Assessment of Inorganic Lubricants on Mechanical Properties of ECAE Aluminum 6063

ABSTRACT

Equal Channel Angular Extrusion (ECAE) is the process of subjecting bulk of metal to Severe Plastic Deformation (SPD) which led to the production of fine grain of that metal in larger quantities. The existing lubricants for this process are organic based and as a result scarce, expensive and not environmental friendly. Hence there is need to investigate alternate inorganic lubricant that can replace the organic ones. Therefore the major focus of this report based on improvement of the mechanical properties of aluminum conditioned to ECAE using jatropha oil as inorganic lubricant for the process. Aluminum alloy bar was annealed at 3500C for 1hr, machined and cut to billets size of 11.95mm x 11.95mm x 40mm. these specimens for extrusions were machined to the specified dimension. The billets were extruded through ECAE die of 12 x 12mm2 channel cross-sectional area, the channel angle was 300. The punch and container used for the experiment were made of tool steel alloy AISI D2. Two lubricants that were varied for the process include; jatropha oil and kleen mould for inorganic and organic lubricant respectively. The yield, ultimate tensile strengths (UTS), ductility and grain refinement of the material extruded with jatropha oil as lubricant, which gave the least extrusion pressure, produced the maximum yield, ultimate tensile strengths, ductility and best grain refinement and can effectively replace the organic lubricants used in forging operations.

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Updated: June 26, 2023 — 2:25 am