RECENT TRENDS IN PROCESSING AND DEGRADATION OF ALUMINIUM ALLOYS Edited by Zaki Ahmad Recent Trends in Processing and Degradation of Aluminium Alloys Edited by Zaki Ahmad Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2011 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which permits to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the work in any medium, so long as the original work is properly cited. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. 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Used under license from Shutterstock.com First published November, 2011 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from [email protected] Recent Trends in Processing and Degradation of Aluminium Alloys, Edited by Zaki Ahmad p. cm. ISBN 978-953-307-734-5 Contents Preface IX Part 1 Casting and Forming of Aluminium Alloys 1 Chapter 1 Aluminium Countergravity Casting – Potentials and Challenges 3 Bolaji Aremo and Mosobalaje O. Adeoye Chapter 2 Intermetallic Phases Examination in Cast AlSi5Cu1Mg and AlCu4Ni2Mg2 Aluminium Alloys in As-Cast and T6 Condition 19 Grazyna Mrówka-Nowotnik Chapter 3 Rotary-Die Equal Channel Angular Pressing Method 41 Akira Watazu Part 2 Welding of Aluminium Alloys 61 Chapter 4 Welding of Aluminum Alloys 63 R.R. Ambriz and V. Mayagoitia Chapter 5 Prediction of Tensile and Deep Drawing Behaviour of Aluminium Tailor-Welded Blanks 87 R. Ganesh Narayanan and G. Saravana Kumar Part 3 Surface Treatment of Aluminium Alloys 113 Chapter 6 Laser Surface Treatments of Aluminum Alloys 115 Reza Shoja Razavi and Gholam Reza Gordani Chapter 7 Microstructural Changes of Al-Cu Alloys After Prolonged Annealing at Elevated Temperature 155 Malgorzata Wierzbinska and Jan Sieniawski VI Contents Chapter 8 PIII for Aluminium Surface Modification 175 Régulo López-Callejas, Raúl Valencia-Alvarado, Arturo Eduardo Muñoz-Castro, Rosendo Pena-Eguiluz, Antonio Mercado-Cabrera, Samuel R. Barocio, Benjamín Gonzalo Rodríguez-Méndez and Anibal de la Piedad-Beneitez Chapter 9 Optimizing the Heat Treatment Process of Cast Aluminium Alloys 197 Andrea Manente and Giulio Timelli Part 4 Mechanical Behavior of Aluminium Alloys and Composites 221 Chapter 10 High Strength Al-Alloys: Microstructure, Corrosion and Principles of Protection 223 Anthony E. Hughes, Nick Birbilis, Johannes M.C. Mol, Santiago J. Garcia, Xiaorong Zhou and George E. Thompson Chapter 11 Mechanical Behavior and Plastic Instabilities of Compressed Al Metals and Alloys Investigated with Intensive Strain and Acoustic Emission Methods 263 Andrzej Pawelek Chapter 12 Aluminum Alloys for Al/SiC Composites 299 Martin I. Pech-Canul Part 5 Corrosion and Mechanical Damage of Aluminium Alloys 315 Chapter 13 Effects of Dry Sliding Wear of Wrought Al-Alloys on Mechanical Mixed Layers (MML) 317 Mariyam Jameelah Ghazali Chapter 14 Comparison of Energy-Based and Damage-Related Fatigue Life Models for Aluminium Components Under TMF Loading 329 Eichlseder Wilfried, Winter Gerhard, Minichmayr Robert and Riedler Martin Chapter 15 Deformation Characteristics of Aluminium Composites for Structural Applications 347 Theodore E. Matikas and Syed T. Hasan Chapter 16 Corrosion Behavior of Aluminium Metal Matrix Composite 385 Zaki Ahmad, Amir Farzaneh and B. J. Abdul Aleem Contents VII Chapter 17 Interrelation Between Failure and Damage Accumulation in the Pre-Fracture Zone Under Low-Cycle Loading 407 Vladimir Kornev, Evgeniy Karpov and Alexander Demeshkin Part 6 Microstructures, Nanostructures and Image Analysis 423 Chapter 18 Nanostructure, Texture Evolution and Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Alloys Processed by Severe Plastic Deformation 425 Abbas Akbarzadeh Chapter 19 Statistical Tests Based on the Geometry of Second Phase Particles 459 Viktor Beneš, Lev Klebanov, Radka Lechnerová and Peter Sláma Chapter 20 Microstructural Evolution During the Homogenization of Al-Zn-Mg Aluminum Alloys 477 Ali Reza Eivani, Jie Zhou and Jurek Duszczyk Preface Aluminum is the second most plentiful element on the earth and it became a competition in 19th century. The huge demand of aluminum is projected to get 70 million tons, over 30 millions being obtained from recycled scrap. The scope of aluminum ranges from household to space vehicles. Dramatic advances in casting,welding,forming and eco friendly methods of production have made aluminum and aluminum alloys highly attractive candidate for automotive and aerospace industry, because of their wide range of attributes such as high strength, resistance to corrosion, low density, high reflectively, high ductility and