Investigation on mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of Ti-modified AA5083 aluminum alloy for aerospace and automotive applications

Casting of aluminum with different concentration of alloying elements such as Mg, Mn (similar to that in AA5083) with additional percentages of 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% Ti, are carried out using graphite crucible. The as-cast microstructure is modified by hot rolling to a thickness of ~ 2 mm. Mechanical and metallurgical and characterization of heat-treated thin sheets are carried out using tensile testing, hardness measurement, metallography, image analysis and optical microscope. By increasing the Ti content, the results show grain refinement and increase in the formation of Al3Ti which reflected positively on the mechanical properties. Specifically, Ultimate tensile strength is increased from 260 MPa (0 wt% Ti) to 345 MPa (0.3 wt% Ti) when using water quenching, 32.6% improvement for air cooling, and 23.3% for furnace cooling. Electrochemical corrosion behavior of heat-treated water quenched, air cooled and furnace cooled samples were tested in 3.5% NaCl solution. The results show that the heat-treated alloys have very good resistance against corrosion, while by increasing the Ti content, the corrosion rate increases due to the grain refinement phenomena.

Crystal Structures of Al2Cu Revisited: Understanding Existing Phases and Exploring Other Potential Phases

When processing single crystal X-ray diffraction datasets for twins of Al2Cu sample synthesized by the high-pressure sintering (HPS) method, we have clarified why the crystal structure of Al2Cu was incorrectly solved about a century ago. The structural relationships between all existing Al2Cu phases, including the Owen-, θ-, θ’-, and Ω-Al2Cu phases, were investigated and established based on a proposed pseudo Al2Cu phase. Two potential phases have been built up by adjusting the packing sequences of A/B layers of Al atoms that were inherent in all existing Al2Cu phases. The mechanical, thermal, and dynamical stability of two such novel phases and their electronic properties were investigated by first-principles calculations.

First Principles Calculations for Alloy Design of Moderate Temperature Age-Hardenable Al Alloys

For aerospace structural applications of age-hardenable aluminum at temperatures above 100°C, a primary alloy-design criterion is creep resistance which depends on the strengthening effect and thermal stability of the second phases.. First principle calculations can be used to study fundamental properties of these phases and, therefore, help to identify the desired ones and their precipitate structures. In order to produce the desired phases, which are usually thermodynamically metastable, and to suppress the undesired phases, computational analysis (combining first principle calculations, cluster variation methods and CALPHAD) can assist in identifying beneficial trace additions and deleterious impurities that must be eliminated. This paper, using Al-Cu-Mg as an example, illustrates this approach, which if successful, should shorten the normal alloy development period.

An analytical electron microscopic investigation of precipitation in an Al-Cu-Zn-Mg-Ag alloy

The distribution, morphology, chemistry, and crystallography of the precipitates formed during aging of an Al-Cu-Zn-Mg-Ag alloy have been studied using analytical transmission electron microscopy. The first precipitates to appear during aging at 150 degrees C were thin hexagonal-shaped plate-like precipitates which formed on the (111)Al planes. These precipitates had a face-centred orthorhombic crystal structure and their composition was essentially CuAl2 although they contained a trace of silver. At peak hardness the microstructure consisted of the plate-like precipitates on (111)Al planes and theta' precipitates on (100)Al planes. Overaging resulted in the precipitation of equilibrium theta, CuAl2, which exhibited a lath morphology and an orientation-relationship with the matrix (210)Al magnitude of (110)gamma; (001)Al misoriented from (001)gamma by approximately 6 degrees. Prolonged overaging at 250 degrees C resulted in the formation of cuboid-shaped Al5(Cu,Zn)6Mg2 precipitates which had a cubic crystal structure and a cube:cube orientation-relationship with the matrix.