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Effect of Severe Plastic Deformations on the Microstructure and Strength–Ductility Balance of a Hypoeutectic Al-Ca-Ce-Based Alloy

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Abstract

A comparative analysis of the effects of ECAP and HPT on the microstructure and its relationship with the strength–ductility balance of the hypoeutectic Al-3Ca-3Ce alloy (wt.%) was performed. HPT was carried out at room temperature through three turns, and ECAP was carried out at a temperature of 200 °C through four passes. Both ECAP and HPT improved the strength–ductility balance of the alloy. The best strength–ductility balance was achieved after HPT: The yield strength, the ultimate tensile strength, and the relative elongation were 418, 529 MPa, and 17%, respectively, which is 5.7, 3.7, and 1.5 times higher than in as-cast state. The strength after ECAP is 2.3-2.8 times lower, and the relative elongation is two times lower than after HPT. The difference in the mechanical properties of the alloy after ECAP and HPT was due to its different microstructure. During HPT, a nano- and sub-microcrystalline structure was formed with a predominance of high-angle misorientations, and the eutectic particles were crushed to a nanosize. The alloy after ECAP was characterized by a heterogeneous structure, namely, the areas of fine-crystalline structure with a predominance of high-angle boundaries and the areas of sub-microcrystalline structure with a predominance of low-angle boundaries and the presence of crushed particles. The alloy in all conditions was characterized by good electrical conductivity, amounting to 44-47% IACS.

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Acknowledgments

The study was performed in terms of state assignment of the Baikov Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, theme no. 075-00319-25-00. The investigation of the structure was carried out using the equipment of the Center for Collective Use ‘Materials Science and Metallurgy’ in MISIS. The authors greatly thank PhD V.E. Bazhenov for the help with obtaining the results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Baikov Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    S. O. Rogachev, V. A. Andreev, R. D. Karelin & V. S. Komarov

  2. National University of Science and Technology MISIS, Moscow, Russia

    S. O. Rogachev, E. A. Naumova, E. A. Borozdina, R. D. Karelin, V. S. Komarov, N. Yu. Tabachkova & S. A. Bondareva

  3. Prokhorov General Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    N. Yu. Tabachkova

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  1. S. O. Rogachev
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Contributions

S.O. Rogachev did the conceptualization; V.A. Andreev participated in the funding acquisition; S.O. Rogachev, E.A. Borozdina, and N.Yu. Tabachkova did the investigation; S.O. Rogachev, V.A. Andreev, E.A. Naumova, R.D. Karelin, and V.S. Komarov developed the methodology; E.A. Naumova collected the resources; S.O. Rogachev did the writing—original draft; V.A. Andreev, E.A. Naumova, R.D. Karelin, and V.S. Komarov participated in the Writing—review; S.A. Bondareva, E.A. Borozdina did the data curation; S.O. Rogachev did the formal analysis; N.Yu. Tabachkova and S.A. Bondareva did the visualization.

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Correspondence to S. O. Rogachev.

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Rogachev, S.O., Andreev, V.A., Naumova, E.A. et al. Effect of Severe Plastic Deformations on the Microstructure and Strength–Ductility Balance of a Hypoeutectic Al-Ca-Ce-Based Alloy. J. of Materi Eng and Perform (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-025-12863-2

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