proven reliability. The developments in the last two decades have been revolutionary and well documented both for wrought, heat treatable and non-heat treatable alloys. New developments in methods of casting, forming, welding, environmental degradation, grain refinement and particle size at nano and micro scale have made big impact on their demand for space and automotive industry. Despite serious competition from composites, aluminum alloys are still the king in these industries, as exemplified by 777 Airbus. Aluminium is a very versatile metal and can be cast in any form, stamped, forged, machine, brazed and resin bonded. Substantial evidence has been gathered on formability which affects the structural integrity of the components. The demand on quality and integrity of welding is increasing on military and commercial aircraft. This includes improved toughness, lower weight and increased resistance to corrosion fatigue. The progress made in welding, analysis of different techniques and their impact on micro structural characteristics has been discussed in several chapters in the hinder the section “welding, casting and forming”. Ambriz Richardo has discussed this topic whereas Saravana Kumar has provided valued information on tailored blanks and deep drawing behavior of aluminum alloys. Because of high plastic strain, levels, rigid strength requirements and high quality controls are required for forming processes ranging from single to multiple stage because of increasingly dynamic and competitive market demands which includes outstanding toughness and a high resistance to corrosion fatigue. Various casting process such as direct chill casting, rotary die equal channel angular processing, counter gravity casting and centrifugal casting is described by Aremo Bolaji, Watazu Akira and others have shown new X Preface dimensions in the field of casting. Dramatic changes in surface treatment have proved highly effective in the life cycle of aluminum alloys as shown by Shoja Razavi Reza, Wierzbinska Malgorzata, Lopez-Cellajas Regulo, Metikas Theodore and Morwka-Nowotnik Grazyna have added new data to new information. Improvements in surface topography and stability are only achieved successfully by combining electrochemistry, microstructures and the role of micro/nano particles new methods of surface modifications are described by Akbarzadeh Abbas, Timelli Giulio and Kornev Vladimir. Corrosion is a serious thread to aluminum alloys and aluminum based metal matrix composites reinforced by silicon carbide. A brief mechanism of corrosion of composited is given by Zaki Ahmad. Environmental damages such as corrosion fatigue in aluminum alloys and their mechanism have been described by Ghazali Mariam and Eichlseder Wilfried. The principle behind the chapters in book was an analysis of the procedures such as casting, forming, welding and environmental degradation which have a strong bearing on the integrity of aerospace structures and automotive. The authors have addressed the problems of grain refinement, micro segragation, casting defects, crack growth, weld defects to show to what levels the aluminum alloys have been technically elevated. The chapters were selected on a rigid criteria of which novelty and new approaches were the main pillars. I hope the book would be very useful for practicing engineers, technicians, senior students and all those interested in aluminum alloys in particular the technical staff of aerospace, automotive and defense industry. Chapters on casting, welding and others could be used to support their textbook at a graduate level. This book is profusely illustrated to make the concepts clear to the readers. While editing the book I had the problems of shifting from one country other which prolonged my editing work for which I apologize. I thank Mr. Mishaal Ahmed (my grandson), Manzar Ahmed, Intesar Ahmed, Shamsujehan, Huma Sabir and Abida Sultana, they provided me with the mental support for the work not the least, the spirit of my beloved dead son Intekhab Ahmed drove me through very hard times while reviewing the chapters. I am very grateful to KFUPM who gave me the moral support. I am specially indebted to Dr Faleh Al Sulaiman vice rector of technology at KFUPM, Dr Nasir Aqeeli, Mr Faheemuddin and Mr Abdul Aleem of M.E department of KFUPM. I also thanks Dr M. Budair rector of Al-Jouf University for his moral support. In the end I thank the Al Mighty to give me the moral courage to undertake the responsibility. I am grateful to InTech publisher for giving me the honor of being the chief editor of this book.