Heat treatment of 7xxx series aluminium alloys—Some recent developments

The 7xxx series alloys are heat treatable wrought aluminium alloys based on the Al-Zn-Mg（-Cu） system. They are widely used in high-performance structural aerospace and transportation applications. Apart from compositional, casting and thermo-mechanical processing effects, the balance of properties is also significantly influenced by the way in which the materials are heat-treated. This paper describes the effects of homogenisation, solution treatment, quenching and ageing treatments on the evolution of the microstructure and properties of some important medium to high-strength 7xxx alloys. With a focus on recent work at Monash University, where the whole processing route from homogenisation to final ageing has been studied for thick plate products, it is reported how microstructural features such as dispersoids, coarse constituent particles, fine-scale precipitates, grain structure and grain boundary characteristics can be controlled by heat treatment to achieve improved microstructure-property combinations. In particular, the paper presents methods for dissolving unwanted coarse constituent particles by controlled high- temperature treatments, quench sensitivity evaluations based on a systematic study of continuous cooling precipitation behaviour, and ageing investigations of one-, two- and three-step ageing treatments using experimental and modelling approaches, in each case, the effects on both the microstructure and the resulting properties are discussed.

ICP-AES Determination of Germanium in GdSiGe Series Alloys as Magnetic Refrigeration Material

The ICP-AES method for the determination of Ge in GdSiGe series alloys was studied.As the three main elements in the alloys,Gd,Si,and Ge differ greatly from each other in chemical properties,it was difficult to pretreat the sample.Two decomposition methods were compared,and a mixture of HNO3＋HF was used to decompose the sample and the effect of the HF amount on the sample decomposition was examined.The adsorption effect of GdF3 on Ge was discussed.Three GdSiGe series alloy samples were analyzed,and the RSDs of this method were in the range of 0.85%～2.66%.

Influence of Al content on machinability of AZ series Mg alloys

Influence of A1 content on the machinability of AZ series cast Mg alloys was investigated. In order to evaluate the machinability of the alloys, measurements of the cutting forces during turning operations and surface roughness were carried out as well as considering the microstructure and tensile properties. The results show that maximum tensile properties are observed with 2% （mass fraction） A1 addition to Mg. As the A1 content of the alloy increases above 2%, the cutting forces tend to reduce along with the ductility owing to the grain boundary precipitation of intermetallic phase （fl-Mgl7All2）. Cutting forces are able to increase as the cutting speed increases for all the alloys studied, and it＇s attributed to flank built up at the tip of the cutting tool during machining.

Strengthening-toughening of 7xxx series high strength aluminum alloys by heat treatment

The effects of stepped solution heat treatments on the dissolution of soluble remnant constituents and mechanical properties of 7055 aluminum alloy were investigated. It was shown that a suitable pretreatment at lower temperature can enable complete dissolution of the constituent particles in 7055 alloy without overheating by subsequent high temperature solution treatment. This in turn increased the tensile strength and fracture toughness of 7055 alloy to 805 MPa and 41.5 MPa·m 1/2 respectively, with approximately 9% tensile elongation. The near solvus pre precipitation following after high temperature solution treatment was also studied on 7055 aluminum alloy. The effect of the pre precipitation on the microstructure, age hardening and stress corrosion cracking of 7055 alloy was investigated. The optical and transimission electron microscopy observation show that the near solvus pre precipitation can be limited to grain boundary and enhance the discontinuity of grain boundary precipitates in the subsequent ageing. The stress corrosion cracking resistance of aged 7055 alloy can be improved via the pre precipitation with non deteriorated strength and plasticity.

Influence of aluminum content on machinability of AS series cast magnesium alloys

The influence of Al content on machinability of AS series cast Mg alloys was studied. The assessment of machinability of Mg alloys was performed by measuring the cutting forces and surface roughness. The microstructure and the tensile properties were also studied. The results reveal that cutting forces are increased with the increase of the Al content. Surface roughness and mechanical properties are the highest for AS91 Mg alloy. It is assumed that the main mechanism, which has an influence on the mechanical properties, is the presence of intermetallic phases(Mg2Si and Mg17Al12). Cutting forces increase with the increase of the cutting speed in machining of all Mg alloys. These measured data are in accordance with the mechanical properties of the machined alloys.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of high strength Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys used for oil drill pipes

Three Al?Zn?Mg?Cu alloys used for oil drill pipes (Alloy A: Al?6.9Zn?2.3Mg?1.7Cu?0.3Mn?0.17Cr; Alloy B: Al?8.0Zn?2.3Mg?2.6Cu?0.2Zr, Alloy C: Al?8.0Zn?2.3Mg?1.8Cu?0.18Zr) were studied by hardness tests, tensile tests and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that the ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and elongation for Alloys A, B and C are 736 MPa, 695.5 MPa and 7%; 711 MPa, 674 MPa and 12.5%; 740.5 MPa, 707.5 MPa and 13%, respectively after solid solution treatment ((450 °C, 2 h)+(470 °C, 1 h)) followed by aging at 120 °C for 12 h. The dominant strengthening phases in Alloy A are GPII zone andη′ phase, the main precipitate in Alloy B isη′ phase, and the main precipitates in Alloy C are GPI zone, GPII zone andη′ phase, which are the reason for better comprehensive properties of Alloy C. The increase of zinc content leads to the improvement of the strength. The increase of copper content improves the elongation but slightly decreases the strength. Large second-phase particles formed by the increase in the manganese content induce a decrease in the elongation of alloys.

