Study on the microstructure and age hardening capability in Al–Cu–Li alloys with different Cu/Li ratio
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Juan Ma
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Xiaochun Liu
Abstract
The microstructural evolution during natural ageing and artificial ageing treatment has been quantified in Al–Cu–Li alloys with Cu/Li ratios of 2.3 and 3.9. Methods including various ageing, hardness testing, transmission electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry were employed. The precipitation of T1 (Al2CuLi) phase was confirmed for the first time in the high Li content alloy under natural ageing treatment for 5 months, while the Li-lean alloy exhibits barely any precipitation at room temperature. Under artificial ageing, the Li-rich alloy exhibits a significant increase in hardness due to the formation of high density spherical δ′ phase. On the other hand, the increasing Cu/Li ratio promotes the precipitation of the Cu containing precipitates T1 and θ (Al2Cu), the high Cu/Li ratio (3.9) alloy shows a recovery of ductility, with a uniform elongation of ∼20 %, which is caused by the strong interactions between the dislocations and the nano-scale T1 and θ precipitates. Meanwhile, as the main strengthening precipitate changes from θ and T1 to T1 alone with prolonged ageing time, the alloy displays a double-peak age hardening behavior. This work sheds light on the design of high strength and ductile Al–Li alloys through the well-controlled T1 phase precipitation.
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Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
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Research funding: None declared.
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Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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- News
- DGM – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Original Papers
- Aluminium nitride dispersion strengthened steel
- Synthesis of spherical mullite/Yb2SiO5 composite EBC powder by using mechanical alloying and spray dry processes
- Absorber film deposition by hollow cathode discharge for solar thermal collectors application
- Linear and nonlinear optical properties of 1-(2-methoxyphenyl)-3-(4-chlorophenyl) triazene
- Machine learning doped MgB2 superconductor critical temperature from topological indices
- Investigation on an anti-corrosion Cu-rich multiple-principal-element alloy strengthened and toughened by nano-scaled L12-type ordered particles
- Study on the microstructure and age hardening capability in Al–Cu–Li alloys with different Cu/Li ratio
- News
- DGM – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Materialkunde
