Effect of Homogenisation Parameters on Dissolution and Precipitation in Aluminium Alloy AA7150

Abstract:

The thermal stability of constituent particles in both as-cast and homogenised alloy AA7150 has been investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results indicate that the as-cast eutectic starts to melt at 474°C and that the melting onset temperatures of the η- and S-phase particles after homogenisation are 474°C and 484°C, respectively. Two types of homogenisation treatments were used to dissolve eutectic particles: a two-step homogenisation treatment (40 h at 465°C + 4 h at 480°C) can completely dissolve the η- and S-based constituents, whereas a significant amount of S-phase still exists after a single-step homogenisation treatment of 40 h at 465°C. After utilising the two-step homogenisation treatment to dissolve all the η- and S-based constituents without overheating, samples were cooled at different controlled cooling rates and analysed by SEM and DSC to understand the effect of cooling rate on the type, size, distribution and density of precipitates formed during the cooling process. Slow cooling was found to result in the precipitation of coarse η-phase particles, with both the amounts and sizes of these η-phase particles increasing with decreasing cooling rate.

• Periodical: Materials Science Forum (Volume 693)
• Pages: 276-281
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.693.276
• Online since: July 2011
• Authors: Li Juan Wang, Dao Kui Xu, Paul A. Rometsch, Sam X. Gao, Yong Zhang, Zheng Bo He, Malcolm J. Couper, Barry C. Muddle
• Keywords: 7xxx Alloy, Constituents, Dissolution, Homogenization, Precipitation

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