Materials Science Forum, Vol.419-4, 387-392, 2003
Mushy state forming of magnesium alloy making use of resistance heating
Feasibility of mushy state forming of magnesium alloys making use of resistance heating was examined. Magnesium alloys, AZ31, AZ61 and AZ91, were taken up as experimental materials and cylindrical billets with a diameter of 15mm and a height of 20 mm were used for both resistance heating and forming experiments. Input heat control was applied to the billet heating and insertion of thin discs of austenitic stainless steel with a low thermal conductivity between the billet and copper electrodes was attempted in order to improve the efficiency of the billet heating. Results were summarized as follows. (1) Resistance heating by input heat control was successful to heat the billets to their respective mushy state. (2) Insertion of the discs was very helpful in heating the billets and realized the heating in a couple of seconds. (3) The force applied to the electrodes to ensure the electrical contacts being too small, sparks occurred and welds arose between the billets and discs. Contact pressure more than 19.6MPa was needed to avoid the welding. (4) Mushy state upsetting in a container with an inside diameter 20mm and extrusion with a right angle die with a hole of 5mm in diameter were both performed with fair success using input heat control.