF4+KBF4 mixed powder. The microstructure of Al-5Zr-1.1B grain refiner was analyzed by XRD, SEM and EDS. The effect of Al-5Zr-1.1B grain refiner on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ91D magnesium alloy were studied. Results show that a large number of fine ZrB2 particles were observed in the Al-5Zr-1.1B grain refiner and the ZrB2 particles could act as the heterogeneous nuclei of α-Mg grains. With the increase of the addition amount of Al-5Zr-1.1B grain refiner, the α-Mg grains of AZ91D magnesium alloy were refined from coarse dendrites to equiaxed grains. When the addition amount of Al-5Zr-1.1B grain refiner increased to 0.6%, the α-Mg grains of AZ91D magnesium alloy were refined to fine equiaxed grains with an average diameter of 45 μm, and the tensile strength and elongation of AZ91D magnesium alloy were improved to 195.3 MPa and 3.94%, respectively. The α-Mg grains average diameter of AZ91D magnesium alloy decreased by 73.5% and the tensile strength and elongation improved by 25.9% and 27.9% compared with that of AZ91D magnesium alloy without adding the Al-5Zr-1.1B grain refiner. It is concluded that the Al-5Zr-1.1B is an effective grain refiner to refine the α-Mg grains of AZ91D magnesium alloy.

In order to develop the appropriate constitutive equation which can precisely model high temperature flow stress of 6063 Al alloy, a series of isothermal hot compression tests were performed at temperatures from 573 to 773 K and strain rates from 0.5 to 50 s–1 on a Gleeble–1500 thermo-simulation machine. Zener–Hollomon parameter in an exponent-type equation was used to describe the combined effects of temperature and strain rate on hot deformation behaviour of 6063 Al alloy, whereas the influence of strain was incorporated in the developed constitutive equation by considering material constants (α, n, Q and A) to be 4th order polynomial functions of strain. The results show that the developed constitutive equation can accurately predict high temperature flow stress of 6063 Al alloy, which demonstrates that it can be suitable for simulating hot deformation processes such as extrusion and forging, and for properly designing the deformation parameters in engineering practice.

The AZ31 alloy ingot with diameter of 110 mm and length of 3500 mm was fabricated successfully. The compositions and microstructure morphologies of the ingot at different locations were performed, which indicated that the chemical composition distributed homogeneously through the whole alloy ingot and the average grain size increased from the surface to the center. The results of the EDS and element face-scanning illustrated that the eutectic compounds mainly consisted of β-Mg17Al12 and a small amount of β-Mg17(AlZn)12. Furthermore, slight improvements of the strength and ductility were observed from the center to the surface along the axial direction of the alloy ingot, while both the strength and elongation to failure of the samples along the radial direction are higher than that along the axial direction. The fine grain strengthening was the main contributors to the strength of the as-casted AZ31 alloy.

The A356 aluminum alloy wheels were prepared by thixo-forging combined with a low superheat casting process. The as-cast microstructure, microstructure evolution during reheating and the mechanical properties of the thixo-forged A356 aluminum alloy wheels were investigated. The results show that the A356 aluminum alloy billet with fine, uniform and non-dendritic grains can be obtained when the melt is cast at 635 °C. When the billet is reheated at 600 °C for 60 min, the non-dendritic grains are changed into spherical ones and the billet can be easily thixo-forged into wheels. The tensile strength and elongation of thixo-forged wheels with T6 heat treatment are 327.6 MPa and 7.8%, respectively, which are higher than those of a cast wheel. It is suggested that the thixo-forging combined with the low superheat casting process is an effective technique to produce aluminum alloy wheels with high mechanical properties.

The effect of applied forging pressure on microstructure and mechanical properties of 6061 aluminum alloy was examined. The results showed that the ultimate tensile strength, elongation and hardness of the alloy after heat-treated treatment increase with the applied forging pressure, and the corresponding highest values, 365MPa, 11.52% and 146.53HV, were obtained at the applied forging pressure of 120MPa. Compared to casting condition without forging pressure, the ultimate tensile strength, elongation and hardness can be increased by 22.8%, 98.2% and 48.7%, respectively. The defects such as the shrinkage pores and cracks were absent in the microstructure due to the applied forging pressure. The SEM observation indicated that the fracture mode of 6061 aluminum alloy is more ductile at higher applied forging pressure.

Continuous semisolid extruding extending forming process was adopted to produce LY11 alloy flat bar. The forming process, metal flow behavior in die cavity and microstructure and mechanical property of flat bar were investigated. It is shown that the LY11 alloy flat bar with transverse section of 10×50 mm and with good surface and fine equiaxed grains can be obtained by the continuous semisolid extruding extending forming process with melt pouring temperature of 770～780°C. The metal streamlines show that the semisolid slurry fills the die cavity in radiation manner and moves forward layer by layer and the velocity of slurry flow in the central area of die cavity is the maximum, and then decreases gradually from the center to side of die cavity. The tensile strength and elongation of flat bar with T6 heat treatment are 420.5 MPa and 14.2%, respectively.

Lead titanate (PbTiO3) nanowires have been synthesized by hydrothermal method at 200°C for 48h using lead acetic and tetrabutyl titanate as the starting materials and NaOH served as a mineralizer. The phase composition and microstructure of PbTiO3 nanowires were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). The results showed that the obtained nanowires are of single crystalline, tetragonal perovskite structure with diameters of ac. 12 nm and lengths ranging from 500 nm up to 5 μm. The PbTiO3 nanowires have good optical transmissivity. Photoluminescence (PL) study at room temperature for wavelength between 400 and 700 nm reveals a strong light emission band peaking at ac. 471.4 nm (2.63 eV).