Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Open Access Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Materials Science and Engineering (MS)

Administrative Home Department

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Advisor 1

Paul Sanders

Committee Member 1

Stephen Kampe

Committee Member 2

Walter Milligan

Abstract

As-extruded (F-temper) 3003 return bends can provide cost savings over annealed (O-temper) return bends in aluminum heat exchangers. To assess if F-temper return bends are an alternative to the baseline O-temper bends, the grain structure, bending performance, and melting behavior were assessed through:

  • Quantifying the effect of dispersoids on recrystallization
  • Tracking bending behavior through grain morphology and surface texture
  • Measuring the number and volume fraction of the α-Al(Mn,Fe)Si intermetallic
  • Inducing incipient melting through high temperature thermal exposure.

When homogenized at 620°C and 630°C, the F-temper bends had no orange peel texture, the grain size was equivalent to the annealed product, and no incipient melting was observed. No statistically significant differences were found in the onset of melting across any homogenization conditions.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

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