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Pure titanium is gaining increasing interest due to its potential use in dental and orthopedic applications. Due to its relatively weak mechanical parameters, a limited number of components manufactured from pure titanium are available on the market. In order to improve the mechanical parameters of pure titanium, manufacturers use alloys containing cytotoxic vanadium and aluminum. This paper presents unique explosive hardening technology that can be used to strengthen pure titanium parameters. The analysis confirms that explosive induced α-ω martensitic transformation and crystallographic anisotropy occurred due to the explosive pressure. The mechanical properties related to residual stresses are very nonuniform. The corrosion properties of the explosive hardened pure titanium test do not change significantly compared to nonhardened titanium. The biocompatibility of all the analyzed samples was confirmed in several tests. The morphology of bone cells does not depend on the titanium surface phase composition and crystallographic orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The methods of severe plastic deformation (SPD) of metals and metal alloys are very attractive due to the possibility of refinement of the grains to nanometric sizes, which facilitates obtaining high mechanical properties. This study investigated the influence of SPD in the process of hydrostatic extrusion (HE) on the anisotropy of the mechanical properties of the CuCrZr copper alloy. The method of HE leads to the formation of a characteristic microstructure in deformed materials, which can determine their potential applications. On the longitudinal sections of the extruded bars, a strong morphological texture is observed, manifested by elongated grains in the direction of extrusion. In the transverse direction, these grains are visible as equiaxed. The anisotropy of properties was mainly determined based on the analysis of the static mini-sample static tensile test and the dynamic impact test. The obtained results were correlated with microstructural observations. In the study, three different degrees of deformation were applied at the level necessary to refine the grain size to the ultrafine-grained level. Regardless of the applied degree of deformation, the effect of the formation of a strong morphological texture was demonstrated, as a result of which there is a clear difference between the mechanical properties depending on the test direction, both by the static and dynamic method. The obtained results allow for the identification of the characteristic structure formed during the HE process and the more effective use of the CuCrZr copper alloy in applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research presented in this paper concerns the influence of the rate of plastic deformation generated directly in the processes of severe plastic deformations on the microstructure and properties of three metals: copper, iron and zinc. The equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) method was used, and it was performed at a low plastic deformation rate of ∼ 0.04 s−1 . The high plastic strain rate was obtained using the hydrostatic extrusion (HE) method with the deformation rate at the level of ∼ 170 s−1 . For all three tested materials different characteristic effects were demonstrated at the applied deformation rates. The smallest differences in the mechanical properties were observed in copper, despite the dynamic recrystallization processes that occurred in the HE process. In Armco iron samples, dynamic recovery processes in the range of high plastic deformation rates resulted in lower mechanical properties. The most significant effects were obtained for pure zinc, where, regardless of the method used, the microstructure was clearly transformed into bimodal after the ECAP process, and homogenized and refined after the HE process. After the HE process, the material was transformed from a brittle state to a plastic state and the highest mechanical properties were obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study presents an analysis of the influence of the plastic strain rate on the mechanical and structural properties of pure zinc. Thanks to the use of unconventional methods of plastic processing, the process of the equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) and the process of hydrostatic extrusion (HE), the tests were performed in a wide range of plastic strain rates, between 0.04 s−1 and 170 s−1. Plastic strain rate changes were carried out in the course of the significant plastic strain processes, and not on previously deformed samples. All tests were carried out at a constant value of plastic strain rate, ε ~ 2. A strong influence of the plastic strain rate on changes in the microstructure in zinc was observed during the tests. For the rates in the range of 0.04 s−1 to 0.53 s−1 its bimodal nature was observed, and in the range of 7 s−1 to 170 s−1 high homogeneity and evenness of grains related to the processes of continuous dynamic recrystallization was noticed. The effect of the strong homogenization of the microstructure was the increase in mechanical properties, yield point and tensile strength to the maximum values of UTS = 194 MPa, YS = 145 MPa at a strain rate of 170 s−1. Compared to the material with a bimodal microstructure, an over seven-fold increase in the elongation value was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the effect of severe plastic deformation obtained using the cold hydrostatic extrusion (HE) method on the mechanical and structural properties of polyamide 6 (PA6). As a result of the plastic strain, a significant increase in ultimate tensile strength and tensile modulus were observed. Tensile strength rose by almost 500%, up to the level of 508 MPa, whereas the tensile modulus rose by about 65%. Flexural modulus increase was also observed to 3230 MPa, i.e., by approx. 