Correlation between process parameters,grain size and hardness of friction-stir-welded Cu-Zn alloys
Faculty of Materials Engineering, Sahand University of Technology
收稿日期:13 September 2015
Correlation between process parameters,grain size and hardness of friction-stir-welded Cu-Zn alloys
Akbar Heidarzadeh Tohid Saeid
Faculty of Materials Engineering, Sahand University of Technology
Abstract:
In this study, the effects of tool rotational speed, tool traverse speed, and Zn content on the grain size and hardness of the friction-stir-welded(FSWed) Cu-Zn alloy joints were investigated. The microstructures of the joints were examined using optical microscope(OM) and scanning transmission electron microscope(STEM).Vickers hardness test was conducted to evaluate the hardness of the joints. In addition, the relationships between the process parameters, grain size, and hardness of the joints were established. The results show that the developed relationships predict the grain size and hardness of the joints accurately. The Zn content of the alloys is the most effective parameter on the grain size and hardness, where the tool traverse speed has the minimum effect. The relationship between the hardness and grain size of the joints has a deviation from the Hall-Petch equation due to formation of high dislocation density inside the grains. At higher Zn amounts, the dislocation tangles with high density form instead of dislocation cells, and hence, lower conformity with the Hall-Petch relationship is observed.
Keyword:
Friction stir welding; Grain size; Hardness; Cu-Zn alloy;
Author: Tohid Saeid,e-mail:saeid@sut.ac.ir;
Received: 13 September 2015
1 Introduction
Copper and brasses (Cu-Zn alloys) have vast industrial applications because of their special characteristics such as high electrical and thermal conductivities,good combinations of strength and ductility,and excellent resistance to corrosion.Therefore,there is a large demand for welding of these types of alloys.On the other hand,a high heat input condition is needed during conventional fusion welding of the copper alloys due to their high thermal conductivity.Consequently,the higher heat input conditions dispose the joints to distortion,solidification cracking,and high oxidation rate
Despite variant investigations into the pure copper FSW
According to the above literatures,the FSW parameters have a considerable effect on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the brass alloy joints.Thus,the correlation between FSW parameters,microstructure,and mechanical properties of the brass joints can be very useful for scientific and industrial applications.In this regard,one of the applicable methods is response surface methodology(RSM).Some workers have proved that the RSM can be applied successfully for FSW of different metals and alloys
In addition to developing empirical relationships between the FSW parameters and joint performances,correlating the microstructural features and mechanical properties is a key issue.One of the general methods to determine the relationship between microstructure and strength or hardness of the materials is Hall-Petch (H-P)equation.The H-P equation in terms of hardness can be expressed as follows
where H is the hardness,d is the average grain size,and H0and k are suitable constants associated with hardness measurements,respectively.Moreover,k is the slope of H-P equation,which indicates the relative strengthening contribution of grain boundaries.It has been revealed that the H-P equation needs to be modified in the case of severe plastic deformation processes of the metals due to formation of the substructures
Although some workers investigated the effect of FSW on the brass joint properties,an investigation into the correlation between FSW parameters,microstructure,and hardness of the brass joints with different amounts of Zn seems necessary.Furthermore,the H-P equation for the FSWed pure copper and brass joints has rarely been discussed according to both the grain size and substructure effects.Therefore,in present study,three kinds of alloys including pure copper,Cu-30 wt%Zn,and Cu-37 wt%Zn brasses were friction-stir-welded under different tool rotational and traverse speeds.The relationships between FSW parameters and joint features (grain size and hardness)were established using RSM.Moreover,the hardness and micro structure of the joints were correlated based on H-P relationship.
2 Experimental
The Cu-Zn plates with different contents of Zn (0 wt%,30 wt%,37 wt%) were used as base metals (BMs) with dimensions of 100 mm×100 mm×2 mm.The plates were annealed at 500℃for 1 h.In order to produce a doublephase structure,the Cu-37 wt%Zn BM was heated at 810℃for 70 min and then was quenched in water at room temperature.Then,the plates were stress-relieved at 250℃for 1 h.The microstructures of the different BMs are shown in Fig.1.
