Evaluation of ECAP's Impact on Mechanical Characteristics of Al-Zn Alloy

This work investigated at how equal channel angle pressing (ECAP) affected the mechanical and toughness characteristics of aluminum-zinc alloys (Al-Zn). The alloys were casted initially and treated with T6 heat and then subjected to ECAP, a process that induces significant shear deformation without changing the cross-sectional dimensions. Microstructural analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed a significant reduction in grain size and the transformation of coarse globular grains into elongated and equiaxed grains after ECAP. The microhardness of the alloys increased, indicating an improvement in material hardness due to grain refinement and precipitation strengthening. Tensile strength studies showed good improvement in terms of the tensile strength of a ECAP-treated alloys compared to as-cast alloys. Additionally, analysis of fracture toughness using stress intensity factor (SIF) measurements showed significant improvement, especially after 16 hours of ageing. The study shows that ECAP effectively improves the mechanical characteristics and toughness of Al-Zn alloys, making them suitable for structural and industrial applications. This highlights the potential of ECAP as a better method in modifying the microstructure and improving the characteristics of metallic materials.