Microstructure and properties of Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloy exposed at 200 ℃ with and without stress

The effect of stress on the microstructure and properties of an Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloy under-aged at 165 ℃ for 2 h during thermal exposure at 200 ℃ was investigated. The tensile experimental results show that the remained tensile strength of both specimens at room temperature after being exposed at 200 ℃ with and without applying stress rises firstly, and then drops with the increasing of exposure time. The peak value of the remained strength reaches 439 MPa for non-stress-exposure for 10 h, and 454 MPa after being exposed with stress loaded for 20 h at 220 MPa. The elongation change is similar to that of strength. After being exposed for 100 h, specimen exposed at 220 MPa still remains a tensile strength of 401 MPa, larger than that exposed without applying stress. TEM shows that the microstructure of under-aged alloy is dominated by Ω phase mainly and a little θ′ phase. The θ′ and Ω phases are believed competitive with increasing exposure time. The width of precipitation free zone(PFZ) increases and the granular second phase precipitates at grain-boundary correspondingly. It is shown that the mechanical properties of alloy decrease slightly and present good thermal stability after thermal exposure at 200 ℃ and 220 MPa for 100 h.     

Effect of tensile stress on microstructure evolution of Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloys

The effect of tensile stress on thermal microstructure evolution of Ω phase in an AI-Cu-Mg-Ag alloy with high Cu/Mg ratio and higher Ag content was investigated by transmission electron microcopy （TEM） .The samples were aged at 200 ℃ for 1 h （T6 condition）, then thermal exposed at 250 ℃ for 100 h with and without a tensile stress （130 MPa）, respectively. The results indicate that Ω precipitates uniformly disperse in the matrix as a major precipitate after artificially aging at 200℃ for 1 h （T6 condition）. Exposed at 250℃ for 100 h without stress, Ωprecipitates dissolve dramatically. Whereas, during stress exposure they coarsen unexpectedly rather than dissolve into matrix. It can be deduced that the stress retards the redissolution of Ω phase.     

Tensile and creep properties of Ti-600 alloy

Ti-600 is one of the high performance titanium alloys used at 600℃, which was developed in Northwest Institute for Nonferrous Metal Research （NIN） in China. The tensile and creep properties of Ti-600 alloy with different thermal treatment conditions were investigated. The results indicate that Ti-600 alloy possesses favorite comprehensive properties solution-treated at 1020℃ for l h, then air-cool, and aged at 650℃ for 8 h, finally air-cooling, especially possesses quite good creep resistance. The residual deformation is less than 0.1% for the alloy exposed at 600℃ for 100 h with the stress of 150 MPa, and the bimodal microstructures of the alloy are almost the same as that of the alloy treated by duplex thermal treatment, only needle primary α phases became relatively thicker and coarsened. The ultimate strength and the elongation of the alloy tested at ambient temperature are l 080 MPa and 12%, respectively; while at 600℃, they are 690 MPa and 16%, respectively. The ductility of the alloy tested at room temperature is no less than 5% after thermal exposing at 600℃ for 100 h.     

Influence of thermal exposure on microstructure and stress rupture properties of a new Re-containing single crystal Ni-based superalloy

In this study, the long-term thermal microstructural stability and related stress rupture lives of a new Re-containing Ni-based single-crystal superalloy, DD11, were investigated after high-temperature exposure for different lengths of time. The results show that the γ' precipitates retained a cuboidal morphology and the γ' size increased after short thermal exposure for 50 h at 1,070℃. As the thermal exposure time was prolonged to 500 h, the cuboidal γ' gradually changed into irregular raft-like morphology due to particles coalescence, and the morphology of the microstructure was almost unchanged after further thermal exposure up to 3,000 h. The stress rupture experiments at 1,070℃ and a tensile stress of 140 MPa showed that the rupture lives increased significantly after thermal exposure for 50 h and dropped dramatically with increasing exposure time up to 500 h but decreased slowly after exposure for more than 500 h. These results imply that stress rupture properties did not decrease when the γ' remained cuboidal but degraded to different extents during the γ' coarsening process. The coarsening of the γ' precipitates and change in morphology were regarded as the main factors leading to the degradation of the stress rupture lives. This study provides fundamental information on the high-temperature longterm microstructural stability and mechanical performance, which will be of great help for DD11 alloy optimization and engineering aeroengine applications.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-Zn-Gd-based alloys strengthened with quasicrystal and Laves phase

