Mechanical properties and microstructural evaluation of AA5013 aluminum alloy treated in the semi-solid state by SIMA process

The microstructure and mechanical properties of AA5013 aluminum alloys prepared by strain-induced melt activation (SIMA) process were studied to investigate the effects of cold working and heat treatment conditions. The specimens subjected to deformation ratios of 30 and 50% and various heat treatment time and temperature regimes were characterized in the present study. The results revealed that for the desired microstructure of the alloy, the optimum heat treatment temperature and time were 650 °C and 60 min, respectively, for both deformation ratios. However, the specimens with 50% cold working exhibited more brittle behavior while they contain finer grains with uniform distribution along the cross-sections as compared to 30% cold working.