Solid-state processing of surplus aluminium alloy powders through a combination of field-assisted sintering technology and hot rolling

Figures & data

Table 1. Chemical composition of the A20X aluminium alloy.

Element	Al	Cu	Mg	Ag	Ti	B	Si	Fe
wt-%	Bal.	4.2–5.0	0.20–0.33	0.60–0.90	3.0–3.9	1.3–1.6	0.10 max	0.080 max

Figure 1. (a) Secondary electron micrograph of A20X powder blend and (b) backscattered electron micrograph of ground and polished A20X powder, bottom: PSD of A20X powder blend.

Figure 2. (a) Backscattered electron micrograph of as-cast A20X alloy, (b&c) backscattered electron micrographs of FAST processed A20X powders and (d) X-EDS element maps corresponding to the micrograph in c.

Figure 3. Left: photograph of 80 mm diameter FAST processed and cast billets, right: 2 mm thick sheets after hot rolling. Top sheet derived from cast billet, bottom sheet derived from FAST processed billet.

Figure 4. Backscattered electron micrographs of (a) as-rolled cast sheet, (b) as-rolled FAST processed sheet, (c) rolled and heat-treated cast sheet and (d) rolled and heat-treated FAST processed sheet. RD – rolling direction, ND – normal direction, TD – transverse direction.

Figure 5. Forward scattered electron micrographs and inverse pole figure orientation maps with respect to the RD of sheet product after T7 heat treatment derived from cast (a&c) and FAST processed (b&d) material. Corresponding pole figure plots are shown below.

Figure 6. Stress/elongation curves comparing the behaviour of cast and FAST processed A20X material, before rolling, in the as-rolled condition and after T7 heat treatment (HT).

Table 2. Mechanical property data obtained from tensile testing. AM results used from Ref. [11].

Sample	Specimen angle relative to RD	0.2% yield strength (MPa)	Ultimate tensile strength (MPa)	Elongation at break (%)
As-cast (mean average values)	N/A	173	206	1.4
As-FAST (mean average values)	N/A	151	284	19
Cast rolled	0°	364	442	8.3
	45°	338	442	8.5
	90°	341	433	9.4
FAST rolled	0°	368	432	7.7
	45°	341	440	7.3
	90°	344	435	7.7
Cast rolled T7 HT	0°	481	540	7.6
	45°	487	541	7.1
	90°	469	527	6.4
FAST rolled T7 HT	0°	462	531	7.8
	45°	455	525	9.9
	90°	457	526	9.2
AM-LPBF as-built	(Orthogonal to build direction)	360	429	14
AM-LPBF T6 HT		428	486	14

Belelli F. Investigation on two Ti–B-reinforced Al alloys for laser powder bed fusion. Mater Sci. 2021;808:140944.

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