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By: Nagendra Singh, Devendra Singh Chauhan, and Gopal Sharma.
1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Engineering and Technology, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Khandari Campus, Agra, UP
2. Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Axis Institute of Technology and Management, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh
3. Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eshan College of Engineering Near Raipura Jaat, Mathura, Uttar Prdesh
Equal channel angular pressing is a metal forming process. It serves as a strengthening treatment through which ductile metals can be processed to refine their grain and subgrain structure. This process improves the mechanical performance of metals, including tensile strength, stress-controlled fatigue strength, and resistance to fatigue crack propagation. Equal channel angular pressing is one of the severe plastic deformation methods employed to produce ultrafine-grained materials. In this method, a large shear strain is imparted to the material without altering its cross-sectional dimensions. Aluminum alloys are promising lightweight, high-strength materials in which precipitation strengthening can be achieved. In this study, equal channel angular pressing was employed to improve the strength of the Al alloy. The ECAP process was performed using a die with an internal channel angle (Φ) of 120° and an outer arc curvature (Ψ) of 30°. Optical microscopy was employed to examine the microstructures before and after equal channel angular pressing. Microhardness testing and tensile experiments were performed to evaluate the mechanical properties. In the homogenized state, coarse grains with an average size of approximately 180 μm were observed, the grain size reduced to approximately 2 μm. The microhardness and strength of the alloy increased after ECAP processing. In the homogenized condition, the alloy exhibited a microhardness of 95 Hv. After equal channel angular pressing, the microhardness of the alloy increased to 180 Hv. In the homogenized state, the alloy exhibited an ultimate tensile strength of 120 MPa, which rose to 205 MPa following ECAP processing.
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