Hot Extrusion of Al/SiC Powder through Porthole Die

Jozef Zasadzinski, Artur Rekas, Jan Richert, Wojciech Libura, Dariusz Lesniak, AGH University of Science and Technology, Cracow, Poland

ABSTRACT Nowadays metal matrix composites (MMC) with ceramic additives constitute an essential modern engineering material used in production of various components. In this work, the results of extruding pure aluminum powder reinforced with two, four, eight, and 16 percent of SiC through a porthole die are presented. The influence of the compaction mode on extrusion parameters and the properties of extruded parts were studied. The samples for extrusion were prepared according to two procedures: one set was subjected to compaction at room temperature up to 90 percent of the theoretical density; whereas, the other set were compacted at 380C up to 96 percent. The samples were next extruded at 500C through a porthole die with varying extrusion ratios and extrusion speeds. The influence of the chemical composition and reduction ratio during extrusion on the density, microstructure, and mechanical properties of extrudates were investigated. The quality of the weld seams was also examined. The extrusion force for the samples compacted at room temperature was lower compared to that for samples compacted at 380C. It was found that the increasing SiC content increases mechanical properties of extrudates obtained by hot extrusion through a porthole die.

INTRODUCTION
Increasing performance requirements imposed on extruded products causes more and more attempts to be made to replace solid material ingot with ingots made from powder material. Nowadays, metal matrix composites (MMC) with ceramic additives constitute an essential modern engineering material. They are used in the production of various, and even the most sophisticated components. The extrusion process is characterized by the convenient state of stress, which helps to form semi-finished products made of poorly deformable materials including metal powders.[1] The technology of powder extrusion materials is mainly based on experiences with extrusion of solid material ingots.[1, 2] The most commonly used extrusion method for producing hollow aluminum and aluminum alloy sections is the method of hot extrusion through a porthole die. In this method, during the extrusion process, heated ingot is cut into streams by the mandrel. Then, streams of metal pass through the inlet ports to the welding chamber surrounding the mandrel. In the welding chamber, streams of metals are welded together. The deformed metal exits from the die through the gap between the mandrel and the die land as a hollow shape. As a result, several seams occur on the cross-section of hollow profiles. The number of seam welds depends on the porthole dies construction.[3-7] That method is used for manufacturing hollow shapes from easy to deform aluminum alloys, mainly of 6xxx alloys. Applicability of this method is determined by weldability and deformability of material during the extrusion process. Practice shows that aluminum alloys containing copper, such as AlCuMg alloys, manifest both poor weldability and deformability in the standard extrusion practice; therefore, they are not extruded though the porthole dies. Low weldability and poor deformability is also shown by 5xxx and 7xxx alloys. However, taking into account the growing need for high-strength sections, an implementation of porthole die hot extrusion seems reasonable for those alloys. In order to receive high-quality sections based on aluminum powder matrix with ceramic additives (SiC), which show high mechanical performance, it is necessary to overcome difficulties concerning those hard deformable alloys that make hot extrusion of sections through a porthole die impossible. Thanks to extrusion process analysis with use of a porthole die,

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the main parameters that are required to obtain products with high-strength welds were determined in the example, using appropriate high temperature, and possibly high pressure for possibly a long time, and with the suitable high values of shear strain in the area of weld formation. The lower those parameters are (temperature, pressure), the easier the material can be welded in the extrusion conditions. The most common methods of preparation of metal powders is the milling and grinding in solid state, and spraying and granulation of the liquid phase, as well as the reduction of metal oxides method.[8, 9] Preparation of charge for the extrusion of metal powders can be accomplished through direct pouring of loose powder into the container, cold compaction and sintering by hot compaction, and by cold compaction in the cartridge.[8, 10] In the case of pouring material into a container in the form of loose powder, for which particles are usually large in size, the most often used method is an extrusion with cork, which allows the initial compaction of the material. Cork can have the form of a cone mounted on the outside of the die, or the form of plate on the inside of the container, placed on the front surface of the die in such way as to prevent tipping of the material through a die. After reaching a certain degree of compaction and a certain level of pressure, the cork is pushed out of the die, or is extruded with the material. Thanks to this operation, loose powder won't fall out of the container, and the extrusion process can be realized.[8, 11] Another way to prepare the charge for extrusion is by cold compaction and sintering, or hot compaction. In those methods, a charge with a higher density than in the loose powder extrusion is obtained. This reduces the path of the punch and the height of the container needed for the production of the product of required length.[8, 12] A more complex approach to the preparation of charge is a method of cold compaction in the cartridge. The powder is initially compacted directly in the cartridge and the cartridge itself can be closed, for example, to ensure the appropriate atmosphere for a powder, or remain open during the extrusion process.[8, 10, 11]

