Analysis of Nanoprecipitation Effect on Toughness Behavior in Warm Worked AA7050 Alloy

Commonly adopted main methods aimed to improve the strength–toughness combination of high strength aluminum alloys are based on a standard process. Such a process includes alloy solution heat treatment, water-quench and reheating at controlled temperature for ageing holding times. Some alloys reques...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Claudio Testani, Giuseppe Barbieri, Andrea Di Schino
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-12-01
Series:Metals
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/10/12/1693
Description
Summary:Commonly adopted main methods aimed to improve the strength–toughness combination of high strength aluminum alloys are based on a standard process. Such a process includes alloy solution heat treatment, water-quench and reheating at controlled temperature for ageing holding times. Some alloys request an intermediate cold working hardening step before ageing for an optimum strength result. Recently a warm working step has been proposed and applied. This replaces the cold working after solution treatment and quenching and before the final ageing treatment. Such an alternative process proved to be very effective in improving strength–toughness behavior of 7XXX aluminum alloys. In this paper the precipitation state following this promising process is analyzed and compared to that of the standard route. The results put in evidence the differences in nanoprecipitation densities that are claimed to be responsible for strength and toughness improved properties.
ISSN:2075-4701