Effects of Hot Extrusion on the Microstructure and Wear Properties of A380-Yb Alloy

A380-Yb (Ytterbium) alloy was prepared by the ultrasonic melting casting method, and effects of hot extrusion on the microstructure and wear properties of the alloy were studied. The results indicate that the addition of rare earth Yb can refine the microstructure of the matrix alloy. After hot extrusion (extrusion ratio of 22.56) of the as-cast A380-Yb alloy, the secondary phase in its microstructure was further refined and the distribution became more uniform. EBSD (electron backscatter diffraction) organizational analysis shows that the average GND (geometrically necessary dislocation) density of extruded rare earth aluminum alloy is significantly increased, by 16.5 times that of the cast matrix alloy. In addition, there are a large number of grains parallel to the <111> orientation and <001> orientation in the extrusion direction. The alloy undergoes dynamic recrystallization during hot extrusion, and the proportion of small-angle grain boundaries is significantly reduced. Under the same friction and wear conditions, the wear rate and average friction and wear coefficient of the extruded rare earth aluminum alloy are relatively small, reduced by 53.8% and 42.6%, respectively, compared to the cast matrix alloy. Its wear mechanism is mainly abrasive wear and slight plastic deformation. In addition, the study also found that under fixed other wear conditions, as the friction speed increases, the wear rate of the extruded rare earth aluminum alloy shows a trend of first decreasing and then increasing. However, with the increase in load, its wear rate gradually increases, and the change in wear morphology is consistent with the trend of wear rate. When the wear rate is high, the wear mechanism of the extruded aluminum alloy is mainly delamination wear and adhesive wear, and is sometimes accompanied by severe plastic deformation. When the wear rate is low, its wear mechanism is mainly abrasive wear.