Abstract
A comparative study of three rapidly solidified Al–Mg powder alloys containing additions of chromium, iron, and manganese has been performed. Fine, air atomized powder of the three compositions was cold compacted and extruded after preheating, using an induction heater, to temperatures in the range 300–500°C. The Al–Mg–Cr alloy exhibited the best hot working characteristics: the iron and manganese bearing materials were less satisfactory because the extrudates exhibited surface cracking owing to hot tearing. The data from the Al–Mg–Cr alloy showed that the extrusion pressure can be related to the extrusion ratio and the temperature compensated strain rate. During extrudate tensile testing, discon-tinuous yielding was observed in the iron and manganese bearing alloys. All three alloys exhibited improved Young's modulus, but over the range of temperatures studied (20–300°C) the chromium and iron alloys displayed the best combination of strength and ductility. PM/0359
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