Effects of forming conditions on homogeneity of microstructure and mechanical properties of A6061 aluminum alloy manufactured by time-dependent rheoforging on a mechanical servo press

The different forming behaviors of the solid and liquid phases in semisolid metal slurry during deformation result in products with inhomogeneous quality. A mechanical servo press with the capability of multistage compression was employed to forge A6061 aluminum alloy in the semisolid state. A time-dependent rheoforging strategy including mechanical stirring, a fast first compression, short holding, and a secondary compression was designed to improve the homogeneity of rheoforged samples. The distributions of the microstructure and mechanical properties, such as the solid fraction, hardness, and deformation resistance, of samples manufactured under various experimental conditions were investigated. When the stirred semisolid A6061 slurry was forged in the temperature range from 625 to 628 °C with a short holding time of 4 s and the upper die preheated to 300 °C, samples with a homogeneous microstructure and mechanical properties were manufactured. The homogeneity of rheoforged samples was attributed to the controllable free motion capability of the mechanical servo press and the adjustable fluidity and viscosity of the semisolid slurry.