Papers by Keyword: Retrogression

Abstract: The influence of various retrogression and re-ageing (RRA) treatment processes on the hardness, electrical conductivity and corrosion behavior of graphene/7075 aluminum matrix composite were investigated. The results showed that the hardness decreased swiftly at the initial stage and short time to peak value as the retrogression temperature (170 °C, 180 °C, 190 °C, 200 °C) rises. In the RRA 180 °C/120 min process, the electrical conductivity and peak-aging Brinell hardness were 37.9%IACS, 192.8. This RRA treatment possessed excellent pitting corrosion resistance, and the corresponding pitting potential (E_pit), the passivation potential (E_pit-E_corr), the pitting corrosion current density (Logi_corr) were -0.756V, 0.558V, -1.836A/cm², respectively. This enhance can attribute that the continuous η phase distributed along the grain boundary became intermittent and coarse in the retrogression stage.

Abstract: 7075 alloy is the most typical Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy and widely used in industry. In the present study the regularities of the change for the size and volume fraction of the precipitates in the retrogression process and the effects of aging time on strengthening of spray formed 7075 alloy were investigated based on the thermodynamics, aging kinetics and hardening theory. The results show that there was a relationship between the parameters of retrogression treatment and yield strength of the alloy. A unified model is presented to establish the quantitative relations between the retrogression process and the yield strengths of spray formed 7075 alloy from the perspective of combining micro and macro.

Abstract: Effect of heat treatments on the stress corrosion behavior of 7050 Al alloys in 3.5% NaCl solution has been investigated using slow strain rate tensile (SSRT) test. During the slow strain rate tensile process, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in real time was carried out to characterize the electrochemical behavior for different tempers 7050 Al alloys. The investigation shows that both the stress corrosion resistance of 7050 Al alloys is controlled by heat treatments due to the different precipitates state. The improvement of stress corrosion resistance is contributed to the tiny precipitates in matrix which are beneficial to corrosion potential and maintain passivation, and precipitates discontinuous distribution at grain boundary which obstruct intergranular crack connection. Moreover, base on the results, we find out retrogression and re-aging (RRA, i.e., T6 + 200 °C/ retrogression + water quench + T6) increases both tensile strength and stress corrosion resistance. The optimized of retrogression time is 30 minutes.

Abstract: In this paper, Samples are subjected to tensile test, metallographic microscope observation, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis for exploring the effect of different retrogression and re-aging (RRA) treatments on the organization and properties of casting aluminum alloy. Results show that after aging at 170°C for 10h ,then regression at 230°C for 10min ,finally aging at 170°C for 10h, tensile strength of the sample is 430.19MPa, elongation is 6.18%, compared with the sample aged at 170°C for 10h (The tensile strength was 426.78MPa, elongation was 3.68%). It demonstrated that through the RRA process, strength of sample can effectively maintain at a similar high level as the samples processed single-stage aging. Meanwhile, the elongation of the sample increase nearly 67.9%. The microstructure characterizations indicate that RRA treatment induced the formation and growth of rod-like T phase, and the T phase homogeneously dispersed in the matrix of alloy. This process is proposed to be the major reason for the improvement of ductility.

Abstract: The effect of the retrogression and reaging (RRA) heat treatment on the correlation between microstructure, mechanical properties and susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of the 6061-T6 aluminium alloy in dry air and sprayed in 3.5% NaCl solution has been studied. The as-received T6 alloy was subjected to retrogression at temperature 200^°C for 10 minutes, quenching for 30 seconds and reaging at temperature 180^°C for 24 h. In this study, the effect of RRA on mechanical properties of the as-received 6061-T6 alloy was investigated by tensile test in air and sprayed in 3.5% NaCl solution. Alternate immersion preparation was conducted to expose the as-received 6061-T6 alloys and RRA heat treated alloys into the corrosive environment, 3.5% NaCl solution for 20 days. The susceptibility to SCC was investigated by direct tension stress-corrosion (DTSC) tests sprayed in a 3.5% NaCl solution at crosshead speed of 0.2 mm/min; the loss of elongation (EL_loss) was taken into account for the susceptibility to SCC. Generally, the RRA heat treatment improves the mechanical properties including yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and ductility. On the other hand, the RRA heat treatment decreases the susceptibility to SCC.

