Isotropy Control of 7075 Al Wrought Alloy by Thixoextrusion

The aim of this study is to characterize a thixoextruded 7075 Al wrought alloy bar in terms of its isotropic behavior through the optical microscope, mechanical test and electron back scattered diffraction. It is also discussed of the extrudability improvement for 7075 Al wrought alloy by thixoextrusion, with emphasis on controlling thixoextrusion parameters. Hot extrusion shows that the maximum extrusion pressure depends on their characteristics in terms of flow stress and hot workability. In the contrary, thixoextrusion demonstrates that the maximum extrusion pressure is almost uniform regardless of the experimental parameters, such as initial ram speed, die bearing length and thixoextrusion temperature. The hot extruded microstructures become elongated to extrusion direction, while the thixoextruded microstructures are isotropic and homogeneously distributed due to the existence of liquid phase between solid grains during the process. The grain refinement due to dynamic recrystallization during thixoextrusion has been also occurred. Subsequent recrystallization would lead to the strengthening of mechanical properties, as observed in the study. The important point is that the values of tensile, yield strength and elongation of the thixoextruded bar without plastic deformation are similar to those of the hot extruded bar with severe plastic deformation.