One kind of Mg3.5Zn0.6Gd-based alloy strengthened with quasicrystals was designed, and the effect of alloying elements on microstructure and mechanical properties of as-cast Mg-Zn-Gd alloy at room temperature and elevated temperatures were studied. The results indicate that MgZnCu Laves phase, which coexists with quasicrystal at grain boundary, emerges with the addition of copper element in Mg-Zn-Gd alloy. The strength of alloys exhibits the parabola curve with the increase of copper content. The alloy with 1.5% （mole fraction） Cu shows better mechanical properties at room temperature： tensile strength 176 MPa, yield strength 176 MPa and elongation 6.5%. The existence of MgZnCu Laves phase can effectively improve the heat resistance and elevated temperature properties of the alloy. The alloy with 1.5% Cu has better mechanical properties at 200℃ ： tensile strength 130 MPa and elongation 18.5%. The creep test of the alloys at 200℃ and 50 MPa for 102 h indicates that Mg3.5Zn0.6Gd alloy reinforced with quasicrystal has better creep properties than AE42, which can be further improved with the introduction of Laves phase in the alloy.     

Effects of Si Addition and Long-Term Thermal Exposure on the Tensile Properties of a Ni–Mo–Cr Superalloy

The effect of long-term thermal exposure on the grain boundary carbides and the tensile behavior of two kinds of Ni–Mo–Cr superalloys with different silicon contents(0 and 0.46 wt%) was investigated. Experimental results showed granular M2C carbides formed at the grain boundaries after exposure for 100 h for the non-silicon alloy. Furthermore, these fine granular M2C carbides will transform into plate-like M6C carbides as exposure time increases. For the Si-containing alloys,only the granular M6C carbides formed at the grain boundaries during the whole exposure time. The coarsening of the grain boundary carbides occurred in both alloys with increasing exposure time. In addition, the coarsening kinetics of the grain boundary carbides for the non-silicon alloy is faster than that of the standard alloy. The tensile properties of both alloys are improved after exposure for 100 h due to the formation of nano-sized grain boundary carbides. The grain boundary carbides are coarsened more seriously for non-silicon alloys than that of Si-containing alloys, resulting in a more significant decrease in the tensile strength and elongation for the former case. Silicon additions can effectively inhibit the severe coarsening of the grain boundary carbides and thus avoid the obvious deterioration of the tensile properties after a long-term thermal exposure.     

Inluence of heat treatment on microstructure and tensile properties of a cast Al-Cu-Si-Mn alloy简

Solution and aging treatments are important approaches to improve mechanical properties and microstructure of aluminum-base alloys. In this research, a new type high strength AI-Cu-Si-Mn cast alloy was prepared. The effect of different solution and aging treatment temperatures on microstructure and mechanical properties of the AI-Cu-Si-Mn cast alloy were studied by means of microstructure observation and mechanical properties testing. Results showed that after solution treated at different temperatures for 12 h and aged at 175 ℃ for 12 h, with the increase of the solution temperature, both the tensile strength and the elongation of the alloy firstly increase and then decrease, and reach their peak values at 530 ℃. When the solution temperature is below 530 ℃, the microstructure of the alloy consists of a phase, undissolved e phase and T phase; while when it exceeds 530 ℃, the microstructure only consists of cr phase and T phase. After solution treated at 530 ℃ for 12 h and aged at different temperatures for 12 h, both the tensile strength and the elongation of the alloy firstly increase and then decrease with the increasing of temperature, and reach their peak values at 175 ℃. Therefore, the optimal heat treatment process for the alloy in this study is 12 h solution at 530 ℃ and 12 h aging at 175 ℃, and the corresponding tensile strength is 417 MPa, elongation is 4.0%.     