Low cycle fatigue behavior of T4-treated Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys prepared by squeeze casting and gravity die casting

Gravity die casting(GC) and squeeze casting(SC) T4-treated Al-7.0Zn-2.5Mg-2.1Cu alloys were employed to investigate the microstructures,mechanical properties and low cycle fatigue(LCF) behavior.The results show that mechanical properties of SC specimens are significantly better than those of GC specimens due to less cast defects and smaller secondary dendrite arm spacing(SDAS).Excellent fatigue properties are obtained for the SC alloy compared with the GC alloy.GC and SC alloys both exhibit cyclic stabilization at low total strain amplitudes(less than 0.4%) and cyclic hardening at higher total strain amplitudes.The degree of cyclic hardening of SC samples is greater than that of GC samples.Fatigue cracks of GC samples dominantly initiate from shrinkage porosities and are easy to propagate along them,while the crack initiation sites for SC samples are slip bands,eutectic phases and inclusions at or near the free surface.

Correlations among stress corrosion cracking,grain-boundary microchemistry,and Zn content in high Zn-containing Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys

The correlations among the corrosion behaviour,grain-boundary microchemistry,and Zn content in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys were studied using stress corrosion cracking(SCC)and intergranular corrosion(IGC)tests,combined with scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and high-angle angular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy(HAADF-STEM)microstructural examinations.The results showed that the tensile strength enhancement of high Zn-containing Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys was mainly attributed to the high density nano-scale matrix precipitates.The SCC plateau velocity for the alloy with 11.0 wt.%Zn was about an order of magnitude greater than that of the alloy with 7.9 wt.%Zn,which was mainly associated with Zn enrichment in grain boundary precipitates and wide precipitates-free zones.The SCC mechanisms of different Zn-containing alloys were discussed based on fracture features,grain-boundary microchemistry,and electrochemical properties.

Creep aging behavior and performance of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys under different parameters in retrogression aging treatment

A study was conducted to better understand how different parameters, namely, regression aging time and regression aging temperature, affect the creep aging properties, i.e., the creep deformation and performance of Al-Zn-MgCu alloy during regressive reaging. The corresponding creep strain and mechanical properties of samples were studied by conducting creep tests and uniaxial tensile tests. The electrical conductivity was measured using an eddy-current conductivity meter. The microstructures were observed by transmission electron microscopy(TEM). With the increase in regression aging time, the steady creep strain first increased and then decreased, and reached the maximum at 45 min.The steady creep strain increased with the increase in regression aging temperature, and reached the maximum at 200 ℃.The level of steady creep strain was determined by precipitation and dislocation recovery. Creep aging strengthens 7B50-RRA treated with regression aging time at 190 ℃ for 10 min, and the difference in the mechanical properties of alloy becomes smaller. The diffusion of solute atoms reduces the scattering of electrons, leading to a significant improvement in electrical conductivity and stress corrosion cracking(SCC) resistance after creep aging. The findings of this study could help in the application of creep aging forming(CAF) technology in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy under RRA treatment.

Combustion synthesis of fine TiFe series alloy powder by magnesothermic reduction of ilmenite

Fine TiFe series alloy powder was fabricated by magnesothermic reduction of ilmenite as main raw material.Adiabatic temperature of the FeTiO_(3)-Mg system was studied through thermodynamic analysis.Meanwhile,the characteristics of TiFe series alloy were described by XRD,SEM and grading analysis.It is shown that combustion synthesis of the FeTiO_(3)-Mg system can carry out due to its strong exothermic reaction through adiabatic temperature calculate.Ultrafine TiFe series alloy powder after leached for 5 h has reasonable phases and morphology with the particle distribution of 0.2 to 1μm.It indicates that in-situ magnesothermic reduction of natural ilmenite is a feasible way to fabricate ultrafine powder with a relatively lower cost.

