Effect of Severe Plastic Deformation on the Structure and Properties of the Aluminum Alloy System Al-Cu-Mg

Abstract

The structure and properties of discs from cast coarse-grained D16 alloy have been investigated with the help of optical metallography and transmission electron microscopy, after the traditional heat treatment (HT) modes or subjected to high pressure torsion (HPT) under pressure in 6 GPa at room temperature. Standard HT modes included: Т4 (hardening 495°С + natural aging at room temperature for 5 days) and Т6 (hardening 495°С + artificial aging at 185°С for 10 hours). It is shown that after HT of alloy D16 according to modes T6 and Т4, the sizes of the structural elements, compared with the original, decreased by about 4,8 times and the microhardness increased by 1,6 times. It is shown that after one or ten rotates of HPT in D16 alloy the sizes of structural elements, in comparison with initial, decreased by 393 and 899 times, and microhardness increased by 2,4 and 2,9 times, respectively. Detection of hardening hard, brittle and high-alloy copper γ2- phases (Cu9Al4) indicates the passage in the HPT process of the decomposition of a supersaturated solid solution (dynamic aging) in the planes of a local shift.