Thesis (Ph.D.)--Washington State University. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. S.)--Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006. / Gokhale, Arun, Committee Chair ; Gall, Ken, Committee Member ; Thadhani, Naresh, Committee Member.

Texture, microstructure and formability were studied in Direct Chill Cast (DC) and Strip Cast (SC) aluminum alloys with regard to crystallographic anisotropy, the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect and aging softening behavior. It was found that material properties change greatly with manufacturing processes (DC vs. SC) and chemical composition (3xxx vs. 5 xxx alloys). DC cast hot band materials are usually fully recrystallized and have strong softening textures while SC hot band materials have a rolling structure with strong deformation textures. Softening textures cause 90 earing while deformation textures result in 45 earing after deep drawing. During cold rolling, 90 earing in DC cast hot band materials decreases and eventually changes to 45 earing after certain degrees of cold reduction. Correspondingly, the intensity of the softening texture components in DC cast hot band materials decreases while the intensity of deformation texture components increases with increasing degrees of cold reduction. These two kinds of textures interact and attempt to balance each other during cold rolling which produces resultant earing. However, this is not true for SC hot band materials since it's hard to obtain strong softening textures and thus 90 earing in these materials. 5 xxx Al-Mg alloys are more difficult to work than 3 xxx aluminum alloys. Elevated temperature annealing which greatly reduces the strength (hardness) improves significantly the workability of Al-Mg alloys. On the other hand, the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect and aging softening behavior are stronger in Al-Mg alloys than in 3xxx aluminum alloys and both increase with increasing cold reduction and with increasing Mg content. An apparent tensile anisotropy exists in as received SC hot band materials. The tensile yield strength (YS) is smaller in the QD (45 to the rolling direction), and larger in the RD (rolling direction) and the TD (transverse direction). There is no obvious difference in YS between these RD and TD directions. The average stress drop of serrations in the PLC effect, D s , is strongest in the TD, smallest in the RD with QD in between but closer to TD. However, no tensile anisotropy was observed in a fully recrystallized DC hot band or in solution treated SC hot band materials. It was found that a rolling structure favors mechanical anisotropy while a recrystallized structure prevents it. The tensile anisotropy is due to anisotropic distributions of microstructures, i.e., dislocations, precipitates and solute atoms. A random microstructure is associated with material that shows little or no mechanical anisotropy. An elongated or preferably orientated microstructure is associated with material with high mechanical anisotropy. Recovery thermal treatments at sufficiently high temperatures so that dislocation annihilation and microstructure rearrangement occurs when applied to the final gauge material also lowers mechanical anisotropy because of the reduction in intensity of the elongated (preferably orientated) microstructure. In addition, plastically deforming the material in a more homogenous manner (such as cross rolling as compared to straight rolling) produces a more uniform microstructure with an accompanying lower mechanical anisotropy.

Among the commercial aluminum alloys, aluminum 319 (Al-7wt%Si-4wt%Cu) type alloys are popularly used in automobile engine parts. These alloys have good casting characteristics and excellent mechanical properties resulting from a suitable heat treatment. To get a high strength in the 319 type alloys, grain refining, reducing the porosity, solid solution hardening, and precipitation hardening are preferred. All experimental variables such as solidification condition, composition, and heat treatment are influence on the precipitation behavior; however, precipitation hardening is the most significant because excess alloying elements from supersaturated solid solution form fine particles which act as obstacles to dislocation movement. The challenges of the 319 type alloys arise due to small size of precipitate and complex aging response caused by multi components. It is important to determine the chemical composition, crystal structure, and orientation relationship as well as precipitate morphology in order to understand the precipitation behavior and strengthening mechanism. In this study, the mechanical properties and microstructure were investigated using transmission electron microscopy and three dimensional atom probe tomography. The Mn and Mg effects on the microstructure and mechanical properties are discussed with crystallographic study on the iron intermetallic phases. The microstructural evolution and nucleation study on the precipitates in the low-Si 319 type aluminum alloys are also presented with sample preparation and analysis condition of TEM and 3DAP tomography.

Mechanical properties of structural materials are highly correlated to their microstructure. The relationship between microstructure and mechanical properties can be established experimentally. The growing need for structural materials in industry promotes the study of microstructural evolution of materials by design using computational approaches. This thesis presents the microstructural evolution of two different structural materials. The first uses a genetic algorithm approach to study the microstructural evolution of a high-temperature nickel-based oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) alloy. The chosen Ni-20Cr ODS system has nano Y2O3 particles for dispersion strengthening and submicron Al2O3 for composite strengthening. Synergistic effects through the interaction of small dispersoids and large reinforcements improved high-temperature strength. Optimization considered different weight factors on low temperature strength, ductility, and high temperature strength. Simulation revealed optimal size and volume fraction of dispersoids and reinforced particles. Ni-20Cr-based alloys were developed via mechanical alloying for computational optimization and validation. The Ni-20Cr-1.2Y2O3-5Al2O3 alloy exhibited significant reduction in the minimum creep rate (on the order of 10-9 s-1) at 800oC and 100 MPa. The second considers the microstructural evolution of AA 7050 alloy during friction stir welding (FSW). Modeling the FSW process includes thermal, material flow, microstructural and strength modeling. Three-dimensional material flow and heat transfer model was developed for friction stir welding process of AA 7050 alloy to predict thermal histories and extent of deformation. Peak temperature decreases with the decrease in traverse speed at constant advance per revolution, while the increase in tool rotation rate enhances peak temperature. Shear strain is higher than the longitudinal and transverse strain for lower traverse speed and tool rotation rate; whereas for higher traverse speed and tool rotation rate, shear and normal strain acquire similar values. Precipitation distribution simulation using TC-PRISMA predicts the presence of η' and η in the as-received AA 7050-T7451 alloy and mostly η in the friction stir welded AA7050 alloy, which results in the lower predicted strength of friction stir welded alloy. Further, development of modeling assists in process optimization and innovation, and enhances the progression rate. Accelerating the development process requires coupling experimental methods with predictive modeling. The overall purpose of this work was to develop an integrated computational model with predictive capabilities. In the present work, an application tool to predict thermal histories during FSW of AA7050 was developed using COMSOL software.