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Complex Precipitation Sequences of Al-Cu-Li-(Mg) Alloys Characterized in Relation to Thermal Ageing Processes

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Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters) Aims and scope

Abstract

The Al-Cu-Li-(Mg) alloy is a high-performance lightweight material strengthened by complex coexisting precipitates that form in the alloy upon thermal ageing. Using high-resolution (scanning) transmission electron microscopy in association with first-principles energy calculations, we systematically studied the complex coexisting precipitates in the alloys and correlated their precipitation sequences with thermal ageing processes applied. The principal results are the following: (1) eight types of precipitates can be observed in the alloy; (2) of these precipitates, the T 1-phase is most stable. The S-phase precipitates with segregated Li atoms at their interfacial edges are unexpectedly more stable than the σ-phase; (3) the T 1-phase has a characteristic precursor that plays the key role in its nucleation and growth.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51371081, 11427806, 51471067, 51501059 and 51171063) and the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2009CB623704). The authors are grateful to Dr. Z.J. Shen, Prof. J.X. Li and Prof. Z. Zhang for great helps in using their HRTEM facility at Zhejiang University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for High-Resolution Electron Microscopy, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China

    Zhen Gao, Jiang-Hua Chen, Shi-Yun Duan, **u-Bo Yang & Cui-Lan Wu

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  1. Zhen Gao
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  2. Jiang-Hua Chen
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  3. Shi-Yun Duan
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Correspondence to Jiang-Hua Chen.

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Gao, Z., Chen, JH., Duan, SY. et al. Complex Precipitation Sequences of Al-Cu-Li-(Mg) Alloys Characterized in Relation to Thermal Ageing Processes. Acta Metall. Sin. (Engl. Lett.) 29, 94–103 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40195-016-0366-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40195-016-0366-5

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