The relationship between the precipitation of secondary phase and the thermal properties of Al-4.5%Cu alloy (in wt.%) after various heat treatments has been studied. Solid solution treatment of alloy was performed at 808 K for 6 hours, followed by warm water quenching; then, the samples were aged in air at 473 K for different times. The thermal diffusivity of the Al-4.5%Cu alloy changed with the heat treatment conditions of the alloy at temperatures below 523 K. The as-quenched specimen had the lowest thermal diffusivity, and as the artificial aging time increased, the thermal diffusivity of the specimen increased in the temperature range between 298 and 523 K. For the specimen aged for five hours, the thermal conductivity was 12% higher than that of the as-quenched specimens at 298 K. It is confirmed that the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity of the Al-4.5%Cu alloy significantly depend on their thermal history at temperatures below 523 K. The precipitation and dissolution of the Al2Cu phase were confirmed via DSC for the alloys, and the formation of coefficient of thermal expansion peaks in TMA was caused by precipitation. The precipitation of supersaturated solid solution of Al-4.5%Cu alloys had an additional linear expansion of ≈ 0.05 % at 643 K during thermal expansion measurement.

The annealing characteristics of cold-rolled Al-6.5Mg-1.5Zn-0.5Fe-0.5Mn alloy, newly designed as an automobile material, are investigated in detail, and compared with those of other aluminum alloys. Using multi-pass rolling at room temperature, the ingot aluminum alloy is cut to a thickness of 4 mm, width of 30 mm, and length of 100 mm to reduce the thickness to 1 mm (r = 75 %). Annealing after rolling is performed at various temperatures ranging from 200 to 500 oC for 1 hour. The specimens annealed at temperatures up to 300 oC show a deformation structure; however, from 350 oC they have a recrystallization structure consisting of almost equiaxed grains. The hardness distribution in the thickness direction of the annealed specimens is homogeneous at all annealing temperatures, and their average hardness decreases with increasing annealing temperature. The tensile strength of the as-rolled specimen shows a high value of 496 MPa; however, this value decreases with increasing annealing temperature and becomes 338MPa after annealing at 400 oC. These mechanical properties of the specimens are compared with those of other aluminum alloys, including commercial 5xxx system alloys.

The powder manufacturing process using the gas atomizer process is easy for mass production, has a fine powder particle size, and has excellent mechanical properties compared to the existing casting process, so it can be applied to various industries such as automobiles, electronic devices, aviation, and 3D printers. In this study, a modified A4032-xSn (x = 0, 1, 3, 5, and 10 wt.%) alloy with low melting point properties is investigated. After maintaining an argon (Ar) gas atmosphere, the main crucible is tilted; containing molten metal at 1,000℃ by melting the master alloy at a high frequency, and Ar gas is sprayed at 10 bar gas pressure after the molten metal inflow to the tundish crucible, which is maintained at 800℃. The manufactured powder is measured using a particle size analyzer, and FESEM is used to observe the shape and surface of the alloy powder. DSC is performed to investigate the change in shape, according to the melting point and temperature change. The microstructure of added tin (Sn) was observed by heat treatment at 575℃ for 10 min. As the content of Sn increased, the volume fraction increased to 1.1, 3.1, 6.4, and 10.9%.

In this study, three kinds of metal chills such as SS400, AC4CH and brass, with different thicknesses of 40 ~ 80 mm, were applied for low pressure casting of Al-Si alloy to control cooling rate. The microstructural characteristics with increasing cooling rate were represented using factors including D1, D2, size of primary α phases and shape factor and size of eutectic Si. The tensile properties were investigated and additionally analyzed based on the microstructural characteristics. As the cooling rate increased, D1, D2, and sizes of primary α phases and eutectic Si apparently decreased and the shape factor of eutectic Si increased to over 0.8. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and yield strength (YS) increased with decreasing D1, D2, and size of primary α phases, while elongation increased with decreasing size of eutectic Si and concurrently increasing shape factor of eutectic Si. This indicated that the primary α phases and eutectic Si in Al-Si alloy were refined with increasing cooling rate, resulting in improvement of UTS and YS without sacrificing elongation. After the tensile test, preferential deformation of primary α phases was observed in the Al-Si alloy produced at higher cooling rates of more than 0.1 K/s.

