Characterization of microstructure and mechanical properties of Al–Cu–Mg–Ag–(Mn/Zr) alloy with high Cu:Mg

This study examines the effects of the addition of Mn or Zr on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al–Cu–Mg–Ag alloy using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, transmission electron microscopy, tensile test, and tear test. The results showed that the alloy with Zr exhibited the highest strength and the lowest fracture toughness, which may be attributed to the segregation of the secondary phases containing the Zr element on the recrystallization grain boundaries. The alloy with Mn exhibited strength that is roughly equal to the Al–Cu–Mg–Ag alloy and the highest fracture toughness, which may be due to the formation of secondary phases containing Mn and Fe elements. Mn or Zr addition also has no remarkable influence on the characteristics of the precipitates. The Ω phase and a small quantity of θ′ phases dominated the microstructure of the three alloys after aging.     

Influence of aging temperature on corrosion behavior of Al–Zn–Mg–Sc–Zr alloy

Al–Zn–Mg–Sc–Zr alloy sheets were prepared using water chilling copper mould ingot metallurgy processing which was protected by active flux. The effect of aging temperature on the corrosion characteristics of Al–Zn–Mg–Sc–Zr alloy was investigated by means of exfoliation corrosion testing, potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) combined with transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and optical microscopy observation. It is found that with increasing the aging temperature the susceptibility to exfoliation corrosion decreases. Electrochemical measurements reveal that at early stage of immersion in testing solution, EIS plots of the samples are composed of a capacitive arc and an inductive loop. Inductive loop disappears with the increasing of immersion time and two time constants in impedance diagrams appear. Moreover, the trends of corrosion resistance are further confirmed by polarization curve and EIS test. In addition, transmission electron microscopy observations show that the improved corrosion resistance from increasing aging temperature is duo to the coarsening of matrix and separated precipitates at the grain boundary, and the increased spacing of grain boundary precipitates.     

Effect of multi-directional forging and ageing on fracture toughness of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloys

Strength, ductility and fracture toughness are the most important mechanical properties of engineering materials. In this work, an Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy was subjected to multi-directional forging (MF) and ageing treatment. Microstructural evolution was studied by optical and electron microscopy and strength, ductility and fracture toughness were researched. After MF, the dislocation density was increased and the microstructure was refined. The strength and fracture toughness were increased, while the ductility was decreased sharply. Without compromising the strength, the ductility was improved significantly after ageing. The fracture toughness was increased further. The coarse and discontinuously distributed grain boundary precipitates were found to be responsible for higher fracture toughness of the fine-grained structure Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy.     

Precipitation,microstructure and mechanical properties of low nickel maraging steel

Abstract

A maraging steel with a composition of Fe–12·94Ni–1·61Al–1·01Mo–0·23Nb (wt-%) was investigated. Optical, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis were employed to study the microstructure of the steel after different aging periods at temperatures of 450–600°C. Hardness and Charpy impact toughness of the steel were measured. The study of microstructure and mechanical properties showed that nanosized precipitates were formed homogeneously during the aging process, which resulted in high hardness. As the aging time is prolonged, precipitates grow and hardness increases. Fractography of the as forged steel has shown mixed ductile and brittle fracture and has indicated that the steel has good toughness. Relationships among heat treatment, microstructure and mechanical properties are discussed. Further experiments using tensile testing and impact testing for aged steel were carried out.     

The microstructure and mechanical properties of prolonged and lower temperature aged Fe–Ni–Mn–Mo–Ti–Cr maraging steel

In this study, the microstructure and mechanical properties of Fe–Ni–Mn–Mo–Ti–Cr maraging steel at low temperature and prolonged aging condition were investigated. Optical and scanning electron microscopy examinations, tensile and hardness tests were conducted to study the microstructure, aging behavior and mechanical properties of the cold‐rolled steel. The results showed that aging of cold rolled Fe–Ni–Mn–Mo–Ti–Cr maraging steel resulted in the formation of Mo rich and Ti rich Lave phase precipitates. Existence of many dislocation cores due to cold rolling and subsequently, low temperature aging caused to formation of uniform distribution of very fine precipitates. The presence of these precipitates increased the yield and ultimate tensile strengths but couldn't improve the uniform tensile ductility. This alloy showed ultra‐high fracture stress of about 1950 MPa with a negligible tensile elongation (about 2 %) at the peak aged condition. The fractographic studies indicated this alloy shows semi‐brittle fracture in the subsequent aging treatment.     