Abstract: The effect of retrogression and reaging heat treatment on microstructure evolution andmechanical properties of 7075 Al alloy in direct chilling casting process was investigated. The subsequent heat treatment process comprised pre-aging at 120°C for 24 h, retrogression at 180°C for 30 min, and then reaging at 120°C for 24 h. By this three-step process, the mechanical properties of the chilled casted samples were substantially improved. The samples retain their high strength at T6 level. They gave yield strength up to 290 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 386 MPa and elongation of 5.9%. The average value of multiple Vickers hardness tests results were in the range of 210 Hv. The direct chilling process followed by retrogression and reaging heat treatment yielded casts of fine and uniform microstructure as opposed to the microstructure of samples casted by the conventional process.

Abstract: The material for the experiment was a copper-free Al-Zn-Mg-alloy. Because of natural aging after solution treating these materials are not storable at room temperature in T4 temper. Therefore 7xxx series Al alloys are mainly delivered in an artificially aged T6 temper. This state is not proper for a cold formability process, a thermal formability processes like hot working has to be use. In this paper a process chain based on so-called retrogression and re-aging (RRA) treatment was investigated to allow cold forming after a short time treatment. To achieve this tensile test specimens were tested under various retrogression temperatures (220 - 360 °C) and at times (1 - 7 min) to evaluate the flow curve. The properties like strain hardening exponent n and strength coefficient C of the Ludwik-Hollomon equation, a common approximation of the flow curve, are illustrated and the influence of the process parameter is discussed. A re-aging treatment at 130 °C for 16 h after retrogression of non-deformed and deformed material is also examined.

Abstract: Aluminum alloy 7075 is a useful material in industry due to its light weight, high strength, and resistance to general corrosion properties. The drawback of this alloy is its susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking (SCC). From the previous research, it was found that retrogression and re-aging (RRA) heat treatment is able to improve the SCC resistance of this alloy. In this study, the mechanical properties and microstructure alteration due to RRA was studied. First, the tensile specimens are heat treated to T6 and then retrogressed at 165/185/205°C for 10/30 minutes followed by re-aging at 120°C for 24 hours. The retrogression methods are categorized as standard retrogression and oil retrogression. Next, the specimens were gone through tensile test, hardness test, and microstructure characterization by using SEM. From the mechanical test result, the tensile strength and hardness of the alloy decreased upon the increment of retrogression temperature and time. The highest tensile strength of 638.48 MPa was observed at oil retrogress sample at 165°C for 10 minutes which is slight higher than T6 sample. Besides, different phases of precipitation were reviewed by the Kellers etching process. Also, the volume fraction of η phase is increased upon increasing the retrogression temperature and time.

Abstract: The effect of RRA treatment with using low retrogression temperatures between 170°C to 190°C on the strength and electrical conductivity (as an indicator of corrosion resistance) of 7B04 aluminum alloy thick plates was investigated. The research results showed that the low-temperature RRA heat treatment provides a means for improving electrical conductivity of the aluminum alloy 7B04 pre-stretched thick plates without sacrificing the mechanical strength. The RRA temper with retrogression at 180°C for 60 min improved electrical conductivity remarkably (reached 21.0MS/m), with only a 3% reduction in strength below T6 temper. Furthermore, TEM observations showed that the microstructure of RRA treated alloy was a very fine distribution of η′ MgZn2 precipitates in the aluminum matrix, similar to T6 condition and η MgZn2 precipitates on grain boundaries distributed similarly to T73 temper.