In this study, the effects of Sm addition (0, 0.05, 0.2, 0.5 wt%) on the microstructure, hardness, and electrical and thermal conductivity of Al-11Si-1.5Cu aluminum alloy were investigated. As a result of Sm addition, increment in the amount of α-Al and refinement of primary Si from 70 to 10 μm were observed due to eutectic temperature depression. On the other hand, Sm was less effective at refining eutectic Si because of insufficient addition. The phase analysis results indicated that Sm-rich intermetallic phases such as Al-Fe-Mg-Si and Al-Si-Cu formed and led to decrements in the amount of primary Si and eutectic Si. These microstructure changes affected not only the hardness but also the electrical and thermal conductivity. When 0.5 wt% Sm was added to the alloy, hardness increased from 84.4 to 91.3 Hv, and electric conductivity increased from 15.14 to 16.97 MS/m. Thermal conductivity greatly increased from 133 to 157 W/m·K.

Additively manufactured metallic components contain high surface roughness values, which lead to unsatisfactory high cycle fatigue resistance. In this study, high cycle fatigue properties of selective laser melted Ti-6Al- 4V alloy are investigated and the effect of dry-electropolishing, which does not cause weight loss, on the fatigue resistance is also examined. To reduce the internal defect in the as-built Ti-6Al-4V, first, hot isostatic pressing (HIP) is conducted. Then, to improve the mechanical properties, solution treatment and aging are also implemented. Selective laser melting (SLM)-built Ti64 shows a primary α and secondary α+β lamellar structure. The sizes of secondary α and β are approximately 2 μm and 100 nm, respectively. On the other hand, surface roughness Ra values of before and after dry-electropolishing are 6.21 μm and 3.15 μm, respectively. This means that dry-electropolishing is effective in decreasing the surface roughness of selective laser melted Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The comparison of high cycle fatigue properties between before and after dry-electropolished samples shows that reduced surface roughness improves the fatigue limit from 150 MPa to 170 MPa. Correlations between surface roughness and high cycle fatigue properties are also discussed based on these findings.

In this study, Al-Si-Mg alloys are additively manufactured using a selective laser melting (SLM) process from AlSi10Mg powders prepared from a gas-atomization process. The processing parameters such as laser scan speed and laser power are investigated for 3D printing of Al-Si-Mg alloys. The laser scan speeds vary from 100 to 2000 mm/ s at the laser power of 180 and 270W, respectively, to achieve optimized densification of the Al-Si-Mg alloy. It is observed that the relative density of the Al-Si-Mg alloy reaches a peak value of 99% at 1600 mm/s for 180W and at 2000 mm/s for 270W. The surface morphologies of the both Al-Si-Mg alloy samples at these conditions show significantly reduced porosities compared to those of other samples. The increase in hardness of as-built Al-Si-Mg alloy with increasing scan speed and laser power is analyzed due to high relative density. Furthermore, it was found that cooling conditions after the heat-treatment for homogenization results in the change of dispersion status of Si phases in the Al-Si matrix but also affects tensile behaviors of Al-Si-Mg alloys. These results indicate that combination between SLM processing parameters and post-heat treatment should be considered a key factor to achieve optimized Al-Si alloy performance.

In the present work, a new hydrogen added argon heat treatment process that prevents the formation of hydrides and eliminates the dehydrogenation step, is developed. Dissolved hydrogen has a good effect on sintering properties such as oxidation resistance and density of greens. This process can also reduce costs and processing time. In the experiment, commercially available Ti-6Al-4V powders are used. The powders are annealed using tube furnace in an argon atmosphere at 700oC and 900oC for 120 min. Hydrogen was injected temporarily during argon annealing to dissolve hydrogen, and a dehydrogenation process was performed simultaneously under an argon-only atmosphere. Without hydride formation, hydrogen was dissolved in the Ti-6Al-4V powder by X-ray diffraction and gas analysis. Hydrogen is first solubilized on the beta phase and expanded the beta phases’ cell volume. TGA analysis was carried out to evaluate the oxidation resistance, and it is confirmed that hydrogen-dissolved Ti-6Al-4V powders improves oxidation resistance more than raw materials.

