Papers by Author: Takao Endo

Abstract: Precipitation behaviour in an Al-Mg-Si alloy aged at 403 K to 483 K was studied with respect to thermal stability and morphology of the metastable precipitates, using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Vickers microhardness tests and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements. The quantitative analysis of the DSC measurements revealed that the change in the first exothermic peak (the peak P) of the metastable phase is proportional to the increases in the Vickers hardness. The HRTEM observations showed the four types of the precipitates in morphology during the isothermal ageing and the change in the peak P was mainly caused by the formation of the precipitates with irregular contrast and the ones with the network interior angle between 65°and 80°

Abstract: The precipitation behavior in an Al-Cu alloy isothermally annealed at 373K～493K was studied, using the Vickers microhardness tests, Differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) and Transmission electron microscope(TEM) observations. An additional endothermic peak was found in DSC measurements which may be attributed to the θ″-phase independent from the formations of the G.P.(Ⅱ) and the θ′-phase at the aging temperatures. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) revealed that the G.P.(Ⅰ) is formed at a very early stage of isothermal aging at 463K. Comparing the Vickers microhardness and TEM images, it was concluded that G.P.(Ⅱ) is mainly responsible for the peak hardness.