Evolution of mechanical properties,localized corrosion resistance and microstructure of a high purity Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy during non-isothermal aging

The evolution of mechanical properties,localized corrosion resistance of a high purity Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy during non-isothermal aging(NIA)was investigated by hardness test,electrical conductivity test,tensile test,intergranular corrosion test,exfoliation corrosion test,slow strain rate tensile test and electrochemical test,and the mechanism has been discussed based on microstructure examination by optical microscopy,electron back scattered diffraction,scanning electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy.The NIA treatment includes a heating stage from 40℃to 180℃with a rate of 20℃/h and a cooling stage from 180℃to 40℃with a rate of 10℃/h.The results show that the hardness and strength increase rapidly during the heating stage of NIA since the increasing temperature favors the nucleation and the growth of strengthening precipitates and promotes the transformation of Guinier-Preston(GPI)zones toη'phase.During the cooling stage,the sizes ofη'phase increase with a little change in the number density,leading to a further slight increase of the hardness and strength.As NIA proceeds,the corroded morphology in the alloy changes from a layering feature to a wavy feature,the maximum corrosion depth decreases,and the reason has been analyzed based on the microstructural and microchemical feature of precipitates at grain boundaries and subgrain boundaries.

铸轧Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Sc-Zr合金短流程制备及组织性能研究

通过Sc元素微合金化和电磁场获得了无中心偏析、带状晶间偏析细小和组织均匀分布的铸轧Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Sc-Zr(以下称“7xxx系”)铝合金板材,并设计了适用于铸轧组织特征的新型短流程轧制-热处理工艺路线(以下简称“短流程工艺路线”)。短流程工艺路线在轧制破碎粗大结晶相和缩小元素扩散距离的作用下,结晶相显著细化,并在中间短时均匀化和固溶处理过程中快速溶解。与传统工艺路线下的T6态样品相比,尽管短流程工艺路线省略了长时间均匀化工艺,但其结晶相溶解更加充分,残余结晶相和晶粒组织显著细化。在传统工艺路线下,C-T6板材的屈服强度、抗拉强度和延伸率分别为568 MPa、618 MPa和8.7%。在短流程工艺路线下,S-T6样品依然保持了良好的力学性能,相应性能分别为551 MPa、605 MPa和10.4%。

Influence of quench-induced precipitation on aging behavior of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy

The effects of quenching and aging （T6, T7 and RRA） on the microstructural evolution of an A1-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy were investigated by hardness test, optical microscopy （OM）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） measurements. It is found that the hardness of T6 aged sample after water-quenching is the highest. The quench sensitivities of T7 and RRA are almost the same, which are 1.2% higher than that of T6. TEM observation shows that the quench sensitivity for the studied alloy is mainly caused by heterogeneous precipitation during slow quenching. Many r/phases precipitate on A13Zr dispersoids inside recrystallized grains and at （sub） grain boundaries, while T and S phases form in the substructure with high density of dislocations and defects. After aging, the η＇ precipitates are coarser in the vicinity of equilibrium r/phase. However, the size and morphology of the precipitates show different characteristics among T6, T7 and RRA treatments. The DSC results are highly consistent with the TEM observation. The DSC curves of T6 aged samples are different from those of T7 and RRA aged samples, which also reflects the differences on the microstructure.

Precipitation behavior and properties of a new high strength Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy

The microstructure and the associated hardness, strength and electrical conductivity of a new Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy during one-step ageing treatment were systematically studied. The results show that the electrical conductivity of the alloy increased continuously with increasing ageing temperature and ageing time. At the early stage of ageing, the hardness and strength of the alloy increased rapidly and then reached the peak value. When aged at 120 °C, the hardness and strength maintained at high level for a long time after the peak value. The main precipitations are GPI zones, GPII zones and metastable η′ phase. GPI and GPII zones are found in the alloy after ageing for 24 h at 120 °C, which indicates that some stable GP zones can exist through the ageing process. When aged at 160 °C, the hardness and strength decreased rapidly after the peak value. The precipitation process is significantly promoted compared with that aged at 120 °C. Both GPI zones and GPII zones disappeared after ageing for 1 h at 160 °C. The main precipitates are η′ phase when aged at 160 °C for 1 h. The main precipitates are η phase when the ageing time prolongs to 24 h.

Thermodynamic calculation of high zinc-containing Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy

Phase fraction and solidification path of high Zn-containing Al-Zn-Mg-Cu series aluminum alloy were calculated by calculation of phase diagram （CALPHAD） method. Microstructure and phases of Al-9.2Zn-1.7Mg-2.3Cu alloy were studied by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The calculation results show that η（MgZn2） phase is influenced by Zn and Mg. Mass fractions of η（MgZn2） in Al-xZn-1.7Mg-2.3Cu are 10.0%, 9.8% and 9.2% for x=9.6, 9.4, 8.8 （mass fraction, %）, respectively. The intervals of Mg composition were achieved for θ（Al2Cu）＋η（MgZn2）, S（Al2CuMg）＋η（MgZn2） and θ（Al2Cu）＋S（Al2CuMg）＋η（MgZn2） phase regions. Al3Zr, α（Al）, Al13Fe4, η（MgZn2）, α-AlFeSi, Al7Cu2Fe, θ（Al2Cu）, Al5Cu2MgsSi6 precipitate in sequence by no-equilibrium calculation. The SEM and XRD analyses reveal that α（Al）, η（MgZn2）, Mg（Al,Cu,Zn）2, θ（Al2Cu） and Al7Cu2Fe phases are discovered in Al-9.2Zn-1.7Mg-2.3Cu alloy. The thermodynamic calculation can be used to predict the major phases present in experiment.

