Effects of Pre-Deformation under Tension and Annealing Process on the Microstructure and Properties of Al-6Mg-1.0Mn Extruded Wide Reinforcement Plate

Abstract

In order to achieve the combination of mechanical and corrosion properties for the Al-Mg-Mn alloy, a novel combination of pre-deformation under tension and an annealing process was investigated on the microstructure and properties of the Al-6Mg-1.0Mn extruded wide reinforcing plate. This was conducted by means of a tensile test, an intergranular corrosion test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM) experiments. The results showed that when the pre-deformation under tension in the range of 10–14%, the corrosion performance is first decreased, and then increases with the increase in temperature, becoming stable at 300 °C. After stabilization annealing at 300 °C for 2 h and then sensitizing at 150 °C for 10–200 h, the intergranular corrosion resistance of the aluminum alloy first decreases and then increases as the sensitization time is prolonged. When the sensitization time exceeds 50 h, the intergranular corrosion resistance is significantly improved. After 14% pretension and stabilization annealing at 300 °C for 2 h, the tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation of the alloy reached 360 MPa, 205 MPa, and 18.5%, and a good combination of strength and corrosion resistance of Al-Mg-Mn alloys could be obtained. These excellent properties were attributed to the continuous distribution of β-phase at the grain boundaries, and the combination of pre-deformation under tension with the annealing process promotes the dynamic precipitation of nanoparticles and the formation of substructure.