Cr-Al alloys are attracting attention as oxidation resistant coating materials for high temperature metallic materials due to their excellent high temperature stability. However, the mechanical properties and oxidation resistance of Cr-Al alloys can be further enhanced, and such attempts are made in this study. To improve the properties of Cr-Al alloys, Si is added up to 5 wt%. Casting specimens with different amounts of Si content are prepared by a vacuum arc remelting method and isothermally heated under steam conditions at 1,100oC for 1 hour. The as-cast microstructure of low Si alloys is mainly composed of only a Cr phase, while Al8Cr5 and Cr3Si phases are also observed in the 5% Si alloy. In the high Si alloy, only Cr and Cr3Si phases remain after the isothermal heating at 1,100oC. It is found that Si additions slightly decrease the oxidation resistance of the Cr-Al alloy. However, the microhardness of the Cr-Al alloy is observed to increase with an increasing Si content.

In this study, we investigate the recycling of aluminum-based metal matrix composites(AMCs) embedded with SiC particulates. The microstructure of the AMCs is characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The possibility of recycling the composite scrap is attempted from the melted alloy and SiC particulates by re-melting, holding and solidification in crucibles. The recovery percentage of the matrix alloy is calculated after a number of holding times, 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 minutes and for different particulate sizes and weight fractions in the Al matrix. The results show that the recovery percentage of the matrix alloy, as well as the time required for maximum recovery of the matrix, is dependent on the size and weight fraction of SiC particulates. In addition, the percentage recovery increases with particulate size but drops with the particulate fraction in the matrix. The time to reach maximum recovery falls rapidly with an increase in particulate size and fraction.

In this study, the effect of pre-aging treatment for inhibition of natural aging of Al-4.8Zn-1.3Mg alloy by extrusion process was investigated. Firstly, the as-cast microstructure of Al-4.8Zn-1.3Mg alloy billet and its evolution during homogenization(460℃, 4h + 510℃, 5h) were investigated by means of optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), hardness analysis. The as-cast microstructures of Al-4.8Zn-1.3Mg alloy reveal Mg2Zn, Al5Cu, Al3Cu formed between dendrities. After homogenization, MgZn, Al4Cu, Al13Cu phases precipitated into the matrix. In addition, standard deviation of homogenized billet was improved than as-cast billet from 2.62 to 0.99. According to pre-aging(100℃, 1h) Al-4.8Zn-1.3Mg alloy by extrusion process, yield strength and tensile strength deviation improved more than condition by natural aging.

The annealing characteristics of a cold rolled Al-6.5Mg-1.5Zn alloy newly designed as an automobile material is investigated in detail. The aluminum alloy in the ingot state is cut to a thickness of 4 mm, a total width of 30 mm and a length of 100 mm and then reduced to a thickness of 1 mm (reduction of 75%) by multi-pass rolling at room temperature. Annealing after rolling is performed at temperatures ranging from 200 to 400 ℃ for 1 hour. The tensile strength of the annealed material tends to decrease with the annealing temperature and shows a maximum tensile strength of 482MPa in the material annealed at 200 ℃. The tensile elongation of the annealed material increases with the annealing temperature, while the tensile strength does not, and reaches a maximum value of 26 % at the 350 ℃ annealed material. For the microstructure, recovery and recrystallization actively occur as the annealing temperature increases. The recrystallization begins to occur at 300 ℃ and is completed at 350 ℃, which results in the formation of a fine grained structure. After the rolling, the rolling texture of {112}<111>(Cu-Orientation) develops, but after the annealing a specific texture does not develop.

Additive manufacturing by electron beam melting is an affordable process for fabricating near net shaped parts of titanium and its alloys. 3D additive-manufactured parts have various kinds of voids, lack of fusion, etc., and they may affect crack initiation and propagation. Post process is necessary to eliminate or minimize these defects. Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) is the main method, which is expensive. The objective of this paper is to achieve an optimum and simple post heat treatment process without the HIP process. Various post heat treatments are conducted for the 3Dprinted Ti-6Al-4V specimen below and above the beta transus temperature (996oC). The as-fabricated EBM Ti-6Al-4V alloy has an α‘-martensite structure and transforms into the α+β duplex phase during the post heat treatment. The fatigue strength of the as-fabricated specimen is 400 MPa. The post heat treatment at 1000oC/30 min/AC increases the fatigue strength to 420 MPa. By post heat treatment, the interior pore size and the pore volume fraction are reduced and this can increase the fatigue limit.

