Strengthening of Aluminum Wires Treated with A206/Alumina Nanocomposites

Abstract

This study sought to characterize aluminum nanocomposite wires that were fabricated through a cold-rolling process, having potential applications in TIG (tungsten inert gas) welding of aluminum. A206 (Al-4.5Cu-0.25Mg) master nanocomposites with 5 wt % γAl2O3 nanoparticles were first manufactured through a hybrid process combining semi-solid mixing and ultrasonic processing. A206/1 wt % γAl2O3 nanocomposites were fabricated by diluting the prepared master nanocomposites with a monolithic A206 alloy, which was then added to a pure aluminum melt. The fabricated Al–γAl2O3 nanocomposite billet was cold-rolled to produce an Al nanocomposite wire with a 1 mm diameter and a transverse area reduction of 96%. Containing different levels of nanocomposites, the fabricated samples were mechanically and electrically characterized. The results demonstrate a significantly higher strength of the aluminum wires with the nanocomposite addition. Further, the addition of alumina nanoparticles affected the wires’ electrical conductivity compared with that of pure aluminum and aluminum–copper alloys. The overall properties of the new material demonstrate that these wires could be an appealing alternative for fillers intended for aluminum welding.

Al/Niobium Diboride Nanocomposite’s Effect on the Portevin-Le Chatelier Phenomenon in Al-Mg Alloys

“…In summary, the reported literature has focused on determining the variables that affect the PLC phenomenon, via either experimental investigations or numerical modeling. Following that trend, the present work proposes a similar methodology applied to nano-strengthened Al alloys, similar to ones developed in previous research [16][17][18][19]. Accordingly, we evaluated the effect of NbB 2 nanoparticles (as constituents of Al/NbB 2 nanocomposite pellets) on the Portevin-Le Chatelier phenomenon in solution-treated aluminum-magnesium alloys.…”

Fabrication and Characterization of Sn-Based Babbitt Alloy Nanocomposite Reinforced with Al2O3 Nanoparticles/Carbon Steel Bimetallic Material

“…found in both metals (Figure 7b). It was reported [24] that hot tearing resistance of the A206/1 wt% Al2O3 nanocomposite was significantly better than that of the pure A206 alloy. The nanocomposite containing 1.0 wt% alumina nanoparticles showed micro-crack (Figure 7d), which is another indication of the presence of alumina nanoparticle agglomerates.…”

Corrosion performance of nano‐treated aluminum alloy A206 with TiC nanoparticles

“…Recently, nano-treating A206 has become a promising method to achieve high strength [9] and eliminate its hot tearing susceptibility. [10] Nano-treating is different from the traditional concept of nanocomposites, since it does not depend on a high volume percentage of nanophases to enhance mechanical performance. [11][12][13][14][15] In contrast, only a small amount of nanoparticles is added [16,17] to introduce the effective interplays among nanoparticles, α-phase, and innate secondary phases/precipitates at different (post-)processing stages.…”

“…[20,21] For instance, hot tearing-resistant A206 has been successfully treated with Al 2 O 3 in various forms. [10,22] While these successes and understanding are exciting for A206 applications, uncertain service stability (e.g., long-term corrosion resistance) even after nanotreating slows its industrial usage and commercialization. For example, nanoparticle addition (like Al 2 O 3 ) to Al-Cu systems has been found to mitigate pitting corrosion and anodic dissolution speed, [23,24] but the mechanism is not explained.…”