The Design Expert software was used to design the experiments and establish mathematical models.The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to validate the developed models.The considered parameters with their levels and units and the experimental design matrix used in this study are summarized in Tables 1 and 2.The plates were friction-stir-welded at different rotational and traverse speeds according to Table 2.In all of the experiments,a tool with a cylindrical shoulder (12.0 mm in diameter) and a simple cylindrical pin (3.0 mm in diameter and 1.7 mm in length) made of H1 3 hot work tool steel were used.Also,the tilt angle of the tool relative to the normal direction of the plate surface was set constant at 2.5°.
Fig.1 OM images of BM in alloys with different Zn contents:a 0 wt%Zn (pure copper),b 30 wt%Zn (single-phase brass),and c 37 wt%Zn(double-phase brass)
Table 1 Coded and actual values of parameters
After FSW,the microstructures of the joints were studied using optical microscope (OM,Olympus 100).The metallographic samples were cut from the joints transverse to the welding direction and then polished and etched with a solution of 20 ml nitric acid and 10 ml acetic acid.Clemex image analysis software was applied to measure the average grain size of the different joints.For deep physical study of the joints,scanning transmission electron microscopy(STEM,Hitachi S-4800) was used.The STEM samples were thin-polished and then double-jet electro-polished using a solution of HP04:CH4O:H2O=1:1:2 (volume ratio).The Vickers hardness test was performed for hardness measurement in the center of the joints using load of 0.5 N for 10 s.
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Empirical relationships
According to Eq.(2),the response parameter (Y),i.e.,mean grain size (Dav) of the stir zone (SZ) or SZ hardness is a function of input parameters,i.e.,tool traverse speed(A),tool rotational speed (B),and alloy type (here is Zn content)(C).Moreover,Table 3 shows that the Design Expert software suggests the quadratic model for both of the responses.Therefore,in this study,the empirical relationships were developed by means of a second-order polynomial regression model including the main and interaction effects of the input parameters as indicated in Eq.(3):
where Xi and Xj are independent variables,b0 stands for the mean value of responses,and bi,bii,and bij are linear,quadratic,and interaction constant coefficients,correspondingly.
Considering A,B,and C parameters,Eq.(3) can be stated as Eq.(4):
The coefficients of Eqs.(3) or (4) were calculated by Design Expert software using the following formulas
Finally,after coefficient calculations,the mathematical models for Dav and hardness (H) of SZs have been established as Eqs.(9) and (10),respectively,
The experimental and predicted values (by Eqs.(9),(10)) of Dav and hardness are summarized in Table 2.Also,the normal plots of residuals and the predicted response versus actual response plots are,respectively,illustrated in Fig.2a-d,for the response Dav and hardness.The normal probability plot indicates whether the residuals follow a normal distribution or not,in which case the points will follow a straight line.If the points do not follow a straight line,it means that a transformation of the response may provide a better analysis
The significance of the models and their coefficients can be determined according to the ANOVA results as shown in Tables 4 and 5.In ANOVA results,the F value,P value,R2 and adjusted R2 can be used to recognize the significance of the models and coefficients,where F value is a test for comparing curvature variance with residual (error)variance,P value is the probability of seeing the observed F value if the null hypothesis is true,and R2 or R-squared is a measure of the amount of variation around the mean value explained by the model.In summary,larger F value,R2 and adjusted R2,and lower P value disclose the more significant model and coefficients
Table 2 Design layout including experimental and predicted values
Table 3 Results of different conducted models for responses of grain size and hardness,where 2FI being two-factor interaction model
Fig.2 Normal plots of residuals a,c and predicted response versus actual response plots b,d for responses:a,b Dav,and c,d hardness
Table 4 ANOVA data for response Dav
Furthermore,in ANOVA tables,P values of smaller than 0.0500 confirm that a coefficient is significant,and P values of larger than 0.1000 validate that a coefficient is not significant
Table 5 ANOVA data for response hardness
Fig.3 Counters at different conditions a-c and perturbation plots d for response Dav.Numbers in a-c being values of Dav
The F values demonstrate that the order of more significant terms in the relationships developed for Dav and hardness (Eqs.(11),(12)) are as follows,respectively:C>B>A>BC>C2>AB and C>B>A>C2>BC>AB.
