Development of Thixoextrusion Process for 7000 Series Al Wrought Alloys

Thixoextrusion for 7003 and 7075 Al wrought alloys with different content of Cu was carried out with respect to isothermal holding temperature in the partially remelted semisolid state. Especially, despite higher extrudability index of 7075 Al wrought alloy compared with the extrudability index of 7003 Al wrought alloy, the maximum extrusion pressures of 7075 Al wrought alloy were about the same as the maximum extrusion pressures of 7003 Al wrought alloy at temperature with the liquid fraction 10% (7003-624, 7075-609). The hardness values of thixoextruded specimens were higher than that of as-quenched specimens only after partial remelting. The microstructures of thixoextruded specimens did not show any dendrites or rosette-like structures. The average grain sizes of thixoextruded specimens were smaller than average grain sizes of homogenized specimens.