In situ thermomechanical processing to avoid grain boundary precipitation and strength-ductility loss of age hardening alloys

To avoid grain boundary (GB) precipitation during aging, a new strategy of in situ thermomechanical processing for age hardening alloys was proposed. Specifically, high-density nanoscale precipitates were introduced into ultrafine grain (UFG) interiors of 7075Al alloy by equal-channel-angular (ECAP) processing at 250 °C for 8 passes, thus avoiding GB precipitation. Tensile test results indicated that the UFG 7075Al alloy exhibits superior mechanical properties (yield strength of 350 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 500 MPa, uniform elongation of 18% and tensile ductility of 19%) compared with the UFG 1050Al counterpart (yield strength of 170 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 180 MPa, uniform elongation of 2.5% and tensile ductility of 7%). Fracture surface morphology studies revealed numerous homogeneous micro shear bands in necking shrinkage areas of both UFG 7075Al and 1050Al alloys, which are controlled by cooperative GB sliding. Moreover, the introduction of nanoscale precipitates in UFG 7075Al matrix weakened the tendency of shear fracture, resulting in a higher tensile ductility and more homogeneous deformation. Different from the GB precipitation during postmortem aging, in situ thermomechanical treatment dynamically formed GBs after precipitation, thus avoiding precipitation on GBs.