Investigation of microstructure and mechanical properties of commercial aluminium processed after ECAP

Equal channel angular pressing technique is one of the most promising techniques of severe plastic deformation, where the material is passed through the intersecting channel at some angle of the specially designed die to produce an ultrafine grain structure. The refined grain structure leads to the enhancements in the mechanical properties required for most of the engineering applications. The main purpose of this research paper is to observe the refinement of microstructure and subsequent enhancements in mechanical properties of commercially pure aluminium processed by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP). The analysis was done on commercial Aluminium AA6063 processed by ECAP die with 135° channel angle and 20° corner angle. The route adopted was Bc and material was passed from the die 0-3 numbers of times. The results of different phases were compared, and it was observed that average grain size and microstructure was refined to ultrafine level using SEM and at the same time mechanical properties such as strength, ductility, and hardness improved to a significant level. The results can be useful for current researchers in the area of grain refinement. © 2021 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.. All rights reserved.