Short transverse fracture of Al–Li–Cu–Mg–Zr extrudate

Abstract

The short transverse fracture toughness of an Al–Li–Cu–Mg–Zr extrudate was determined as a function of aging condition and testing temperature. To elucidate the underlying micromechanisms, the short transverse fracture surfaces of the extrudate were characterised via scanning electron microscopy, grain boundary precipitates and precipitation free zones were identified via transmission electron microscopy, and segregation of elements to grain boundaries was analysed using secondary ion mass spectrometry. Three principal observations were made as follows. First, with increasing aging time, the short transverse toughness of the extrudate increased when tested at room temperature, but decreased at liquid N₂ temperature, whereas with decreasing testing temperature, it remained essentially constant for the underaged condition, and decreased sharply for the peak aged and overaged tempers. Second, in addition to regions exhibiting shallow dimples, smooth ‘featureless’ zones were revealed on the short transverse fracture surfaces, which are intergranular in nature for all the specimens tested. The area fraction of the featureless regions decreased noticeably with increasing aging time when tested at room temperature, and increased markedly with decreasing testing temperature for the peak aged and overaged conditions. Third, segregation of Li, Si, Na, and H was detected for both the underaged and overaged specimens, and also of K for the underaged specimens only. In general, the enhancement of the room temperature short transverse toughness with aging and the negative effect of cryogenic temperature on fracture toughness are in obvious contrast to the in plane toughness behaviour reported in the literature, the featureless character of the short transverse fracture and its connection with poor toughness seldom having been emphasised. Based upon the present study, segregation induced brittleness is proposed as the critical micromechanism responsible for grain boundary weakness, and thus for the poor short transverse fracture toughness.

MST/1829     

Influence of aging condition on tensile and fatigue fracture behaviour of aluminium alloy 6063

Abstract

An Al–Mg–Si alloy 6063 was heat treated in the underaged, peak aged, and overaged conditions. The microstructures of the alloy in the different aging conditions were examined using transmission electron microscopy. Tensile and fatigue tests were carried out and the resulting fractures were studied using scanning electron microscopy. It has been found that the alloy shows different tensile and fatigue properties and different modes of fracture under different aging conditions. The results have been explained in terms of slip distribution and grain boundary strength.

MST/1188     

Effects of pre-treatments on aging precipitates and corrosion resistance of a creep-aged Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy

The effects of pre-treatments (solution and retrogression) on aging precipitates and corrosion resistance of a creep-aged Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy are investigated by means of transmission electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and cyclic potentiodynamic polarization experiments. It is found that the aging precipitates and corrosion resistance are greatly affected by the pre-treatments. For the creep-aged alloy after solution pre-treatment, fine aging precipitates with high density are formed within grains. Meanwhile, large and continuously-distributed aging precipitates appear along grain boundaries. Also, this creep-aged alloy is strongly sensitive to the electrochemical corrosion, and the corrosion pits are easily induced in the 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution. For the creep-aged alloy after retrogression pre-treatment, when the retrogression pre-treatment time is increased, the density of intragranular aging precipitates first increases and then decreases, while the size of grain boundary precipitate and the width of precipitate free zone continuously increase. Compared with the creep-aged alloy after solution pre-treatment, the corrosion resistance of the creep-aged alloy after retrogression pre-treatment is greatly improved.     

Microstructure studies in Al-6% Si-1.9% Cu-x% Mg alloys

The nature of precipitates formed in the aged Al-6% Si-1.9%Cu-x%Mg alloys (where x varies from 0.2 to 1.13) was investigated using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Vickers hardness and grain size were measured. Results showed peak hardness around 4 and 10 h ageing time for 0.54% Mg and 1.13% Mg alloy, respectively. Hardness was found to increase with increasing magnesium content except for the 1.13% Mg alloy aged for 10 h. Q-phase particles have been observed and these are most probably responsible for the variation of hardness.     

The effect of aging process on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a Cu–Be–Co–Ni alloy

The paper investigated the effect of two aging processes (i.e. normal aging and interrupted aging) on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a Cu–Be–Co–Ni alloy. The results of tensile and Kahn tear tests showed that the interrupted aging (IA) process could significantly improve the uniform elongation and plane stress fracture toughness with tiny decrease in ultimate tensile strength, when compared with the results from normal aging (NA) process. Under the scanning electron microscope, the fracture surface of samples treated by NA followed the intergranular fracture, while that of the samples treated by IA followed the transgranular fracture. The transmission electron microscope study revealed the differences between the microstructure of the alloy treated by NA and IA processes. After the NA process, the slender strip of γ′ precipitates aggregated at grain boundaries with a length of approximately 10 to 45 nm; the disk-shaped γ″ precipitates in the alloy treated by IA distributed homogenously throughout whole grains with a length of about 3 to 10 nm. The discussion of strengthening mechanisms demonstrated that the mechanism of precipitate shearing by dislocations made a contribution to the strengthening of the alloy treated by IA, while the Orowan mechanism was the dominant strengthening mechanism in the alloy treated by NA.     

