Materials Science Forum Vols. 519-521

Abstract: The effect of welding, heat-affected zone (HAZ) simulation, and specimen orientation on the microstructure and fatigue properties of 2195 Al-Li alloy was studied. HAZ simulation and GTA welding with a 4043 filler alloy resulted in a significant change in the microstructure. In the HAZ the primary strengthening phase, T1 (Al2CuLi), in the base alloy in T8 temper was replaced by TB (Al7Cu4Li) phase and voids/microcracks, and the fusion zone (FZ) consisted of T (AlLiSi) phase particles in the matrix, which consisted mainly of the filler alloy. The yield strength and fatigue threshold of the 2195-T8 alloy were observed to be dependent upon the specimen orientation. The HAZ simulation and welding led to a reduction in the tensile properties and fatigue strength. While the post-weld heat treatment resulted in the re-precipitation of T1 phase in the HAZ, but no increase in the fatigue strength was observed due to the presence of microcracks. Fatigue crack initiation was observed to occur at the surface in the base alloy in T8 temper, and at the internal defects after HAZ simulation and welding. Fatigue crack propagation exhibited characteristic striations in the T8 alloy, and brittle cleavage-like feature after HAZ simulation and welding.

Abstract: Al-0.1Mg with a 3μm grain size was deformed in channel die plane strain compression at temperatures up to 200oC. It was found that the reduction in grain thickness was significantly less than that predicted from geometric considerations, and at larger strains, a minimum high angle grain spacing, which was equal to the crystallite size was achieved. The velocity of the high angle boundaries during this process is very many orders of magnitude larger than that predicted for curvature driven grain growth, and some possible explanations for this are discussed.

Abstract: The development of grain structures after asymmetric rolling (ASR) and annealing was investigated in Al-Mg alloys AA5754, AA5182 and AA5083. It has been demonstrated that a fine grain structure could be produced through continuous recrystallization, but it is strongly affected by the presence of large second phase particles. In AA5754 the volume fraction of large particles is relatively low and continuous recrystallization is able to occur throughout the sheet thickness, resulting in a fine grain structure of 2μm mean grain size. In AA5182 the fraction of large particles increases to a level that the continuous recrystallization occurs only in the sheet surface, whereas the sheet centre undergoes discontinuous recrystallization. The discontinuous recrystallization due to particle stimulated nucleation (PSN) is dominant in AA5083 so that no continuous recrystallization has been observed. The fully recrystallized grain structure is slightly finer in the ASR processed AA5083 than the conventionally rolled one.

Abstract: The role of Cu in precipitation behavior of 6000 series aluminum alloys has been investigated by isothermal calorimetry and transmission electron microscopy. The newly developed analytical techniques have been used to evaluate the precipitation kinetics in alloys with or without an initial pre-aging history. It has been found that Cu addition results in increasing the rate of precipitation when artificial aging is applied immediately after solutionizing and quenching. However, Cu has no significant effect on the kinetics of precipitation in alloys with the pre-aging history, while it produces finer microstructures in the pre-aged and then artificially aged alloys. These observations have been explained by the effect of Cu on increasing the rate of precipitate nucleation in 6000 series alloys. It has also been suggested that the effect of Cu on nucleation arises from the role of Cu on the cluster formation during and/or immediately after quenching.

Abstract: AA6111 sheet alloy has been used in automotive panel applications in North America and Europe for several years. This alloy exhibits an excellent combination of strength, formability, ageing response and surface appearance following forming and painting operations. Such a combination of properties is obtained by carefully tailoring the processing route to obtain the desired microstructure of the alloy. In recent years, the ability to predict the phase stability in different alloys has improved significantly, and it is now relatively easy to predict the particles that could form in complex multi component alloys during different processing steps. The accuracy of the predictions is dependent on whether or not the free energy expressions used in the calculations are correct. In this study, the AA6111 alloy was subjected to various annealing treatments that are reflective of different phase fields computed by the Thermo-Calc software. The particles were extracted using the phenol extraction technique and were identified using energy dispersive analysis. The interrelation of the particle analyses with the computed phase stability in AA6111 is presented.

