Achieving high tensile ductility in a fully nanostructured Al–Mg alloy by low-temperature annealing

Abstract

Low ductility has always been a drawback for nanostructured materials. In this study, we applied a low-temperature annealing process on a cold rolled Al-8.1Mg-0.15Zr alloy with supersaturated state. It is found that the uniform elongation of the rolled specimen was improved by 124% after a low-temperature annealing treatment at 333 K, while an enhanced tensile strength was obtained in the annealed specimen. The good combination of tensile strength and ductility was mainly attributed to the fully nanostructured microstructure and the formation of nanoscale precipitates and segregation of Mg element after annealing treatment.