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of grain size on the damping capacity of the Fe-26Mn-4Co-2Al damping alloy. α’ and ε-martensite were formed by cold working, and these martensites were formed with a specific direction and surface relief. With an increase in grain size, the volume fraction of α’ and ε-martensite increased by decrement the austenite phase stability. This volume fraction more rapidly increased in cold-rolled specimen than in the specimen that was not cold-rolled. The damping capacity also increased more with the augmentation an increased grain size and more rapidly increased in cold-rolled specimen than in the specimen that was not cold rolled. The effect of grain size on the damping capacity was larger in the cold-rolled specimen than the specimen that was not cold-rolled. Damping capacity linearly increased with an increase in volume fraction of ε-martensite. Thus, the damping capacity was affected by the ε-martensite.

In this study, an Al-0.7wt%Fe-0.2wt%Mg-0.2wt%Cu-0.02wt%B alloy was designed to fabricate an aluminum alloy for electrical wire having both high strength and high conductivity. The designed Al alloy was processed by casting, extrusion and drawing processes. Especially, the drawing process was done by severe deformation of a rod with an initial diameter of 12 mm into a wire of 2 mm diameter; process was equivalent to an effective strain of 3.58, and the total reduction in area was 97 %. The drawn Al alloy wire was then annealed at various temperatures of 200 to 400 °C for 30 minutes. The mechanical properties, microstructural changes and electrical properties of the annealed specimens were investigated. As the annealing temperature increased, the tensile strength decreased and the elongation increased. Recovery or/and recrystallization occurred as annealing temperature increased, and complete recrystallization occurred at annealing temperatures over 300 °C. Electric conductivity increased with increasing temperature up to 250 °C, but no significant change was observed above 300 °C. It is concluded that, from the viewpoint of the mechanical and electrical properties, the specimen annealed at 350 oC is the most suitable for the wire drawn Al alloy electrical wire.

In this study, the coating of an Al-Cr layer on the surface of a Zircaloy-4 alloy was carried out through plasma pretreatment coating and a laser surface melting process. Two different conditions for laser treatment, severe or minimal surface melting of the Zr alloy substrate, were applied to form the final coating. When there was significant surface melting of the Zr alloy, the solidification microstructure of the newly formed coating layer was mainly composed of needle-shaped Al3Zr, Al(Cr) and Al7Cr phases. On the other hand, the solidification microstructure of the coating layer was mainly composed of Al(Cr) and Al7Cr phases when there was minimal surface melting of Zr base in the laser process. However, when the coating was maintained at 1100 oC for 2 hours, significant inter-diffusion occurred between the phases in the coating. As a result, the upper part of the coating layer was observed to mainly consist of Al3Zr and Al8Cr5 phases, regardless of the laser treatment conditions.

Titanium alloys have high specific strength, excellent corrosion and wear resistance, as well as high heatresistant strength compared to conventional steel materials. As intermetallic compounds based on Ti, TiAl alloys are becoming increasingly popular in the aerospace field because these alloys have low density and high creep properties. In spite of those advantages, the low ductility at room temperature and difficult machining performance of TiAl and Ti3Al materials has limited their potential applications. Titanium powder can be used in such cases for weight and cost reduction. Herein, pre-forms of Ti-Al-xMn powder alloys are fabricated by compression forming. In this process, Ti powder is added to Al and Mn powders and compressed, and the resulting mixture is subjected to various sintering temperature and holding times. The density of the powder-sintered specimens is measured and evaluated by correlation with phase formation, Mn addition, Kirkendall void, etc. Strong Al-Mn reactions can restrain Kirkendall void formation in Ti-Al-xMn powder alloys and result in increased density of the powder alloys. The effect of Al-Mn reactions and microstructural changes as well as Mn addition on the high-temperature compression properties are also analyzed for the Ti-Al-xMn powder alloys.

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of deformation induced martensite on the damping capacity of Fe-26Mn-4Co-2Al damping alloy. α‘ and ε-martensite were formed by cold working, and; deformation induced martensite was formed with according to the specific direction and the surface relief. With an increasing degree of cold rolling, the volume fraction of α‘-martensite increased rapidly, while the volume fraction of ε-martensite decreased after rising to a maximum value at a specific level of cold rolling. Damping capacity was increased, and then decreased with an increasing of the degree of cold rolling. Damping capacity was influenced greatly by the volume fraction of ε-martensite formed by cold working, but the effect of the volume fraction of α‘-martensite have a actually on effect on the damping capacity.