The effect of combining high-intensity ultrasonic vibration with ECAE process on the process parameters and mechanical properties and microstructure of aluminum 1050

Equal channel angular extrusion, as one most common severe plastic deformation method for producing ultra-fine grain materials, has some limitations such as high forming load, high friction forces, microstructure inhomogeneity, and a large number of passes required for obtaining fine-grained structure. The main goal of this research is investigation on the effect of using high-intensity ultrasonic vibration directly in the plastic deformation zone during the ECAE process of commercially pure aluminum 1050 to improve process limitations. By combining ultrasonic vibration with the ECAE, the sample with nearly equiaxed grains and average size similar to 2 mu m was achieved just after one pass more effective than two passes of conventional ECAE via routes C and Bc. Accordingly, the samples with 22 % higher hardness, 10 % more compressive strength, and also 30 % lower required forming load were attained during ultrasonic-assisted ECAE with applied vibration amplitude 15 mu m.