In the scope of this thesis, the heat treatment of the EN AW 6082 alloy for the bottom bracket socket was carried out. The alloy is precipitation hardable, where the desired mechanical properties of the material are achieved through the process of solution annealing, quenching and ageing (artificial or natural). During the process of ageing, due to precipitation the material hardness increases.
The main aim of this thesis was to study and suggest the best possible combination of heat treatments together with cold forging of bottom bracket socket of an EN AW 6082 alloy, to achieve the required mechanical properties (hardness and torque). After homogenization annealing, heat treatments of T6 and T8 were carried out, whereby the samples were aged for different lengths of time at temperature of 170 °C. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used for microstructural characterization, and Thermo-Calc software for additional assistance in determing phases and plotting diagrams.
With the Thermo-Calc software it was found that the alloy starts to solidify at 650 °C and is in a solid stare at a temperature of 551,3 °C. The following phases are present at room temperature: Al3Ti, AlCuMgSi, silicon as diamond cubic structure, Al3Cr4Si4, Al9Fe2Si2, Mg2Si, Al15Si2M4 and α-Al. The microstructure of the alloy in F temper consists of primary crystal grains of the α-phase, nonequilibrium eutectics, and microsegregations along the grain boundaries. Homogenization annealing of the alloy causes coarsening of the Mg2Si phase and abnormal growth of crystal grains, and the shape of the intermetallic phases changes from sharp-edged to more oval. The following phases are present in the F and O tempers of the alloy: Mg2Si, Al(MnCrFe)Si and Al(MnFe)Si.
For the T6 temper, the required hardness of 110 HB was achieved by artificial ageing at 170 °C for 1 hour and 20 minutes, and for the T8 temper, this was achieved at the same artificial ageing temperature, but for 1 hour. Both samples passed the torque test with the minimum required regulation of 50 Nm.
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