3.2 Effect of parameters on Dav and hardness
The contour and perturbation plots for Dav are illustrated in Fig.3a-d.As well,the microstructures of the joints welded at different welding conditions are shown in Fig.4.According to Figs.3 and 4,larger traverse speeds and lower rotational speeds cause smaller Dav.Based on the fine and equiaxed grains in the SZ of the joints,it can be concluded that dynamic recrystallization (DRX) occurs during FSW.Since FSW is a hot deformation process due to the existence of heat and deformation,the grain size of the joints will be controlled by thermomechanical parameters such as strain rate and temperature
Fig.4 OM images of joints welded under different welding conditions corresponding to experimental Nos.in Table 2:lower heat input,a No.1(0 wt%Zn),b No.10 (30 wt%Zn),and c No.19 (37 wt%Zn);higher heat input,d No.7 (0 wt%Zn),e No.16 (30 wt%Zn),and f No.25(37 wt%Zn)
where Z is Zener-Holloman parameter,
where Rm,re,and Le,respectively,denote the half of tool rotational speed,the effective radius,and depth of the dynamically recrystallized zone;k andαare constants between 0.04-0.06 and 0.65-0.75,respectively;ωis tool rotational speed;v is tool traverse speed;and Tm is the melting point of the alloy
Furthermore,Figs.3 and 4 reveal that the higher Zn content of the alloys causes smaller Dav under the same process condition.This can be explained by the effect of Zn on the stacking fault energy (SFE) of the different alloys.The effect of SFE on the steady state minimum grain size (dmin) of the severely plastic deformed (SPDed) materials can be stated using the model developed by Mohamed
where b is Burgers vector,γSFE stands for amount of SFE,G is shear modulus,andαand q are constants.The dmin value of the materials processed by different SPD methods agrees with Mohamed model
Fig.5 Counters at different conditions a-c and perturbation plots d for response hardness.Numbers in a-c being values of hardness
where yo stands for SFE of the pure copper,xZn is Zn concentration,
3.3 Hardness-grain size correlation
The effects of FSW parameters and Zn content on the hardness of the joints are illustrated in Fig.5 using counter and perturbation plots.According to Fig.5,lower rotational speeds and higher traverse speeds cause higher hardness values,which is due to smaller grain size as explained in Sect.3.2 (Figs.3,4).Furthermore,at constant FSW parameters,the hardness values increase with Zn content of the alloys increasing.This can be due to the smaller grain size (Figs.3,4) and solid solution strengthening effect of Zn in alloys with higher amounts of Zn.
For correlation between hardness and grain size of the joints,the H-P relationships were estimated according to the data in Table 2.As shown in Fig.6,the H-P relationships for the joints of different alloys can be stated as follows:
where d refers to mean grain size of the joints.According to the R2 values (0.94,0.75,and 0.74,respectively,for alloys with 0 wt%,30 wt%,37 wt%Zn),the H-P equations have deviation from their linear relationships.The reason of this deviation is the fact that in the H-P relationship,only the high angle grain boundaries are considered as obstacles to the dislocation movement
Fig.6 Plots for H-P relationships of alloys with different Zn contents:a 0 wt%Zn (pure copper),b 30 wt%Zn (single-phase brass),and c 37 wt%Zn (double-phase brass)
Fig.7 STEM images of joints for alloys with different Zn contents:a 0 wt%Zn (pure copper),b 30 wt%Zn (single-phase brass),and c 37 wt%Zn (double-phase brass)
Some investigations have shown that the FSW causes formation of fine and equiaxed grains with high density of dislocations
4 Conclusion
In this study,the effects of FSW parameters and Zn content on the Dav and hardness of the Cu-Zn alloy joints were investigated,and the relationships between parameters and responses were correlated.RSM was used to correlate the process parameters (tool traverse speed,tool rotational speed,and Zn content of the alloys) and the responses (Dav and hardness).The ANOVA data show that the developed relationships can predict the responses accurately.The order of the more significant and effective parameters on the Dav and hardness of the joints are as follows:Zn content>tool rotational speed>tool traverse speed.The effect of Zn is due to its influence on the SFE of the Cu-Zn alloys,where the effects of tool traverse and rotational speeds result from their influence on the Zener-Holloman parameter.In addition,the relationships between hardness and Dav of the joints show a deviation from H-P equation.The origin of this deviation is the formation of dislocations with high density in grain interiors.According to the slope and R2 of H-P equation,the pure copper (0 wt%Zn) joints have more conformity with the H-P linear relationship compared to those of the brass(30 wt%and 37 wt%Zn) joints.This behavior is due to the effect of Zn content on the SFE and hence its influence on the formation of different dislocation structures,i.e.,dislocation cells and tangles in the case of pure copper and brass joints,respectively.
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