Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of a Squeeze-Casted Al-Zn-Mg-Cu Alloy after Heat Treatment

2014 ◽  
Vol 788 ◽  
pp. 187-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Lu ◽  
Da Tong Zhang ◽  
Yuan Yuan Li

The effects of heat treatment on the microstructures and mechanical properties of a squeeze-casted Al-6.8%Zn-2.7%Mg-2.0%Cu alloy were studied by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It is found that squeeze casting can refine the microstructure of the alloy markedly accelerates the diffusion process of solute atoms during solution heat treatment. After solution heat treatment at 470°C for 10h and artificial aging at 130°C for 24h, the tensile strength and the elongation of the squeeze-casted alloy reach 590MPa and 5.0%, respectively, which are almost equal to those of the wrought alloy, and are significantly higher than those of the gravity-casted alloy (435MPa and 1.3%). Based on the experimental results, the mechanism of microstructural evolution and the effect of squeeze casting on the kinetics of solute diffusion and aging precipitation of the squeeze-casted Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy were discussed.

Metals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 966
Author(s):  
Mieczyslaw Scendo ◽  
Slawomir Spadlo ◽  
Katarzyna Staszewska-Samson ◽  
Piotr Mlynarczyk

Influence of heat treatment on the corrosion resistance of the aluminum-copper (Al-Cu) coating on the aluminum substrate was investigated. The coating was produced by the electrical discharge alloying (EDA) method. The surface and microstructure of the specimens were observed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The phase analysis of the composite materials by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) indicated that intermetallic compounds (i.e., CuAl2 and Cu9Al4) were formed through reactions between Al and Cu. during the EDA process. A significant increase in the hardness of the Al-Cu coating was affected by the improvement of the alloy structure. The heat treatment of materials was carried out at 400 °C or 600 °C in the air atmosphere. A corrosion test of materials was carried out by using electrochemical methods. The corrosive environment was acidic chloride solution. After heat treatment at 400 °C the mechanical properties of the Al/Cu alloy increased significantly and the oxide layer protect of the alloy surface against corrosion. However, after heat treatment at elevated temperature, i.e., 600 °C it was found that the (Al2O3)ads and (CuO)ads coatings were destroyed. The mechanical properties of the Al/Cu alloy decreased, and its surface has undergone deep electrochemical corrosion.


2013 ◽  
Vol 690-693 ◽  
pp. 44-48
Author(s):  
Feng Wang ◽  
Zhi Wang ◽  
Zheng Liu ◽  
Ping Li Mao

In this paper, developed a non-aluminum die casting magnesium alloys were studied based on Mg-xGd-Y-Zr(x=6, 8, 12 wt.%)alloys in cold chamber press. The microstructures and mechanical properties of die casting GWK alloys have been investigated using OM, SEM, XRD, EDS and mechanical property test. The experimental results show that with increasing Gd content of Mg-xGd-Y-Zr alloys, the tensile strength increase, but elongation decrease. In particular, die casting GWK alloys after short-term and low-temperature solid solution treatment (T4) have a small variation in grain size and more uniform microstructures, and the second phases distribute at the grain boundaries in form of discontinuous rod shape or granule shape, which result in an obvious improvement in tensile mechanical properties of alloys. The Mg-12Gd-3Y-0.5Zr die casting alloy exhibit maximum tensile strength after solution heat treatment, and the value is 269MPa at room temperature. The effect of solution heat treatment on die casting Mg-xGd-Y-Zr alloys was also discussed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 765 ◽  
pp. 496-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawid Kapinos ◽  
Marcin Szymanek ◽  
Bogusław Augustyn ◽  
Maciej Gawlik

The article presents the change in mechanical properties of AlZn9Mg2.5Cu1.8 alloy resulting from the process of solution heat treatment and aging. The heat treatment was performed on a unique UMSA (Universal Metallurgical Simulator and Analyzer) device. The aim of the study was to determine optimum heat treatment parameters for the tested alloy of ultrafine grain structure obtained by Rapid Solidification (RS). To achieve this purpose, heat treatment to the T4 and T6 condition was carried out. The solution heat treatment was carried out at a constant temperature of 460 °C for 2 hours, while the time - temperature parameters of the aging process varied. The treatment undertaken resulted in improved mechanical properties.


