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Al-Sc alloys are potential candidates for structural industrial applications because of their excellent mechanical properties due to the presence of small, coherent Al3Sc (L12 structure) precipitates that are formed during aging. Additional Mg alloying not only enhances the mechanical properties by solid-solution hardening but also provides corrosion resistance and better weldability. Understanding and controlling the microstructure, i.e. the temporal evolution of the Al3Sc precipitate morphologies and the effects of other alloying elements such as Mg, are critical for optimizing mechanical properties.
First, this research aims at describing the microstructural evolution of the Al3Sc precipitates during aging using transmission electron microscopies. The effects of Mg additions on precipitation are described using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observations and three-dimensional atom-probe microscopy analyses.Results on Mg segregation, on the nanoscale level, at the coherent Al / Al3Sc interface are presented.
A second goal of this research is to understand the precipitation-strengthening parameters controlling optimal yield strength at room temperature and creep resistance at elevated temperature (0.6 Tm), the effects of precipitate size and volume fraction upon yield and creep strengths of dilute Al-Sc and Al-Mg-Sc alloys are studied. Room temperature strength is described in terms of precipitate shearing and Orowan dislocation looping. Creep threshold stresses are found to be about ten times lower than the yield stresses at 300°C, indicative of a climb-controlled bypass mechanism, which is modeled by extending existing dislocation-particle interaction models. |
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