COMPACTION OF POWDER MIXTURES

Extrusion of powder materials is usually performed from ingots that are pre-compacted at ambient temperature, and then sintered or compacted at elevated temperatures. It is also possible to put loose powder into a container; however, this solution requires securing of the die exit to prevent spilling of powder. The influence of SiC addition on a degree of compaction of the ingot at an ambient temperature (T = 25C), and at elevated temperature (T = 380C) was studied. Powder mixtures were prepared (Figure 1), based on aluminum powder reinforced with the addition of two, four, eight, and 16 percent SiC. Aluminum (Al) powder chemical composition is given in Table 1.

Figure 1. Aluminum-based powder mixture with 2 percent SiC. Table 1. The chemical composition of Aluminum (Al) powder. Material Al Fe Si Cu Content [%] Min 99,7 Max 0,20 Max 0,15 Max 0,01

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The compaction process was carried out on a vertical press with a pressure of 400kN with a moving punch. The prepared powder mixture was carefully weighed on a laboratory scale before putting into the container. All compaction tests were performed for a fixed value unit pressure of 250MPa. When the load reached requested value, the press was stopped and the pressure was maintained at this level for 20 seconds. Three samples for each of the variants of SiC addition and temperature were prepared. The density was investigated on an analytical laboratory scale equipped with tooling that enables density measurement. Measurements were made based on the Archimedes law implemented into scales software. The results of measurement of density and degree of compaction for ambient temperature densification shown in Table 2 are average values. Table 2. Summary of results of measurement of density and degree of compaction for densification at temperature T = 25C. Unit pressure [MPa] 250 250 250 250 Density [g/cm3] 2,614 2,614 2,487 2,485 Temperature [C] 25 25 25 25 Degree of compaction [%] 91,65 90,13 88,75 82,54

Sample Al powder+ 2% SiC Al powder + 4% SiC Al powder + 8% SiC Al powder + 16% SiC

Preparing extrusion ingots by compacting metal powders at elevated temperatures is a relatively rarely used process. Table 3 shows average results of measuring the density and degree of compaction for densification at temperature T = 380C. Table 3. Summary of results of measurement of density and degree of compaction for densification at temperature T = 380C. Unit pressure [MPa] 250 250 250 250 Density [g/cm3] 2,614 2,613 2,487 2,484 Temperature [C] 380 380 380 380 Degree of compaction [%] 96,10 96,07 91,43 91,32

Sample Al powder+ 2% SiC Al powder + 4% SiC Al powder + 8% SiC Al powder + 16% SiC

The results of compaction tests carried out at ambient (Table 2) and at elevated temperatures (Table 3) indicate a decrease in degree of condensation with increasing SiC addition content (Figure 2). Method of compaction at elevated temperatures significantly improves the consistency of compacts, and allows increasing the degree of compaction at the unit pressure value equal to one used for ambient temperature compaction. Consistency and surface quality of the obtained compacts were evaluated. Compacts made of powder mixtures based on aluminum with the addition of two, four, and eight percent SiC, compacted at ambient and elevated temperatures maintained good consistency and good surface quality. Compacts with 16 percent SiC additive compacted at elevated temperature showed poor consistency, and those compacted at ambient temperature were very brittle.

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T = 380C

T = 25C

Figure 2. The degree of compaction, depending on the amount of SiC additive.

EXTRUSION OF POWDER MIXTURES

Tests of the direct extrusion process were made with the use of ingots prepared from powder mixtures, based on aluminum powder with the addition of two, four, eight, and 16 percent SiC by weight. Those ingots were compacted at ambient temperature T = 25C, and at elevated temperature T = 380C, and with unit pressure of 250MPa. It was carried out on a vertical press with pressure of 3MN. A special tool kit consisting of a container, punch, transfer mold, and die was designed and manufactured for the needs of those tests.

