Effects of Reinforcement Content and Homogenization Treatment on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of in-situ TiB2/2219Al Composites

doi:10.1007/s40195-024-01695-z

Abstract

Abstract:

Obtaining an appropriate grain size is crucial for Al alloys or Al matrix composites prior to processing, as it significantly influences the mechanical properties of components and workability during the manufacturing process. TiB₂ particles are exceptional grain refiners in Al and serve as excellent reinforcement particles for particulate-reinforced aluminum matrix composites. However, the optimal particle content for achieving excellent refinement and strengthening effects depends on the matrix composition and requires further investigation. Additionally, homogenization is essential for mitigating the element segregation in the ingot. Although it is anticipated that adding suitable particles can effectively inhibit undesired grain growth during homogenization, comprehensive investigations on this aspect are currently lacking. Therefore, TiB₂/2219Al matrix composites with varying reinforcement contents (0, 1, 3, 5 wt%) were fabricated through traditional casting followed by homogenization treatment to address these research gaps. The effects of reinforcement content and homogenization treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of in-situ TiB₂/2219Al composites were investigated. The results demonstrate a gradual strengthening of the refining effect with increasing particle concentration. Moreover, composites containing 3 wt% TiB₂ particles exhibit superior comprehensive mechanical properties in both as-cast and homogenized state. Additionally, potential orientation relationships are observed and calculated between undissolved Al₂Cu eutectic phase and submicron or nanometer-sized TiB₂ particles, resulting in a mixture structure with enhanced bonding strength. This mixture structure is continuously distributed along grain boundaries during solidification, forming a three-dimensional cellular network that acts as primary retarding forces for grain growth during homogenization. Furthermore, the established homogenization kinetic equations were further utilized to analyze the correlation between homogenization time and grain size, as well as the influence of homogenization temperature.

Key words: TiB₂/2219Al matrix composite, Reinforcement content, Homogenization treatment, Homogenization kinetic, Cellular structure, Mechanical property

Linwei Li, Donghu Zhou, Kai Zhao, Lifeng Jiang, Huijun Kang, Enyu Guo, Feng Mao, Zongning Chen, Tongmin Wang. Effects of Reinforcement Content and Homogenization Treatment on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of in-situ TiB₂/2219Al Composites[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2024, 37(8): 1421-1437.

Figures/Tables 19

Table 1 Chemical compositions of the composites (in wt%)

Designation	Cu	Mn	Zr	V	Si	Fe	Mg	Zn	Cr	Ni	Ti	B	Al
C0 (2219Al)	6.29	0.34	0.19	0.13	0.06	0.20	0.01	0.01	0.03	0.02	0.05±0.03	0.01±0.01	Bal.
C1	6.32	0.34	0.19	0.13	0.06	0.18	0.01	0.01	0.02	0.01	0.76±0.10	0.31±0.04	Bal.
C3	6.34	0.35	0.20	0.14	0.08	0.20	0.01	0.01	0.02	0.01	1.94±0.19	0.84±0.07	Bal.
C5	6.33	0.34	0.19	0.14	0.09	0.21	0.01	0.01	0.02	0.01	3.19±0.26	1.39±0.12	Bal.
Deviation	0.15	0.02	0.01	0.02	0.03	0.04	0.01	0.01	0.02	0.01

Fig. 1 XRD patterns of as-cast TiB2/2219Al composites

Fig. 2 a-e BSE and f SE images of as-cast TiB2/2219Al composites with varying reinforcement contents: a C0; b C1; c, e, f C3; d C5

Fig. 3 TEM images and analysis of the mixture structure of Al2Cu eutectic phase and TiB2 particles in the as-cast composite: a annular dark-field image with EDS line scanning results; b bright-field image; c1-c4 EDS mappings; d1, d2 SAED and the simulated diffraction patterns corresponding to the area A in b; e1, e2 SAED and the simulated diffraction patterns corresponding to the area B in b

Table 2 Potential orientation relationships between Al and Al2Cu eutectic phase

Table 3 Potential orientation relationships between TiB2 particles in the mixture structure and Al matrix

Nominal index			Deviation angle (°)	Actual (simplified) index
Al	TiB₂	Mismatch (%)	Deviation angle (°)	Al	TiB₂	m:n
[$\overline{4}3\overline{1}$]	[006]	5.96		[$\overline{4}3\overline{1}$]	[001]	1:6
($\overline{3}\overline{3}3$)	($\overline{2}\overline{2}0$)	2.63	6.45	($\overline{1}\overline{1}1$)	($\overline{1}\overline{1}0$)	2:3
($\overline{2}08$)	($2\overline{6}0$)	1.23	2.91	($\overline{1}04$)	($1\overline{3}0$)	1:1
($\overline{1}17$)	($3\overline{5}0$)	6.43	4.60	($\overline{1}17$)	($3\overline{5}0$)	1:1
(026)	($3\overline{5}0$)	6.10	8.45	(013)	($3\overline{5}0$)	1:2
(026)	($4\overline{4}0$)	2.71	14.95	(013)	($1\overline{1}0$)	2:1
(135)	($4\overline{4}0$)	4.08	0.85	(135)	($1\overline{1}0$)	4:1
(244)	($4\overline{3}0$)	8.10	3.65	(122)	($4\overline{3}0$)	1:2
(488)	($9\overline{6}0$)	1.82	1.56	(122)	($3\overline{2}0$)	3:4
(353)	($5\overline{2}0$)	2.33	4.02	(353)	($5\overline{2}0$)	1:1
(462)	($6\overline{2}0$)	8.85	3.67	(231)	($3\overline{1}0$)	1:1
(462)	($5\overline{1}0$)	6.08	4.54	(231)	($5\overline{1}0$)	1:2

