Optimizing the Heat Treatment Method to Improve the Aging Response of Al-Fe-Ni-Sc-Zr Alloys

Mingliang Wang; Zeyu Bian; Ailin Zhu; Yulong Cai; Dongdong Zhang; Yanlai Wu; Shuai Cui; Dong Chen; Haowei Wang

doi:10.3390/ma17081772

Optimizing the Heat Treatment Method to Improve the Aging Response of Al-Fe-Ni-Sc-Zr Alloys

Materials (Basel). 2024 Apr 12;17(8):1772. doi: 10.3390/ma17081772.

Authors

Mingliang Wang^{1

2

3}, Zeyu Bian⁴, Ailin Zhu¹, Yulong Cai⁴, Dongdong Zhang⁴, Yanlai Wu⁴, Shuai Cui⁴, Dong Chen^{1

2

3}, Haowei Wang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
² Institute of Alumics Materials, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Anhui), Huaibei 235000, China.
³ Anhui Province Industrial Generic Technology Research Center for Alumics Materials, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei 235000, China.
⁴ Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China.

Abstract

This work has studied the co-addition of Sc and Zr elements into the Al-1.75wt%Fe-1.25wt%Ni eutectic alloy. The changes in the microstructure, electrical conductivity, and Vickers hardness of the Al-1.75wt%Fe-1.25wt%Ni-0.2wt%Sc-0.2wt%Zr alloy during heat treatment were studied. The results showed that two-step aging can effectively improve the aging response of the alloy over the single-step aging method. This was ascribed to the minimization of the diffusion difference between Sc and Zr elements. Furthermore, the homogenization treatment can also improve the aging response of the alloy by alleviating the uneven distribution of Sc and Zr. Nevertheless, the micro-alloyed elements exceeded the solid solubility limit in the Al-1.75wt%Fe-1.25wt%Ni-0.2wt%Sc-0.2wt%Zr alloy, and their strengthening effect has ever achieved the best prospect. Finally, both Sc and Zr contents were reduced simultaneously, and the aging response of the Al-1.75wt%Fe-1.25wt%Ni-0.15wt%Sc-0.1wt%Zr alloy was improved by optimized heat treatment. The underlying mechanisms for this alloy design and the corresponding microstructure-mechanical property relationship were analytically discussed.

Keywords: Al-Sc-Zr alloy; eutectic Al alloys; hardness; homogenization; two-step aging.

Grants and funding

The work is sponsored by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52071207, U22A20174, 51821001), Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (China, Grant No. 22ZR1432800), and Special Research Assistant Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. E3294003).