The heat treatment process has great effects on microstructure and conductivity of ingots. In this study, the ingots of high strength 7075 aluminum alloy were prepared by low frequency electromagnetic casting(LFEC), and the effect of different homogenization processes(single-step homogenization at 465 ℃ for different holding times and three-step homogenization) on the microstructure and conductivity of 7075 aluminum alloy were studied by means of metallographic microscopy, electrical conductivity test, differential thermal analysis and X-ray diffraction phase analysis. For comparison, the ingot by conventional direct casting(DC) under the same conditions was also prepared. Results show that the non-equilibrium eutectic phases with low melting point in the ingot dissolve continuously into the matrix as the holding time of single-step homogenization increases. The endothermic peak of non-equilibrium phases can not be completely eliminated through a 24 h single-step homogenization, but can be eliminated after a three-step homogenization(200 ℃/2 h + 460 ℃/6 h + 480 ℃/12 h). Meanwhile, the homogenization has a better effect on the LFEC ingot than the conventional DC ingot. Under the same homogenizing conditions, the grains of LFEC ingot are characterized by a lower content of low melting point phases and the ingot shows higher electrical conductivity than DC ingot.
This work explores the microstructure of low frequency electromagnetic casting (LFEC) 7075 aluminum alloys and investigates the effect of heat treatment process on its mechanical properties via the mechanical properties test, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the grains of LFEC ingot were finer and more evenly distributed than that of the conventional direct chill cast (DC) ingots. The microstructure of LFEC ingot extruded kept their original as-cast structure with small and fine grains. With the same extrusion ratio, the average grain diameters of LFEC and conventional DC extruded were about 10 and 20 μm, respectively. LFEC extruded also had a better aging property, since the regime of T6 treatment peak value aging was at 120 C for 24 h, the tensile strength and hardness (HV) of the LFEC extruded were 673.50 MPa and 194.62, respectively, which were all higher than those of the conventional DC extruded, indicating that the process regime can be applied in the industrial production.
We have experimentally determined the as-cast structures of semi-continuous casting 7075 aluminum alloy obtained in the presence of dual-frequency electromagnetic field.Results suggest that the use of dual-frequency electromagnetic field during the semi-continuous casting process of 7075 aluminum alloy ingots reduces the thickness of the surface segregation layer,increases the height of the melt meniscus,enhances the surface quality of the ingot,and changes the surface morphology of the melt pool.Moreover,low-frequency electromagnetic field was found to show the most obvious influence on improving the as-cast structure because of its high permeability in conductors.
Zhi-hao ZhaoZhen XuGao-song WangQing-feng ZhuJian-zhong Cui
