The Effects of Artificial Aging on the Microstructure and Fracture Toughness of Al-Cu-Li Alloy 2195

Abstract

Aluminum-lithium alloys have shown promise for aerospace applications, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has selected the aluminum-lithium Alloy 2195 for the main structural alloy of the super light weight tank (SLWT) for the space shuttle. This alloy has significantly higher strength than conventional2xxx alloys (such as 2219) at both ambient and cryogenic temperatures. If properly processed and heat treated, this alloy can display higher fracture toughness at cryogenic temperature than at ambient temperature. However, the properties of production materials have shown greater variation than those of other established alloys, as is the case with any new alloy that is being transitioned to a demanding application. Recently, some commercial 2195 plates for the SLWT program were rejected, mostly due to low CFT or FTR at ambient and cryogenic temperatures. Investigation of the microstructure property relationships of Al-Cu-Li based alloys indicates that the poor fracture toughness properties can be attributed to excessive T1 precipitation at subgrain boundaries. Lowering the aging temperature is one way to avoid excessive T1 precipitation at subgrain boundaries. However, this approach results in a significant drop in yield strength. In addition, low-temperature aging is associated with sluggish aging kinetics, which are not desirable for industrial mass production. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to develop an aging process that can improve fracture toughness without sacrificing yield and tensile strength. A multistep heating-rate controlled (MSRC) aging treatment has been developed that can improve the cryogenic fracture toughness of aluminum-lithium Alloy 2195. At the same levels of yield strength (YS), this treatment results in considerably higher fracture toughness than that found in Alloy 2195, which has received conventional (isothermal) aging. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the new treatment greatly reduces the size and density of subgrain-boundary T1 precipitates. In addition, it promotes T1 and θ" nucleation, resulting in a fine and dense distribution of precipitate particles in the matrix. The MSRC aging treatment consists of (a) aging at 127‡C (260‡F) for 5 h, (b) heating continuously from 127‡C (260‡F) to 135‡C (275‡F) at a rate of 0.556‡C/h (1‡F/h), (c) holding at 135‡C (275‡F) for 5 h, (d) heating continuously from 135 to 143‡C (275 to 290‡F) at a rate of 0.556‡C/h (1‡F/h), and (e) holding at 143‡C (290‡F) for 25 h to obtain a near peak-aged condition.