2013 ◽  
Vol 749 ◽  
pp. 54-60
Author(s):  
Yao Qiang Gan ◽  
Lei Lu ◽  
Da Tong Zhang ◽  
Wei Wen Zhang ◽  
Yuan Yuan Li

A high strength Al-Cu-Mg alloy was prepared by squeeze casting. The effects of squeeze casting and heat treatment on the microstructures and mechanical properties of the alloy were studied. It was found that squeeze casting refined the microstructure and reduced the micro-segregation markedly, and also accelerated the diffusion process of solute atoms during solution heat treatment. Tensile strength and elongation of squeeze casting alloy were much higher than those of gravity casting alloy under both the as-cast and heat-treated conditions. In addition, the Al-Cu-Mg alloy prepared by squeeze casting showed good natural aging response, and the naturally-aged alloy possessed a slightly lower tensile strength but better elongation compared to full artificial aging. After solution heat treatment at 495 for 9h and further natural aging for 48h or artificial aging at 190 for 6h, the tensile strength of squeeze casting alloy reached to 472MPa and 475MPa, respectively, and the elongation was 18.9% and 12.7% accordingly. Based on the experimental results, the mechanism of microstructural evolution of squeeze casting Al-Cu-Mg alloy during heat treatment was discussed, and the effect of squeeze casting on the kinetics of solute diffusion and aging precipitation was studied.


2007 ◽  
Vol 561-565 ◽  
pp. 481-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Yi Seo ◽  
S. Bulmer ◽  
H. Saari ◽  
Peter Au

The microstructures and mechanical properties of three powder metallurgy Ti-48Al-2Cr- 2Nb-xW alloys (where x=0, 0.5, and 1 atomic percent (at.%)) are presented. The results indicate that a solution heat treatment combined with controlled cooling generate a fully lamellar (FL) microstructure without the formation of detrimental Widmanstätten or massively transformed γ phases. Aging causes coarsening of the FL microstructure in the alloys containing 0%W and 0.5%W, while almost no coarsening occurs in the 1%W sample. The addition of W to the base composition results in the formation of precipitates at the lamellar interfaces and grain boundaries during aging which helps stabilize the FL microstructure. The amount of W and the aging time affect the room temperature hardness values and tensile properties.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 3113-3115
Author(s):  
S. M. Rajaa ◽  
H. A. Abdulhadi ◽  
K. S. Jabur ◽  
G. R. Mohammed

This work investigates the influence of artificial aging and solution heat treatment on the hardness and tensile strength (mechanical properties) of Al 6061-T6 alloy. For this investigation, several aluminum 6061-T6 alloy specimens were prepared following the ASTM 176000 recommendations. The prepared specimens were heated for 1 hour at 500ºC before being water-quenched. The procedure for artificial aging was performed for 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours at 190ºC before being slowly cooled in air. Several mechanical and characterization studies were performed on the treated specimens, including an investigation on their microstructure, tensile strength, hardness, and X-ray diffraction pattern. From the results, the strength and hardness properties of the specimens were found to be generally improved, even as the best features were obtained after 2 hours of artificial aging.


2020 ◽  
Vol 405 ◽  
pp. 357-364
Author(s):  
Lenka Kuchariková ◽  
Eva Tillová ◽  
Ivana Švecová

Al-Si-Cu alloy systems have a great importance in the casting industry due to their excellent castability, good mechanical properties and wear resistance. Addition of alloying elements, such as Mg and Cu, makes these alloys heat treatable. Improving of their mechanical properties allows their using in new, more demanding applications (e.g. engines, cylinder heads etc.). The most applied heat treatment for this alloy is a T6 (age hardening). Such a heat treatment is required for precipitation of the Al2Cu hardening dispersed phase that increases the mechanical properties of Al alloys. Therefore, the consequences of different solution heat treatment temperatures 505, 515 and 525 °C for AlSi9Cu3 and 515, 525 and 545 °C for AlSi12Cu1Fe cast alloys, with holding times 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 hours, were investigated in this study. The effect of solution treatment was evaluated based on changes in microstructure (optical microscopy) and mechanical properties (hardness, impact energy and ultimate tensile strength). The study confirms the strengthening of the experimental alloys caused by application of optimum conditions of T6 and melting of the Cu-rich phases with application of inappropriate solution temperature, as well as distortion and changes of the testing bars.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document