Influence of ECAP on Densification Behaviour in the PM Aluminium Al-Mg-Si-Cu-Fe Alloy

The main aim of this paper is to show how ECAP influences the densification behaviour of PM aluminium alloys. An aluminium based powder (Al-Mg-Si-Cu-Fe) was used as material to be investigated. After applying different compacting pressures, specimens were dewaxed in a ventilated furnace at 400 °C for 60 min. Sintering was carried out in a vacuum furnace at 610 °C for 30 min. The specimens were ECAPed for 1 pass. Optical characterization was carried out on the minimum of 10 different image fields. The results were measured for each pore individually in order to describe the dimensional and morphological porosity characteristics. ECAP influences the porosity distribution in terms of the severe shear deformation involved.