Figure 3. Tool kit for extrusion of powder mixtures. In the first stage of the study, extrusion of rod tests were performed with the use of a porthole die to analyze the effect of SiC content on the effectiveness of welding. The prepared ingots were heated up to 500C in a resistance furnace. Then, 10mm- and 12mm-diameter rods were extruded at temperature T = 500C, with punch velocity of 55mm/min and 150mm/min. Regardless of the method of ingot preparation in the first phase of the process, the ingot is split into two streams and then compacted and welded in the

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welding chamber. The extrusion process was stopped after the transfer mold reached the mandrel; afterwards, the set of tooling with the rod was pulled out of the container (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Tooling set after extrusion process: transfer mold, mandrel, and die with extruded rod. Because of the difference in the degree of compaction between ingots compacted at temperature T = 25C and those compacted at temperature T = 380C, the force required to split the ingot on the back of the mandrel is lower for the ingots with a lower degree of compaction, and because of that the force of the extrusion process is lower. Good seam quality was acquired for rod extruded using Al powder with two, four, and eight percent of SiC additive. Quality of seams did not depend on the method of ingot preparation, extrusion ratio, or extrusion velocity (Figure 5). The increase in content of SiC up to 16wt% led to not welding streams of material in the welding chamber, and separation of the rod on the press exit. a) b) c)

Figures 5a), 5b), and 5c). Rod extruded form powder mixtures with the addition of a) two percent SiC; b) four percent SiC; and c) eight percent SiC. The cross-section of the welding chamber presented in Figure 6 shows that the degree of compaction can be different in different places of the welding chamber. The highest degree of compaction is in the area of the die land, and that is the place where two streams of material are welded.

Figure 6. The welding chamber cross-section. In the extrusion process the ingot, after splitting on the back of the mandrel, fills the inlet ports. The path of flowing of the material is shown in Figure 7. Differences in the flow material are caused by differences in friction between the container and powder mixture particles (Figure 8). The particles,

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because of their contacts with the container, are being slowed down and are moving much slower than in other areas. The problem of friction appears also in the lower part of the mandrel, where the forms of unmoving powder are created.

Figure 7. Macrostructure of material flow in cross-section of the stream of the powder mixture. Metallographic analysis of the welding chamber cross-section (Figure 8) shows the areas of compaction and welding. The stream of the powder mixture that flows into the welding chamber completely fills the space under the mandrel (Figures 7 and 8). The nature of the flowing of streams in the welding chamber, as well as their depth, indicates that the area of compaction and welding is large.

Figure 8. Metallographic specimen of the welding chamber cross-section. Weld quality assessment was based on analysis of the macrostructure of the extruded rods cross sections (Figure 9). Regardless of the amount of reinforcing additive, the nature of the flowing of powder mixtures is connected with placement of the welding zone in the middle of the samples. The visible difference in flowing of material streams is caused by various conditions in the inlet ports, which are caused by the difference in particle size of Al powder, and SiC powder distribution. Compactibility and weldability was also evaluated in the static tensile test, in which the value of the tensile strength Rm was assessed (Figure 10). The samples for the stretching test were prepared from the extruded rods containing the reinforcing addition of two, four, and eight percent SiC. The tensile test results confirmed the effectiveness of compaction and welding, and demonstrated an increase in strength for bars with a higher content of SiC additive.

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a) b) c) Figure 9a), 9b), and 9c). Macrostructure of the flow of the material, a) two percent SiC; b) four percent SiC; and c) eight percent SiC.

Figure 10. Tensile strength of extruded bars, depending on the amount of SiC additive. Based on experience gathered during porthole die rod extrusion tests, aluminum powder ingots reinforced with two, four, and eight wt% of silicon carbide were prepared and were used for tube extrusion. A sealed container was filled with powder mixture, filling both welding chamber and inlet channels. Then, the prepared container was heated in resistance to a temperature of 500C. Tubes with the outer diameter of 10mm and a wall thickness of 1.5mm were extruded. In the first stage of the extrusion process, powder was densified until the moment when it broke through the aluminum plate, which was sealing the die exit. The flow of material in the extrusion process was preceded by pouring out of some powder from the welding zone. A good product was created with the use of aluminum powder reinforced with two percent SiC (Figure 11a). The same situation appeared when four percent SiC aluminum powder was used (Figure 11a), while extrusion of tube made of eight percent SiC aluminum powder ended with tube not being welded in the welding chamber during the process (Figure 11c).

