Microstructural characterization and mechanical properties of cast Al-15Zn-2Mg alloy subjected to severe plastic deformation

Abstract

In the present work, Al-15Zn-2Mg alloy was processed by ECAP technique for grain refinement. The ECAP processing was conducted at 150 °C. Microstructural characterization was carried out in OM, SEM, TEM and XRD. To evaluate the mechanical properties, hardness measurement and tensile tests were conducted at room temperature. Microstructural characterization showed that, ECAP processing leads to decrease in the grain size of the alloy. Also, small amount of dislocations were also observed in the ECAP processed material. After ECAP processing, precipitates nucleation in the material was identified in the XRD analysis. The strength and the hardness values were increased after ECAP processing. After ECAP processing, microhardness of the material is increased from 173 Hv to 252 Hv and the UTS of the material is increased from 166 MPa to 362 MPa. After tensile testing, fracture surface of the cast material showed dendritic structure and the fracture surface of the ECAP processed material showed dimples. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.