Single-aging characteristics of 7055 aluminum alloy

The microstructures and properties of 7055 aluminum alloy were studied at different single-aging for up to 48 h using hardness test, tensile test, electrical conductivity measurement, XRD and TEM microstructure analysis. The results show that at the early stage of aging, the hardness and strength of the alloy increase rapidly, the peak hardness and strength are approached after 120 ℃ aging for 4 h, then maintained at a high level for a long time. The suitable single-aging treatment of 7055 alloy is 480 ℃, 1 h solution treatment and water quenching, then aging at 120 ℃ for 24 h. Under those condition, the tensile strength, yield strength, elongation and electrical conductivity of the studied alloy are 513 MPa, 462 MPa, 9.5% and 29%（IACS）, respectively. During aging, the solid solution decomposes and precipitation occurs. At the early aging stage of 120 ℃, GP zones form and then grow up gradually with increasing ageing time. η′ phase forms after ageing for 4 h and η phase starts to occur after 24 h aging.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of HIP-ZTC4 during thermal exposure and tensile deformation

Casting titanium alloy TC4(ZTC4) after hot isostatic pressing(HIP) is one of the preferred materials in the field of aerospace manufacturing. In this paper, HIPZTC4 after a long-term thermal exposure was investigated.In order to evaluate the variation of mechanical properties with service time, the tensile properties of this alloy after exposure at 400 °C for 100, 500, and 1,000 h were investigated. Microstructure of samples was observed by the means of optical microscopy(OM), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), and transmission electron microscopy(TEM). Tensile test was carried out under different test temperatures and fracture appearance was studied. The results show that the strength increases with exposure time due to the harder a2(Ti3Al) phase precipitated in the a phase and superficial oxygen layer formed, which results in the fact that the resistance of crack propagation could be increased and cracks first initiate between surface oxidation and the matrix. Besides, the tensile temperature also has a significant effect on the mechanical properties of HIPZTC4. The yield strength and tensile strength decrease with the increase of tensile temperature, while the total elongation increases.     

Thermal stability of multi-spray deposition heat resistant Al-Fe-V-Si alloy

Rapidly solidified AI-8.4Fe-1.3V-1.7Si heat resistant alloy was made by using multi-layer spray deposition technique. Its thermal stability of mechanical properties was investigated by the means of tensile and hardness tests, thermal stability of microstructure by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results show that after heat exposure (HE) at 753K for 500 h the tensile strength and liardness of Al-Fe-V-Si alloy at 623K maintains the same values as those at room-temperature. HE dose not obviously affect the thermal stabilities of Al12(Fe, V)3Si phase but the lattice constant of Al12(Fe. V)3Si phase decrease.     

Influence of annealing and spheroidizing treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ91 magnesium alloy

The low-strength and high-brittleness of AZ91 cast magnesium alloy mainly result from the coarse divorced eutectic phase.To solve these problems,the annealing treatment of AZ91 cast magnesium alloy was carried out at 415 ℃ and held for 24 h in this study and the alloy was then slowly cooled to room temperature in furnace.The microstructures of the alloy were observed using a metallographic microscope,a transmission electron microscopy and an emission scanning electron microscopy,respectively.The phase analysis was performed using the X-ray diffraction,and the tensile test of the specimen at ambient temperature was performed on a material test machine.The results indicate that the coarse divorced eutectic phase dissolves into the Mg matrix during the isothermal process,and the lamellar β-Mg17Al12 phase precipitates from the magnesium solid solution with a type of pearlite precipitation during furnace cooling.Consequently,the spheroidizing treatment was carried out at 320 ℃ for 20 h following the annealing process and the lamellar β-Mg17Al12 phase was spheroidized.Compared with the as-cast alloy,the strength and ductility of the AZ91 magnesium alloy are increased obviously after annealing treatment;the yield strength and tensile strength are increased to 137.8 MPa and 240.4 MPa from 102.9 MPa and 199.3 MPa,respectively;and the elongation is improved to 6.12% from 4.35%.After being spheroidized,the strength and hardness decrease a little,but the ductility is elevated to 7.23%.The nucleation,growth and spheroidizing mechanism of the lamellar β-Mg17Al12 phase were also discussed.     

Microstructure and properties of ZL205 alloy

The microstructure, precipitate type, precipitate distribution and tensile strength of a ZL205 alloy, before and after ageing treatment, have been studied by means of optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that the as-cast microstructure of the alloy was made up of α-Al and eutectic phase distributed at the grain boundaries. During ageing treatment, the tensile strength increased at first and then reduced with time, and the highest ultimate tensile strength was found to be around 488.2 MPa.     

