In this study, the age-hardening behavior and tensile properties of a cast AZ91-0.3Ca-0.2Y (SEN9) alloy are investigated and compared with those of a commercial AZ91 alloy. Even after homogenization heat treatment, the SEN9 alloy contains numerous undissolved secondary phases, Al₈Mn₄Y, Al₂Y, and Al₂Ca, which results in a higher hardness value than the homogenized AZ91 alloy. Under aging condition at 200 ℃, both the AZ91 and SEN9 alloys exhibit the same peak-aging time of 8 h, but the peak hardness of the latter (86.8 Hv) is higher than that of the former (83.9 Hv). The precipitation behavior of Mg₁₇Al₁₂ phase during aging significantly differs in the two alloys. In the AZ91 alloy, the area fraction of Mg₁₇Al₁₂ discontinuous precipitates (DPs) increases up to ~50% as the aging time increases. In contrast, in the SEN9 alloy, the formation and growth of DPs during aging are substantially suppressed by the Ca- or Y-containing particles, which leads to the formation of only a small amount of DPs with an area fraction of ~4% after peak aging. Moreover, the size and interparticle spacing of Mg₁₇Al₁₂ precipitates of the peak-aged SEN9 alloy are smaller than those of the peak-aged AZ91 alloy. The homogenized AZ91 alloy exhibits a higher tensile strength than the homogenized SEN9 alloy due to the finer grains of the former. However, the peak-aged SEN9 alloy has a higher tensile elongation than the peak-aged AZ91 alloy due to the smaller amount of brittle DPs in the former.

This study deals with residual stress prediction and hardness evaluation within cross ball grooved inner race fabricated by cold upsetting process consisted of upsetting and ejection steps. A raw workpiece material of AISI 5120H (SCr420H) is first spheroidized and annealed, then phosphophyllite coated to form solid lubricant layer on its outer surface. To investigate influences of the heat treatment, uni-axial compression tests and Vickers micro-hardness measurements are conducted. Three-dimensional elasto-plastic FE simulations on the upsetting step and the ejection one are performed to visualize the residual stress and the ductile (plastic deformation) damage. External feature of the fabricated inner race is fully captured by using an optical 3D scanner, and the micro-hardness is measured on internal cross-sections. Consequently, the dimensional compatibility between the simulated inner race and the fabricated one is ensured with a difference of under 0.243mm that satisfied permissible error range of ±0.50mm on the grooved surface, and the predicted residual stress is verified to have similar distribution tendency with the measured Vickers micro-hardness.

We examined the martensitic transformation kinetics for metastable stainless steel during electrochemical polishing (EP) using different types of electrolytes. Martensite fraction measured with EBSD showed that the electrolyte with high relative permittivity exhibited comparably higher levels of martensitic transformation. The amount of charge build-up on the specimen surface during EP with different types of electrolytes was calculated using COMSOL multiphysics simulations to understand these phase transformation characteristics. The effect of charge build-up-induced stress was analyzed using previously published first-principles calculations. We discovered that the electrolyte with high relative permittivity accumulated a greater amount of charge build-up, resulting in a stronger driving force for stress-induced martensitic transformation.

The stainless steel basket-bowl, a critical component of washing machines, is characterized by its unique two-tiered circular shape. This study explores the potential of a draw-bead free die design to address tearing concerns in the prospective plastic layer during the drawing operation. In order to prevent wrinkles that may arise from the absence of a draw-bead, a two-stage punch configuration is proposed. The influence of the blank holder force on wrinkle reduction is also examined. Finite element analysis is employed to evaluate the proposed die design by analyzing the wrinkle shape and strain mode. The results confirm that the stainless steel basket-bowl can be successfully drawn without wrinkles utilizing the proposed two-stage punch without a draw-bead on the blank holder. These findings contribute to the development of more efficient and reliable manufacturing processes for the stainless steel basket-bowl production.

This paper discusses the deformation characteristics of a scaled-down automotive outer door panel with vacuum-assisted incremental sheet forming. The vacuum condition between the die and Al6052-H32 sheet with a thickness of 1.0 mm is reviewed with the goal of improving the geometrical accuracy of the target product. The material flow according to the forming tool path, including the multi-tool path and conventional contour tool path, is investigated considering the degradation of the pillow effect. To reduce friction between the tool and the sheet during incremental forming, automotive engine oil (5W-30) is used as a lubricant, and the strain field on the surface of the formed product is analyzed using ARGUS. By comparing the geometry and material flow characteristics of products under different test conditions, it is confirmed that the product surface quality can be significantly improved when the vacuum condition is employed in conjunction with a multi-tool path strategy.

In this study, the correction process of stress-strain curves obtained from hot compression test is introduced since the barreling induced by friction and adiabatic heat generation induced by plastic work occur under high strain rate. A shear friction factor was quantitatively estimated by measuring the dimension of barreling and temperature rise due to adiabatic heat generation was directly measured during compression test. Thereafter, the stress-strain curves were re-evaluated by introducing several equations to correct the effects of the friction and temperature rise. It was found that adiabatic factor at strain rate of 10/s is in the range of about 0.5 to 0.75 for Nimonic 80A and decreases as the assigned temperature increases.

While tube bending is a conventional forming technique, it is still used to make curved products for load-bearing members or aesthetically pleasing parts in various manufacturing industries such as automotive, aerospace, and others. Whole or local deformation of the final product such as springback, distortion, or local buckling are of interest in metal forming or precision manufacturing. In this paper, the factors affecting the cross-sectional deformation are explored. A 5-axis stretch bending machine was used for two-dimensional bending with extruded AA6082-T4 rectangular tubes. Three different bending sequences were employed: stretch before bending, stretch after bending, simultaneous bending and stretch. Furthermore, by considering both the stretch and bending angle, cross-sectional deformation was also analyzed. It was observed that employing stretch bending techniques can effectively reduce cross-sectional deformation and contribute to overall quality enhancement. Through this study, it was revealed that these factors have an impact on the cross-sectional deformation of the tubes.