On the Use of a Cluster Identification Method and a Statistical Approach for Analyzing Atom Probe Tomography Data for GP Zones in Al-Zn-Mg(-Cu) Alloys

Sohail Shah; Elisabeth Thronsen; Frederic De Geuser; Constantinos Hatzoglou; Calin D Marioara; Randi Holmestad; Bjørn Holmedal

doi:10.1093/micmic/ozad133

On the Use of a Cluster Identification Method and a Statistical Approach for Analyzing Atom Probe Tomography Data for GP Zones in Al-Zn-Mg(-Cu) Alloys

Microsc Microanal. 2024 Mar 7;30(1):1-13. doi: 10.1093/micmic/ozad133.

Authors

Sohail Shah¹, Elisabeth Thronsen^{2

3}, Frederic De Geuser⁴, Constantinos Hatzoglou¹, Calin D Marioara³, Randi Holmestad², Bjørn Holmedal¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7491 Trondheim, Norway.
² Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7491 Trondheim, Norway.
³ SINTEF Industry, N-7465 Trondheim, Norway.
⁴ University Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, SIMaP, Grenoble F-38000, France.

PMID: 38156710
DOI: 10.1093/micmic/ozad133

Abstract

Early-stage clustering in two Al-Mg-Zn(-Cu) alloys has been investigated using atom probe tomography and transmission electron microscopy. Cluster identification by the isoposition method and a statistical approach based on the pair correlation function have both been applied to estimate the cluster size, composition, and volume fraction from atom probe data sets. To assess the accuracy of the quantification of clusters of different mean sizes, synthesized virtual data sets were used, accounting for a simulated degraded spatial resolution. The quality of the predictions made by the two complementary methods is discussed, considering the experimental and simulated data sets.

Keywords: Guinier-Preston (GP) zones; aluminum alloys; atom probe tomography (APT); natural ageing (NA); pair correlation function (PCF); transmission electron microscopy (TEM).