Research Article Open Access

ENHANCEMENT OF MICROSTRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES THROUGH EQUAL CHANNEL ANGULAR PRESSING OF ALUMINIUM PROCESSED BY POWDER METALLURGY ROUTE

Abstract

Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP) is a metal forming technique used to produce Ultra-Fine Grain microstructure through severe plastic deformation. This experimental study involves subjecting the pure Aluminium samples processed by powder metallurgy route to conventional hot extrusion at a temperature of 400°C, followed by ECAP at room temperature via processing route A and route C using a die having channel angle of 110° for 2 passes. Microstructure studies and Hardness measurements were carried out and it was observed that after subjecting the samples to ECAP, the grains are slightly elongated; whereas it was found to be equi-axed before processing by ECAP. The refinement of the grains and the hardness of the samples are found to increase with multiple passes which complies with the studies carried out using the commercial Al samples. The present study aims at observing the densification behavior along with the development of refined grains after ECAP in materials processed by powder metallurgy technique since there is no considerable literature regarding processing of pure aluminium through P/M route. Materials processed by P/M technique will find high recognition in future and hence their property enhancement will be an important area of research

Venkatraman R, Raghuraman S, Kabilan S, Ajay Kumar KS, Balaji R, Viswanath M

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