MICROSTRUCTURES AND THE STRUCTURE STABILITY OF INCONEL 725,A NEW AGE—HARDENABLE CORROSION RESISTANT SUPERALLOY

INCONEL725 is a highly corrosion resistant nickel based alloy capable of being age-hardened to high strength levels. The micro structure observations and the phase identification after a standard heat treatment were investigated. The results show that the precipitation phases include the strengthening phasesγ', γ", and 8 phase, primary carbide phase TiC, as well as M6 C carbide and a little extent MC (mainly TiC) precipitates which nucleate mainly at grain boundaries. An isothermal aging study was carried out on this alloy for up to 10 000 hours at 593℃. This additional aging did not affect the tensile strength. However, micro structures show that the thermal exposure has a little additional effect. With increasing the exposure time, the size of γ" phase slightly increases, almost no change for γ' phase, while M6C carbides precipitated at grain boundaries have an increased and complex tendency on a few grain boundaries. The experimental results illustrate the excellent structure stability of the ag     

Rejuvenation Heat Treatment of the Second-Generation Single-Crystal Superalloy DD6

The second-generation single-crystal superalloy DD6 with [001] orientation was prepared by screw selecting method in the directionally solidified furnace. The long-term aging of the alloy after full heat treatment was performed at1100 °C for 400 h. Then the rejuvenation heat treatment 1300 °C/4 h/AC ? 1120 °C/4 h/AC ? 870 °C/24 h/AC was carried out. The stress rupture properties were investigated at 760 °C/800 MPa, 850 °C/550 MPa, 980 °C/250 MPa and1100 °C/140 MPa after different heat treatments. The microstructures of the alloy at different conditions were studied by SEM. The results show that c0 phase of the alloy became very irregular and larger after long-term aging at 1100 °C for 400 h. A very small amount of needle-shaped TCP phase precipitated in the dendrite core. The coarsened c0 phase and TCP phase dissolved entirely after rejuvenation heat treatment. The microstructure was restored and almost same with the original microstructure. The stress rupture life of the alloy decreased in different degrees at various test conditions after long-term aging. The stress rupture life of the alloy after rejuvenation heat treatment all restores to the original specimen more than 80%at different conditions. The microstructure degradation of the alloy during long-term aging includes coarsening of the c0 phase,P-type raft and precipitation of TCP phase, which results in the degeneration of stress rupture property. The rejuvenation heat treatment succeeds in restoring the original microstructure and stress rupture properties of the alloy.     

Effects of the two-step ageing treatment on the microstructure and properties of 7B04 alloy pre-stretched thick plates

The effects of the two-step ageing parameters （temperature and time） on the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of 7B04 （A1-Zn-Mg-Cu） pre-stretched thick plates were studied. The results reveal that the initial T1 ageing contributes a major increase of the tensile strength, and the 0.2% proof stress value reaches 482 MPa after ageing for 7 h at 115℃. Behavioral differences in the tensile properties of the alloy after the two-step ageing treatment were less with the first-step ageing at 115~C for different time periods （7, 14, and 21 h）. The effects of the second ageing parameters on the properties and microstructure of the 7B04 alloy were remarkable. TEM analysis of the samples aged at Temper I （7 h at 115℃ ＋ 12 h at 160℃） and Temper II （7 h at 115℃ ＋ 16 h at 165℃） indicates that two kinds of phases, i.e. 11＇ and 11 phases, precipitate from the matrix and efficiently improve the tensile strength of the alloy, and the grain boundary precipitates are coarse and discrete. There are obvious precipitate free zones （PFZs） along the grain boundary in the microstructure of the alloy after the two-step ageing treatment.     

Microstructure Evolution of Extruded Mg-6Gd Alloy Under 175 ℃ and 150 MPa

The tensile creep behavior of extruded Mg-6 Gd alloy,having the tensile yield strength of～ 110 MPa at 175 ℃,has been investigated under 175 ℃ and 150 MPa. In this study, the extruded Mg-6 Gd sample exhibits the total tensile strain of ～10.5% after the creep time of 1100 h,and the fast plastic strain of ～4.6% at the beginning of the creep test. The microstructure result suggests that the dislocation deformation is the main deformation mode during creep, and the grains with orientation close to(0001) II ED disappear after creep. The creep process containing a low creep strain has no effective promotion for the precipitation compared with the aging process without strain. The origination of creep crack is related to the formation of precipitate-free zone during creep. The work offers an important implication to research the microstructure evolution under an applied stress in a weak aging response Mg alloy.     