a)

b)

c)

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Figures 11a), 11b), and 11c). Tubes extruded from aluminum powder mixture with a) two percent SiC; b) four percent SiC; and c) eight percent SiC addition. During the extrusion process temperature was measured as well as extrusion force, as a function of punch displacement. The values of maximum force are given in Table 4. The increase in SiC content increases the maximum force in the extrusion process. Table 4. Maximum force values during the extrusion process. Sample Al powder + 2% SiC Al powder + 4% SiC Al powder + 8% SiC Fmax [kN] 760 830 850

In order to assess the impact of reinforcing ingredient content on the weld quality and mechanical properties of samples, tensile tests were carried out, and tensile strength of samples was evaluated. Tube made of pure Al powder was extruded to emphasize influence of reinforcing additive on material properties (Figure 12). Pure Al sample was marked as the zero percent SiC sample. Tubes reinforced with the SiC ingredient have higher tensile strength then tube made of pure Al powder. The relationship between the amount of reinforcing ingredient and the tensile strength is shown in Figure 12.

Figure 12. Tensile strength of extruded tubes, depending on the amount of SiC additive. Based on the analysis of the extruded tubes cross-section microstructure (Figures 13 and 14), the quality of welds was evaluated. Two welds are visible, but their amount depends on the construction of the porthole die. Tubes made of aluminum powder, reinforced with two percent SiC (Figure 13) have welds that ensure a good connection between two streams of material.

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Figure 13. Cross-section macrostructure of extruded tube of Al powder with two percent SiC additive. When the content of SiC additive is increased up to four percent (Figure 14), mechanical properties of extruded profiles increase, but the weld area becomes more visible. However, the weld quality is satisfactory and provides a good connection.

Figure 14. Cross-section macrostructure of extruded tube of Al powder with two percent SiC additive. A further increase in the quantity of the reinforcing ingredient increases tensile strength, but makes welds weaker and less susceptible to welding, which leads to cracking and splitting of the material in welding zones. Such a situation can be observed in the case of the sample with eight percent SiC content.

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CONCLUSIONS
Studies on the influence of the amount of reinforcing ingredient (two percent, four percent, eight percent, and 16 percent SiC) on the degree of compaction showed that the increase in the reinforcing ingredient decreases the degree of compaction. In the case of samples with 16 percent SiC, the degree of compaction in ambient as well as in elevated temperature was lowest, which resulted in low consistency of samples. Compaction at elevated temperature T = 380C, and not changing any other parameters leads to a higher degree of compaction than in compaction at ambient temperature T = 25C. The method of compaction at elevated temperatures can increase the degree of compaction, even when unit pressure is the same as in the ambient temperature compaction method, which improves the consistency of extrudates. Tests of direct extrusion of bars through a porthole die made from ingots prepared from powder mixtures, based on aluminum powder with the addition of two, four, eight, and 16 percent SiC, compacted at temperature T = 25C and at elevated temperature T = 380C at unit pressure 250MPa showed that the force required to separate the ingot on the ridge of the mandrel is lower for ingots with lower degree of compaction. The extrusion of ingots with two, four, and eight percent SiC content allowed the obtaining of bars with a good weld quality for all investigated variants of densification temperature, extrusion ratio, and extrusion speed. The good quality of welds was confirmed in cross-section macrostructure analysis. The streams of the powder mixture incoming into the welding chamber fill the area under the mandrel completely, and compaction and welding take place over a large area. The degree of compaction is highest in the area of the dies, and here comes to the welding of streams of compacted powder mixture. Tensile tests showed an increase in tensile strength for bars with a higher content of SiC addition. Only during the extrusion process of ingots with a higher content of silicon carbide (16 percent SiC), the streams of material have not been welded, and separation of the rod was observed on their exit from the press. In the extrusion process of tubes made of aluminum powder reinforced with two and four percent weight of silicon carbide, a product with good weld quality was obtained. But when the addition of SiC has risen up to eight percent weight, the weldability decreased, and material was not welded in the welding chamber, and separation of tube was observed. Macrostructure analysis of the tube cross-section confirmed good quality of welds for tube with two and four percent SiC content. Tubes with the reinforcing ingredient have higher tensile strength then tubes made of pure Al powder. The four percent of SiC content increases the tensile strength of tubes by more than 20 percent, compared to tubes made of pure aluminum powder.

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