Microstructure & Mechanical

Characterization of modified
Aluminium 6061 alloy

Under the guidance of :

Veerabhadrappa Algur M.tech.,
Presented by: (PhD)
Dinesh D
Ganesh O N
Hari Prasad G
Contents
Introduction
Literature survey
Objectives
Experimental work
Results & Discussion
Further work to be carried out
References
Introduction
Aluminium and its alloys offer a wide range of
properties that can be engineered precisely to
the demands of specific applications, such as in
aerospace, advanced nuclear reactors, surface
coating and metal/air batteries, through the
choice of alloy, temper condition and fabrication
process. Aluminium alloys have been employed
as the cladding material for some research
reactors, because of its small cross section for
neutron absorption, good corrosion resistance
against cooling water, good toughness even after
long term exposure in a neutron field, and short
life-time of the radioactive nuclei produced by
nuclear reactions
Literature survey
R. Braun [7] using TEM, examined the microstructure of
alloy 6013 sheet in the peak-aged T6 temper.
G. Svenningsen et al [8, 9, 10, 20] presented a series of
papers which gave a comprehensive study of factors
affecting IGC susceptibility of Al-Mg-Si alloys, containing
about 0.55 wt% Mg and 0.60 wt% Si
M.H. Larsen and J.C. Walmsley [21] studied the
precipitation behavior and susceptibility to IGC for two
6xxx Al alloys with and without 0.2 wt% Cu after solution
heat treatment at 540 C for 30 minutes and aging at 185
C for different time periods.
The role of Cu in precipitation behavior of 6000 series
aluminum alloys has been further investigated by S.
Esmaeili and D.J. Lloyd
Objectives
To study the microstructure features of modified
aluminium 6061 alloy.
To study the mechanical properties of modified
aluminium 6061 alloy.
Determination of mechanical properties like
hardness, impact strength & tensile strength of
modified aluminium 6061 alloy.
Experimental work
The study was carried out on 10 mm thick flat
plates of 6061 AA .
For the first heat treatment procedure, solution heat
treatment was carried out at 550C for 2 hrs,
followed by water quenching. Some of these
specimens were tested in the as quenched
condition and the other specimens were placed in
furnace for 2-3 days
Rockwell hardness testing is an indentation testing
method. The indenter is either a conical diamond
(brale) or a hard steel ball. Different indenter ball
diameters from 1/16 to 1/2 in. are used depending
on the test scale.
Continued...
Sam Al Cu Mn Zn Si Cu Ti Cr
ples

01 0.4 1 14.4 2.98 4.9 0.006 0.4

02 0.5 2 14.8 3.92 5.4 0.007 0.6

03 0.8 3 14.6 4.29 5.8 0.006 0.7

As received
Furnace cool
Quenched
Results
Rockwell hardness
120

100

80
As Received
60 Quenched
40 Furnace cool

20

0
1% mn 2% Mn 3% Mn
Results
Compression strength
250

200

150 AS Received
Quenched
100
Furnace Cool

50

0
0.2% Mn 0.5% Mn 1.0% mn
Results
Impact energy (charpy)
3

2.5

2
As Received
1.5 Quenched
Furnace Cool
1

0.5

0
0.2% Mn 0.5% Mn 1.0% Mn
Discussion
Bulk hardness of all metallographically prepared samples was
measured using a Brinell hardness tester with a 2.5 mm
diameter steel ball indenter and under a load of 100kgf. The
application time of the load was 04 seconds.
The compressive strength increases gradually with increasing
Mn content until the Mn content reaches 0.5%. When the Mn
content is higher then 0.5%, the compressive properties of
alloys become lower.
It is noticed that the compressive strength of alloy first
increases with increasing Mn content when the Mn content is
low. This can be attributed to the following reasons. The
volume fractions and size of the hard phases in the
experimental alloys increase with increasing Mn content.
Therefore the compressive strength of the alloy first increase
with increasing volume fraction of hard phases then drop with
the coarsening of the hard phases.
Discussion
Therefore the compressive strength of the alloy
first increase with increasing volume fraction of
hard phases then drop with the coarsening of the
hard phases.
It is observed that from the waterquenched
specimen shows higher impact energy compared to
as-cast and slowly cooled specimens (furnace-
cooled). Impact strength is nothing but the
absorption of energy. Quenched specimen has
absorbed more energy than the other specimens
due to its hardness. On the other side, furnace
cooled exhibit lowest impact energy due to its low
strength.
Further work to be carried
out
Microstructure of SEM and XRD
Tensile test under UTM 40 tons
References
J. Zhang, M. Klasky, B.C. Letellier, Journal of Nuclear
Materials, Vol. 384, 2009, pp. 175189.
A. N. Holden, Gordon and Breach Science Publishers,
1965.
I.J. Polmear, "Light Alloys", E. Arnold, Hodder &
Stoughton Ltd. UK, Third edition, 1995.
J. R. Davis,"Corrosion Understanding The Basics", ASM
International, 2000.
"Corrosion of Aluminum and Aluminum alloys", ASM
International, 1999.
P. R. Roberge, Handbook of Corrosion Engineering,
McGraw-Hill, 2000.
R. Braun, Materials Characterization, Vol. 56, 2006, pp.
85-95.