Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of WE43 Alloy Produced Via Additive Friction Stir Technology

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Date
2015-08-05
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Publisher
Virginia Tech
Abstract

In an effort to save weight, transportation and aerospace industries have increasing investigated magnesium alloys because of their high strength-to-weight ratio. Further efforts to save on material use and machining time have focused on the use of additive manufacturing. However, anisotropic properties can be caused by both the HCP structure of magnesium alloys as well as by layered effects left by typical additive manufacturing processes. Additive Friction Stir (AFS) is a relatively new additive manufacturing technology that yields wrought microstructure with isotropic properties. In this study, Additive Friction Stir (AFS) fabrication was used to fabricate WE43 magnesium alloy, with both atomized powder and rolled plate as filler material, into multilayered structures. It was found that the WE43 alloy made by AFS exhibited nearly isotropic tensile properties. With aging these properties exceeded the base material in the T5 condition. The toughness measured by Charpy impact testing also showed an increase over the base material. The relationships among tensile properties, Vickers microhardness, impact toughness, microstructure and thermal history are developed and discussed.

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Keywords
Magnesium, WE43, Additive manufacturing, Friction Stir
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