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Nanoprecipitates and Their Strengthening Behavior in Al-Mg-Si Alloy During the Aging Process

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Abstract

The different nanoprecipitates formed in a 6061 aluminum alloy during aging at 453 K (180 °C), with or without 168 hours of pre-natural aging (NA), and the age-hardening response of the alloy were investigated by atom probe tomography (APT) and hardness testing. A hardness plateau developed between 2 and 8 hours in both the artificial aging (AA) and artificial aging with pre-natural aging (NAAA) samples. The hardness of NAAA samples was lower than that of AA samples when artificially aged for the same time. A 168-hour NA led to the formation of solute atom clusters in the matrix. The NA accelerated the precipitation kinetics of the following AA. The solute atom clusters gave the highest hardness increment per unit volume fraction. The β″ precipitates were dominant in the samples at the hardness plateau. The average normalized Mg:Si ratios of the solute atom clusters and GP zones were near 1. The average Mg:Si ratio of β″ precipitates increased from 1.3 to 1.5 upon aging for 2 hours. The microstructural evolution of samples with or without NA and its influence on the strengthening effects are discussed based on the experimental results.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Key Research Project and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFB0700401) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51301103).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Microstructure, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, P.R. China

    Hui Li & Wenqing Liu

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  1. Hui Li
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  2. Wenqing Liu
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Correspondence to Hui Li.

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Manuscript submitted March 27, 2016.

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Li, H., Liu, W. Nanoprecipitates and Their Strengthening Behavior in Al-Mg-Si Alloy During the Aging Process. Metall Mater Trans A 48, 1990–1998 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-017-3955-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-017-3955-7

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