Corrosion and electrochemical behaviors of 7A09 Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy in chloride aqueous solution

The corrosion and electrochemical behaviors of 7A09 Al？Zn？Mg？Cu alloy were investigated in 3.5% NaCl （mass fraction） solution using complementary techniques such as scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, metallographic microscopy and electrochemical measurements. The results show that both pitting corrosion from or around the intermetallic particles and intergranular corrosion are observed after the immersion test due to the inhomogeneous nature of the microstructure of the 7A09 alloy. The preferential dissolution of the anodic Cu-depleted zone along grain boundaries is believed to be the possible cause of intergranular corrosion. The passivation and depassivation of this alloy show significant dependence of immersion time, owing to the formation and dissolution of various passive films on the sample surfaces. Furthermore, the corrosion process and corrosion mechanism were also analyzed.

Microstructure evolution of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy during non-linear cooling process

The microstructure evolution and properties of an Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy were investigated under different non-linear cooling processes from the solution temperature, combined with in-situ electrical resistivity measurements, selected area diffraction patterns （SADPs）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, and tensile tests. The relative resistivity was calculated to characterize the phase transformation of the experimental alloy during different cooling processes. The results show that at high temperatures, the microstructure evolutions change from the directional diffusion of Zn and Mg atoms to the precipitation of S phase, depending on the cooling rate. At medium temperatures, q phase nucleates on A13Zr dispersoids and grain boundaries under fast cooling conditions, while S phase precipitates under the slow cooling conditions. The strength and ductility of the aged alloy suffer a significant deterioration due to the heterogeneous precipitation in medium temperature range. At low temperatures, homogeneously nucleated GP zone, η′ and η phases precipitate.

Microstructure evolution in cooling process of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy and kinetics description

The microstructure evolution of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy was studied by differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM） during different rate cooling processes. Based on the DSC results, the kinetics analysis was carried out. The results indicate that the precipitation of η phase is the predominant transformation for the alloy during the cooling process after the solution treatment. And the η phase nucleates on dispersoids and at grain boundaries. The amount of η phase decreases with increasing cooling rate, and reduces by 75% as the cooling rate increases from 5 to 50 ℃/min. The kinetics of the precipitation of η phase can be described by the Kamamoto transformation model when the cooling rate is a constant.

Microstructure of spray formed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy with Mn addition

With the aim to improve the strength of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy,the alloy billet containing Mn was produced by spray forming method,and the microstructural features were investigated using X-ray diffraction（XRD）,optical microscopy（OM）,scanning electron microscopy（SEM）,transmission electron microscopy（TEM） and differential scanning calorimetry（DSC）.The results show that the billet mainly consists of fine equiaxial grains of MgZn2 and Al6Mn with size ranging from 5 μm to 25 μm.Nano-scaled MgZn2 is dispersed in the as-sprayed alloy,primary Al6Mn particles are precipitated at grain boundaries with an average size of 5 μm.A few CuAl2,Al3Zr and eutectic are also found in as-sprayed Al alloy.The volume fraction of the porosity is about 12%.DSC result indicates that most of the solutes are precipitated during spray forming process,and no obviously thermal effects occur below 450 ℃.Both matrix grains and Al6Mn particles grow monotonously with the increase of annealing temperature,but the growth rate of Al6Mn particles is markedly lower than that of Al grains,and the matrix grains grow rapidly when the annealing temperature is above 375 ℃.

Precipitation sequence of η phase along low-angle grain boundaries in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy during artificial aging

The precipitation sequence of η（MgZn2） phase along low-angle grain boundaries in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy was investigated by examining samples aged at 135 ℃ for various times from 5 min to 6 h. High resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM） observations and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy （EDX） analysis indicate that the precipitation sequence of η phase along low-angle grain boundaries should be supersaturated solid solution （SSS）→vacancy-rich clusters （VRC）→GP Ⅱ zones→η＇→η. Based on the theory of non-equilibrium grain boundary segregation （NGS） and non-equilibrium grain boundary co-segregation （NGCS）, the excessive solute elements gradually segregate to the grain boundaries by the diffusion of the solute-vacancy complex during aging treatment. The grain boundary segregation plays an important role in the nucleation and growth of VRC, GP Ⅱ zones, η＇ phase as well as η phase.