Table 4 Potential orientation relationships between TiB2 particles and Al2Cu eutectic phase in the mixture structure

Nominal index			Deviation angle (°)	Actual (simplified) index
Al₂Cu	TiB₂	Mismatch (%)	Deviation angle (°)	Al₂Cu	TiB₂	m:n
[$11\enspace \overline{5} \enspace3]$	[10 10 20]	4.55		[$11\enspace \overline{5}\enspace 3]$	[112]	1:10
($33\overline{6}$)	($2\overline{4}1$)	4.44	6.15	($11\overline{2}$)	($2\overline{4}1$)	1:3
($47\overline{3}$)	($4\overline{4}0$)	4.03	10.70	($47\overline{3}$)	($1\overline{1}0$)	4:1
(4 10 2)	($5\overline{1}\overline{2}$)	1.64	2.57	(251)	($5\overline{1}\overline{2}$)	1:2
(3 12 9)	($62\overline{4}$)	9.54	3.90	(143)	($31\overline{2}$)	2:3
(3 12 9)	($44\overline{4}$)	5.98	10.74	(143)	($11\overline{1}$)	4:3
(0 6 10)	($33\overline{3}$)	4.15	12.77	(035)	($11\overline{1}$)	3:2
($\overline{1}27$)	($13\overline{2}$)	1.63	12.42	($\overline{1}27$)	($13\overline{2}$)	1:1
($\overline{2}19$)	($\overline{1}5\overline{2}$)	1.63	2.45	($\overline{2}19$)	($\overline{1}5\overline{2}$)	1:1

Fig. 4 OM images of as-cast TiB2/2219Al composites with varying reinforcement contents: a C0; b C1

Fig. 5 Inverse pole figure maps of grain orientation distribution and grain size statistics of as-cast composites: a, b, f C0; c, g C1; d, h C3; e, i C5

Fig. 6 DSC curves of TiB2/2219Al composites with varying reinforcement contents

Table 5 Onset temperatures and peak areas corresponding to endothermic peak

	C0	C1	C3	C5
Onset temperature (K)	819.2	818.6	817.5	815.7
Peak area (J/g)	23.32	17.78	13.24	11.27

Fig. 7 Homogenization time curves: a contour figure reflecting the variation of homogenization time with the grain size and homogenization temperature; b curves of homogenization time vs. homogenization temperature of composites with different grain sizes; c, d curves of homogenization time vs. grain size of composites at different homogenization temperature

Fig. 8 BSE images of homogenized TiB2/2219Al composites with varying reinforcement contents: a H0; b H1; c H3; d H5

Fig. 9 SR-CT reconstruction showing the three-dimensional morphology and distribution of α-Al matrix (in yellow) and secondary phase (in blue) in homogenized TiB2/2219Al composites with varying reinforcement contents: a H0; b H1; c H3; d H5

Fig. 10 OM images of homogenized TiB2/2219Al composites with varying reinforcement contents: a H0; b H1

Fig. 11 IPF maps of grain orientation distribution and grain size statistics of homogenized composites: a, b, f H0; c, g H1; d, h H3; e, i H5

Fig. 12 Schematic diagram of interaction between a single spherical particle and a grain boundary

Fig. 13 Mechanical properties of as-cast and homogenized TiB2/2219Al composites with varying reinforcement contents: a representative engineering stress-strain curves; b representative true stress-strain curves; c Vickers hardness values; d Young's moduli

Table 6 Summary of ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS), and total elongation (TE) of as-cast and homogenized TiB2/2219Al composites with varying reinforcement contents

		UTS (MPa)	YS (MPa)	TE (%)
As-cast composites	C0	162.2±2.3	101.3±3.9	2.0±0.2
	C1	205.9±2.2	110.2±2.4	4.1±0.2
	C3	228.0±4.5	124.0±4.8	4.4±0.4
	C5	221.7±3.3	132.0±4.1	2.5±0.2
Homogenized composites	H0	259.5±4.2	125.1±3.0	6.8±0.6
	H1	265.4±2.2	132.2±1.3	5.0±0.8
	H3	283.3±4.2	135.7±2.4	4.7±0.2
	H5	278.1±0.9	140.4±2.8	2.9±0.2

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Effects of Reinforcement Content and Homogenization Treatment on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of in-situ TiB₂/2219Al Composites

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