Investigation on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys with various Zn/Mg ratios

The effects of Zn/Mg ratios on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys aged at 150℃ have been investigated by using tensile tests,optical metallography,scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography analyses.With increasing Zn/Mg ratios,the ageing process is significantly accelerated and the time to peak ageing is reduced.T'phase predomi-nates in alloys of lower Zn/Mg ratios while η'phase predominates in alloys with a Zn/Mg ratio over 2.86.Co-existence of T'phase and η'phase with a large number density is beneficial to the high strength of alloys.Such precipitates together with narrow precipitate free zones cause a brittle intergranular fracture.A strength model has been established to predict the co-strengthening effect of T'phase and η'phase in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys,including the factors of the grain boundary,solid solution and precipitation.     

The microstructure and mechanical properties of as-cast Mg–4Y/Nd–2Zn alloys

Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and tensile testing were performed to investigate the microstructure and mechanical properties of as-cast Mg–4Y/Nd–2Zn alloys. The results show that the secondary dendritic arm spacing for the Mg–4Y–2Zn alloy is smaller than that for the Mg–4Nd–2Zn alloy, and that X-Mg₁₂YZn or W-Mg₃Zn₃Nd₂ form in Mg–4Y/Nd–2Zn alloys. The lamellar X phase distributes at the grain boundary, pointing into the grains, whereas the rod-like W phase preferentially segregates at the triangle junction of the grain boundary. The greater grain boundary strengthening effect and the smaller fragmentation effect of the brittle eutectic phases leads to the as-cast Mg–4Y–2Zn alloy having better comprehensive mechanical properties. The fracture mechanism for as-cast Mg–4Y/Nd–2Zn alloys is quasi-cleavage fracture.     

Influence of solution and aging on the microstructures and mechanical properties of complex deformed WE93 alloy

Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, hardness testing, and mechanical property testing were performed to study the influence of solution (T4) and aging (T6) on the microstructures and mechanical properties of the WE93 magnesium alloy. A reasonable solution treatment and an aging regime were developed, and the fracture features of the alloy in different states were analyzed. Results show that complex deformation produces microstructures that are largely characterized by deformation-precipitated Mg–Y phase (Mg₂₄Y₅), in addition to those with cubic Mg–Y and Mg–MM phases, which are both undissolved after homogenization. The optimum solution treatment condition for the alloy is a holding temperature of 490 °C for 2 h. After solution treatment, the precipitated Mg–Y phase re-dissolves and grain size grows to a limited extent, which may be attributed primarily to the pinning effect of the Mg–MM phase on the grain boundary. The reasonable aging regime was maintained at 225 °C for 40 h. After the solution and aging treatments, the ultimate tensile strength of the alloy at room temperature reaches 375 MPa but the elongation is only 3%. As indicted by the fracture behavior of the alloy, the secondary cracks of the extruded alloy and the solid-solution alloy occur mainly in the Mg–MM phase with few transcrystalline fractures. After peak aging, however, transcrystalline cracks appear on the grains at room and high temperatures. Under a multi-strengthening mechanism, the mutual coordinating effect may depend primarily on service temperature.     

Effect of minor Sc addition on microstructure and stress corrosion cracking behavior of medium strength Al–Zn–Mg alloy

Influence of Sc content on microstructure and stress corrosion cracking behavior of medium strength Al–Zn–Mg alloy have been investigated by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and slow strain rate test. The results indicate that the addition of Sc results in the formation of the quaternary coherent Al_3(Sc, Zr, Ti) dispersoids during homogenization treatment, which will inhibit the dynamic recrystallization behavior. The number density of Al_3(Sc, Zr, Ti) particles increases with the increase of Sc content, and thus the recrystallization fraction of hot-extruded alloy is reduced and the peak strength in two-stage artificial aging sample is enhanced. At the same time, the wide of precipitation free zone is reduced, and the content of Zn and Mg in grain boundary particles and precipitation free zone is increased with the increase of Sc content. In peak-aged state, the 0.06 wt% Sc added alloy shows the better stress corrosion cracking resistance than the Sc-free alloy because of the reduction of recrystallization fraction and the interrupted distribution of grain boundary precipitates along grain boundary. However, the further addition of Sc to 0.11 wt% will result in the deterioration of stress corrosion cracking resistance due to the increase of electrochemical activity of grain boundary particles and precipitation free zone as well as hydrogen embrittlement.     

Poisoning of Zr microstructures during casting homogenisation and solution treatment

The influence of Al–Ti–B grain refiners on the microstructures of Zr-containing Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy was investigated by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, as well as through tensile and hardness tests. A poisoning effect occurred when the grain refiner was added to the Zr-containing alloy, and the grain size increased significantly. The precipitates in the alloy without the grain refiner were finely distributed, while the phases of the alloy with the Al–Ti–B refiner agglomerated at the grain boundaries, decreasing both the hardness and elongation. The addition of the grain refiner to the alloys markedly increased their hardness and elongation, when coupled with slow cooling, although the peak stress also decreased slightly.     