Abstract: This paper addresses the effect of microstructure on the formability of aluminium alloys of interest for automotive sheet applications. The bulk of this work has been on the alloy AA5754 – both conventional DC cast alloys and continuous cast alloys made by twin belt casting. It is known that alloys such as these contain Fe as a tramp impurity which results in Fe-based intermetallic particles distributed through microstructure as isolated particles and in stringers aligned along the rolling direction. It is thought that these particles are the cause, both of the reduced ductility that is observed as the Fe level rises, and the relatively poor formability of strip cast alloys, as compared with those made by DC cast. Conventional wisdom suggests that the reduction of ductility is due to the effect of particles as nucleating sites for damage. However, most studies show that these materials are resistant to damage until just before fracture. We now believe that effect is actually related to the development of shear bands in these materials. We present experimental data which supports this conclusion. We then show how the FE models we have developed demonstrate the role of shear instability on fracture and the role played by hard particles. We show how a unit cell approach can be used to incorporate the effect of particle density and morphology on shear localization in a way that includes statistical variability due to microstructural heterogeneity. This leads to a set of constitutive equations in which the parameters are distributed from one region to another. These are then fed into a macroscopic FE model at the level of the specimen or the component in order to determine the effect of microstructural variability on shear instability and ductility.

Abstract: Regardless of whether it is cast microstructure, the grain structure that is the product of thermomechanical processing or the nanoscale dispersions of strengthening second-phase particles, it is inescapable that the structural scale that controls mechanical properties in Al alloys is determined primarily by processes of nucleation during either solidification, recrystallisation or solid-state phase transformation. In those advanced alloys with bulk amorphous or nanocrystalline structure, production of an amorphous precursor is reliant on initial suppression of the nucleation of crystallisation, and subsequent controlled nucleation of dispersed nanocrystals within amorphous matrix. The processes of nucleation that control structural scale in modern Al alloys are briefly reviewed, with a focus on potential for further structural refinement and advances in properties.

Abstract: This is an initial report of a multi-technique study on the effect of Mg alloying on solute-vacancy interactions during the early stages of ageing of dilute 2xxx Al-Cu-Mg alloys so as to better understand the early rapid hardening (RH) that occurs in certain compositions of these alloys and the more general phenomena of secondary hardening (SH) at ambient temperatures. Therefore, RH at 150 °C and SH at room temperature from the as-quenched condition and after 60 sec ageing at 150 °C were studied in Al-1.1Cu and Al-1.1Cu-0.5Mg (at. %) variously by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS), coincidence Doppler broadening (CDB) spectroscopy and atom probe tomography (APT) and monitored by Vickers hardness measurements. The present results indicate that Cu-Cu, Mg-Mg and Cu-Mg clusters are formed in the ternary alloy already in the asquenched state and that they persist during ageing at 150 °C. The fraction of the solutes Cu and Mg that were associated with vacancies after ageing was increased 10-fold and double, respectively and the strength of the Cu clustering is enhanced greatly after 60 sec at 150 °C.

Abstract: The trace addition of Sn (0.01 at.%) to an Al-1.7Cu (at.%) alloy has been investigated using atom probe tomography (APT), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM). We have studied samples in the as-quenched (AQ) condition and following ageing at both 160 and 200 °C for very short ageing times so as to better understand the early stages of the decomposition processes. Our data reveal independent Cu-Cu and Sn-Sn clusters in the AQ condition, though we did not observe Cu-Sn clustering. We observed for the first time that some of these initial Cu-clusters develop into GP zones during subsequent ageing at temperatures as high as 200 °C. The Sn atom clustering results in precipitation of independent 􀀂- Sn particles after aging for 30 sec. The GP zones consequently undergo reversion and this liberates Cu atoms which seem to participate in a cluster-assisted heterogeneous nucleation of the 􀀃􀀂 phase at the interface of the 􀀂-Sn. For ageing at 200 °C, this process is complete within 180 sec.