ARTÍCULO
Evaluation of hardening and softening behaviors in Zn–21Al–2Cu alloy processed by equal channel angular pressing.
Hernández-Rivera, José Luis
MartÃnez Flores, Esperanza Elizabeth
RamÃrez Contreras, Emmanuel
GarcÃa Rocha, Jorge
Cruz-Rivera, José de Jesús
Torres-Villaseñor, Gabriel
Journal of Materials Research an Technology. 2017;6(4):329–333
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2017.06.006
, 2017.
ABSTRACT:
The microstructural evolution of as-cast and homogenized Zn–21Al–2Cu samples after two and six passes in an equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at room temperature was reported. A homogenization treatment for 24 h at 350◦C was applied to the as-cast samples followed by deformation. An annealing heat treatment was performed on all samplesafter the ECAP process. Our results showed that the homogenized and deformed samples displayed a uniform fine-grained microstructure after annealing, while as-cast samples without homogenization treatment presented only some regions of fine-grained microstruc-ture. The level of microsegregation was higher in the as-cast samples as compared to the homogenized ones even after annealing. Vickers microhardness measurement on samples after deformation is smaller than the original material indicating a softening. However, after the annealing treatment, the microhardness increased, indicating that there was a slight hardening of the material.