Effect of Multi-axial Forging on Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of AA7075/TaC Composites

The objective of the current work is to develop a AA7075 reinforced tantalum carbide (1, 3, 5, and 7 wt%) compositeComposites through stir casting. The secondary processProcess such as multi-axial forging (MAF) followed by aging was performed on AA7075/5TaC(S-4) compositeComposites to enhance the strength and ductility of the compositeComposites. The evolution of microstructuresMicrostructure was examined by optical microscope (OM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and the MAF processProcess was analyzed by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD)Electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD). The microstructureMicrostructure characterizationCharacterization reveals that the refinement of grains takes place with the addition of TaC due to the pinning effectPinning effect. The microstructureMicrostructure of the MAF shows suppression of dynamic recoveryDynamic recovery and generation of dislocation density because of the strain energy effect at room temperatureTemperature. The mechanical propertiesMechanical properties were measured by Vickers hardnessHardness and universal tensile testing machine and obtained as the highest for 5 wt % TaC which is 142 Hv, 211 YS, and 254 UTS. MAF specimen shows an improvement in mechanical propertiesMechanical properties and percentage elongation compared to properties obtained in S-4 compositeComposites specimen. The highest UTS, YS, and % elongation of S-4 specimen was achieved with MAF+aged when the cumulative strain was up to 4.8. The enhancement in hardnessHardness and tensile strengthTensile strength of the developed compositeComposites and MAF specimen were discussed with various strengthening mechanisms.