160%. As a result of high plastic deformation, the structure of the polyamide 6 changed significantly, as evidenced by its fibrous nature as presented in the results of the scanning electron microscopy inspection (SEM). The surface quality of products investigated was tested using profilometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was concerned with improving the thermo-plastic treatment of the CuCrZr alloy so as to achieve a better compromise between its electrical conductivity and hardness. The experiments included severe plastic deformation (SPD), such as hydrostatic extrusion (HE), equal channel angular pressing (ECAP), and a combination of these processes, all followed by a precipitation hardening stage (solution treatment before the deformation and post-deformation ageing). The aim was to produce a material with a strongly refined microstructure (which is a factor promoting high hardness and high mechanical strength of the material) with the preservation of its high electrical conductivity. The material obtained had an ultrafinegrained structure ( d 2 = 200 nm) and a high ultimate tensile strength UTS = 630 MPa, values which are much higher than those of the reference commercial material used for the fabrication of the spot-welding electrodes. The optimization of the process parameters also permitted achieving a high electrical conductivity of 78% IACS. The CuCrZr alloy is commonly used as the material for the tips of the spot-welding electrodes, especially in the transportation industry. Therefore, the properties of the material obtained in the present study were verified from the applicative point of view i.e. some standardized spot-welding electrodes were fabricated of it and subjected to lifetime tests. The lifetime of the electrodes made of the material subjected to HE + post-deformation ageing appeared to be more than 6 times as long as that of the reference commercial electrodes. In the material treated by ECAP + HE, the result was much less advantageous which was because of the weaker morphological texture compared to that formed characteristically in the materials treated by HE alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CP 99.5% aluminium was processed by cryo-hydrostatic extrusion with true strains up to 3.4 in one pass. The aim was to refine its microstructure and improve its mechanical properties. The properties of the thus processed material were compared with those obtained after the same process but run at room temperature. Cooling the billet with liquid nitrogen combined with water cooling of the extruded wire enabled suppressing partially the dynamic and static structural processes. The grain size was reduced to ~400 nm in the cryo-extrusion, and to ~450 nm in the room-extrusion. In the cryo-extrusion the increase of the yield strength to 168 MPa and the hardness to 56 HV0.2 with the respective reduction of the elongation to fracture to 13.6% were obtained. The cryo-cooling effectiveness and the influence of the adiabatic heat generated during the plastic processing on the structure, mechanical properties, hardness, and tensile impact toughness just after hydrostatic extrusion, an also after the post deformation annealing are discussed. In view of the intensive adiabatic heating amounting to 0.57 T m no special improvement of the mechanical properties after the post-deformation annealing was observed. The cryo-cooling became effective at the true strain ε>2, where the extrusion pressures clearly differed from the room-extrusion pressures and the defect density substantially increased. After the cryo-hydrostatic extrusion the mechanical properties were comparable to the highest values reported in the literature for cryo-rolling but, since they were obtained in a single deformation step and with twice as large subgrains, the ductility of the extruded aluminium was higher. During the cryo-hydrostatic extrusion conducted at high strains the reduction in ductility of the aluminium is hindered and thanks to the beneficial role of the hydrostatic stress active in the material the structural and mechanical effects which occur during severe plastic deformation are enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the microstructural investigation of a friction-welded joint made of 316L stainless steel with an ultrafine-grained structure obtained by hydrostatic extrusion (HE). Such a plastically deformed material is characterized by a metastable state of energy equilibrium, increasing, among others, its sensitivity to high temperatures. This feature makes it difficult to weld ultra-fine-grained metals without losing their high mechanical properties. The use of high-speed friction welding and a friction time of <1 s reduced the scale of the weakening of the friction joint in relation to result obtained in conventional rotary friction welding. The study of changes in the microstructure of individual zones of the friction joint was carried out on an optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) analysis system. The correlation between the microstructure and hardness of the friction joint is also presented. The heat released during the high-speed friction welding initiated the process of dynamic recrystallization (DRX) of single grains in the heat-affected zone (HAZ). The additional occurrence of strong plastic deformations (in HAZ) during flash formation and internal friction (in the friction weld and high-temperature HAZ) contributed to the formation of a highly deformed microstructure with numerous sub-grains. The zones with a microstructure other than the base material were characterized by lower hardness. Due to the complexity of the microstructure and its multifactorial impact on the properties of the friction-welded joint, strength should be the criterion for assessing the properties of the joint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]