Effects of heat treatment on microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of Mg-6Zn-1.4Y-0.6Zr alloy

To investigate the effects of solution temperature and the decomposition of I-phase on the microstructure, phase composition and mechanical properties of as-cast Mg-6Zn-1.4Y-0.6Zr alloy, solution treatment at 440 oC, 460 oC and 480 oC and further aging treatment were conducted on the alloy. The results indicate that the net-like intermetallic compounds(mainly I-phase) dissolve into the α-Mg matrix gradually with the increase of solution temperature from 440 oC to 480 oC. Besides, the I-phase decomposes completely at 480 oC, with the formation of fine W-phase(thermal stable phase) and Mg_7Zn_3 phase. In addition, a great number of fine and dispersive Mg-Zn binary phases precipitate in the α-Mg matrix during the aging treatment. Due to the increase of solute atoms and the precipitation of strengthening phases, such as W-phase and Mg-Zn phases, the optimal strength is obtained after solution treatment at 460 oC for 8 h and aged at 200 oC for 16 h. The yield strength(YS), ultimate tensile strength(UTS) and elongation are 208 MPa, 257 MPa and 3.8%, respectively. Compared with the as-cast alloy, the increments of YS and UTS are 117% and 58%, respectively, while the decrement of elongation is 46%.     

Preparation and properties of borate glass coatings on Ti-based alloy substrates

A series of BaO-La2O3-B2O3 （BLB） glass coats on the Ti-based alloy substrates were developed at different temperatures for different times. The BLB glasses were analyzed by differential thermal analysis （DTA） and thermal mechanical analysis （TMA） to determine the crystallization temperature and coefficients of thermal expansion （CETs） of the glass. The tensile strength and microstructure of the glass coats were analyzed and the effects of the coating condition on the tensile strength and microstructure were discussed. The results show that the CETs of the borate glass at different temperatures match with those of Ti-based alloy, and the difference between the borate glass and Ti-based alloy at each temperature is below 5%. The spreading area in N2 atmosphere is much larger than that in air atmosphere, indicating that N2 atmosphere is helpful for the wetting of borate glass to Ti-based alloy. The tensile strength of the glass coats can reach as high as 28.42 MPa, meeting the requirements for the coat binder. With the increase of coating time, the tensile strength of coats increases firstly while then decreases. The coat prepared at 730 ℃ for 30 min is fairly smooth and complete, while the other coats contain lots of defects such as large or small uncoated region. It is believed that the coating temperature of 730℃ and coating time of 30 min are the proper coating conditions to prepare BLB glass coats.     

Effect of Ce on the thermal stability of the Ω phase in an Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloy

This paper studies the effect of Ce on the thermal stability of the Ω phase in an Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloy by TEM and tensile testing. It has been shown that Ce substantially increases the nucleation density of the Ω phase by acting as the heterogeneous nucleation center. Most impor-tantly,Ce improves the thermal stability of the Ω phase by decreasing the diffusion velocity of Cu atoms and increasing the energy barrier of the thickening ledge nucleation,thus improving the strength of the Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloy at both ...     

Effects of Ce and Ti on the microstructures and mechanical properties of an Al-Cu-Mg-Ag ahoy

The effects of Ce and Ti additions on the microstructures and mechanical properties of an Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloy have been studied, It has been shown that either Ce or Ti can decrease the as-cast grain size of the Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloy, increase the nucleation ratio for Ω phase as heterogeneous nucleation centers, inhibit the growth of Ω phase during aging, and thus increase the volume fraction and decrease the spacing of Ω phase. These microstructures increase the yield strength and tensile strength. However, if both Ce and Ti are added to the alloy, they form （Ce,Ti）-contained compounds and increase the grain size during casting, but have no effects on the nucleation and the growth of Ω phase during aging. The alloy containing both Ce and Ti has a relatively lower Vicks hardness and strength compared to the alloy containing either Ce or Ti.