航空紧固件用Ti-5553合金的组织和性能

采用扫描电镜和透射电子显微镜研究不同热处理制度对Ti-5553高强钛合金显微组织与力学性能的影响。结果表明:在(α+β)两相区进行固溶处理时,随着固溶温度的升高,Ti-5553合金组织中的初生α相含量逐渐减少,β相的尺寸和体积分数均增加,合金强度逐渐降低。时效后β基体发生转变,晶界和晶内析出大量次生α相。次生α相的尺寸对力学性能产生重要影响,随着时效温度的升高,次生α相逐渐粗化,导致抗拉强度逐渐下降。1240MPa级航空紧固件用Ti-5553的固溶温度应选择Tβ以下,使组织中留有足够的β相,从而时效时在β相中有大量次生α相析出,获得需要的高强度。同时,保留一定含量的初生α相,以便获得良好的塑韧性。经810~820℃,1.5h,水淬+510℃,10h,空冷热处理后,合金可以获得较好的综合性能,抗拉强度达1500MPa,伸长率达14.8%,断面收缩率为38.6%。固溶和时效态的拉伸断口均存在大量韧窝,材料具有良好的塑韧性。     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of spray-deposited Al–10.8Zn–2.8Mg–1.9Cu alloy after two-step aging treatment at 110 and 150 °C

The microstructure and mechanical properties of a spray-deposited Al–10.8Zn–2.8Mg–1.9Cu alloy were investigated after a two-step aging treatment at 110 and 150 °C. The results indicate that GP zones and η′ are major precipitates for the alloy under the two-step aged condition. Discontinuous grain boundary precipitates are favorable for SCC resistance in the over-aged condition, which reduces its strength about 7% compared to the peak-aged condition.     

The effect of Al–8B grain refiner and heat treatment conditions on the microstructure,mechanical properties and dry sliding wear behavior of an Al–12Zn–3Mg–2.5Cu aluminum alloy

In this study the effect of Al–8B grain refiner on the structural and properties of Al–12Zn–3Mg–2.5Cu aluminum alloy were investigated. The optimum amount for B containing grain refiner was selected as 3.75 wt.%. The results showed that B containing grain refiner is more effective in reducing average grain size of the alloy. T6 heat treatment was applied for all specimens before tensile testing. Significant improvements in mechanical properties were obtained with the addition of grain refiner combined with T6 heat treatment. After the heat treatment, the average tensile strength increased from 479 MPa to 537 MPa for sample refined with 3.75 wt.% Al–8B. The fractography of the fractured faces and microstructure evolution was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and optical microscopy.Dry sliding wear performance of the alloy was examined in normal atmospheric conditions. The experimental results showed that the T6 heat treatment considerably improved the resistance of Al–12Zn–3Mg–2.5Cu aluminum alloy to the dry sliding wear.     

Microstructure‐texture‐fracture toughness property correlation in annealed Al‐6Mg alloy with minor scandium and zirconium additions

The effect of minor addition of scandium and zirconium on the fracture toughness (FT) behaviour of aluminium‐6 wt% magnesium alloy is studied. Texture measurement and transmission electron microscopy have revealed that the evolution of texture in cast alloys after annealing is decided by the morphology and character of the precipitates. It is further demonstrated that the said minor addition influences the FT behaviour of Al‐6Mg alloy by manipulating in‐plane anisotropy as decided by the precipitate morphology. Textural situation in annealed state has also been related to the FT behaviour.     

Effect of Zn addition on the precipitation behaviors of Al–Mg–Si–Cu alloys for automotive applications

Effect of Zn addition on the precipitation kinetics and age-hardening response of Al–Mg–Si–Cu alloys was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), hardness measurements, tensile tests and microstructural characterization. The results show that, compared with the Zn-free alloy, both the starting and peak temperatures in the DSC curve, and activation energy of β″ precipitation of Zn-added Al–Mg–Si–Cu alloy decrease significantly, corresponding to the greatly improved precipitation kinetics and age-hardening response, i.e., a hardness increment of 70HV after aging at 185 °C for 20 min. Moreover, the peak hardness and tensile properties can also be greatly enhanced after adding 3.0 wt% Zn even exhibiting a ductile fracture feature in the peak-aged state. No precipitates of the Al–Zn–Mg alloy system appear in the Zn-added Al–Mg–Si–Cu alloys after aging at 185 °C, and pre-β″, β″, and L precipitates are still the main precipitates in the two alloys after peak aging treatment. Finally, based on the microstructural evolution, a schematic diagram of precipitation in the Al–Mg–Si–Cu–Zn alloy is put forward, and the relationship between mechanical properties and microstructure is also established.