Main Alloying Influence on Second Phase Dissolution during Solution Treatment of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu Alloys

Second phase dissolution of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys during solution treatment was closely associated with the content of main alloying elements. In present work, the phase characteristics of several Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys with various main alloying contents were investigated, and the second phase dissolution of these alloys during solution treatment was analyzed. The results showed that the extrusion alloys possessed abundant second phases, mainly including Mg(Zn,Cu,Al)2 phase and Fe-rich particles. The DSC analysis proved that the larger endothermic peak corresponded to the alloy with larger main alloying content, and the XRD spectrogram also backed up the advantage of Mg(Zn,Cu,Al)2 phase. After solution treated at 450°C, the residual phases remained in the alloys and the quantity of them were positively correlated with the main alloying content. With the increase of solution temperature, the electrical conductivity of the alloys showed a decremental trend, while the alloys with relatively low main alloying contents exhibited an inversion at the solution temperature of 475°C. The SEM observation demonstrated that no Mg(Zn,Cu,Al)2 phase was observed in the alloys with relatively low main alloying contents while seldom still remained in the alloy with high main alloying content after solution treated at 470°C. After solution treated at 475°C, Mg(Zn,Cu,Al)2 phase completely dissolved into the matrix for the alloy with high main alloying content. The statistics of residual phase quantity also proved this.

Effect of Solution Treatment on Second Phase Dissolution for an Al-9.2Zn-2.0Mg-1.9Cu Alloy

The second phase dissolution of Al-9.2Zn-2.0Mg-1.9Cu alloy conducted by various temperatures of 2h was researched with the help of optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), electrical conductivity and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. The results gave rise to the second phase existence of Mg(Zn,Cu,Al)2 and Fe-containing phases in the as-extruded alloy. When the alloy solution treated with a temperature varied from 450°C to 470°C, a small quantity of Mg(Zn,Cu,Al)2 phase still existed in the alloy while its content exhibited a decrement trend with the solution temperature rose. For the alloy solution treated at a temperature of 475°C, Mg(Zn,Cu,Al)2 phase dissolved into the matrix completely while Fe-containing phase still remained. The electrical conductivity of quenched alloy decrease with the solution temperature increase and reached a minimum value at 470°C, and then rose slightly for the solution temperature of 475°C.