Fatigue Properties of Ultra-Fine Grained Al-Mg-Si Wires with Enhanced Mechanical Strength and Electrical Conductivity

Abstract

This paper focuses on the mechanical properties, electrical conductivity and fatigue performance of ultra-fine-grained (UFG) Al-Mg-Si wires processed by a complex severe plastic deformation route. It is shown that the nanostructural design via equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) Conform followed by heat treatment and cold drawing leads to the combination of enhanced tensile strength, sufficient ductility, enhanced electrical conductivity, and improved fatigue strength compared to the wires after traditional T81 thermo-mechanical treatment used in wire manufacturing. The Processing-microstructure-properties relationship in the studied material is discussed.

Keywords

• Al-Mg-Si alloy
• severe plastic deformation
• microstructure
• strength
• electrical conductivity
• fatigue limit