The Al-Cu alloy is a historical model alloy system in the physical metallurgy of engineering aluminum al-loys.Nevertheless,a few fundamental phenomena of phase transformation occurring in this simple alloy are still n...The Al-Cu alloy is a historical model alloy system in the physical metallurgy of engineering aluminum al-loys.Nevertheless,a few fundamental phenomena of phase transformation occurring in this simple alloy are still not adequately understood.Among all,for instance,the formation mechanisms of its key harden-ingθ'-phase remain mysterious.There is strong evidence thatθ'-precipitates can form from a different high-temperature precipitation pathway,while their formation mechanism via the conventional pathway well-known since 1938 remains to be clarified.Using state-of-the-art electron microscopy,here we report a secondary high-temperature precipitation pathway ofθ'-precipitates.It is demonstrated that led by a secondary high-temperature precursor,namedθ'_(S-HTP),very fineθ'-precipitates can form in the unde-formed bulk Al-Cu alloys at elevated temperatures(≥250℃).Interestingly is that with Sc-microalloying the surviving rate of meta-stableθ'_(S-HTP) precipitates increases drastically and the formedθ'-precipitates become much finer,significantly enhancing the alloys’strength and thermal stability.It is also revealed that aθ'_(S-HTP) precipitate can genetically evolve into aθ'-precipitate without having to change its mor-phology and orientation.Our study provides new insights into understanding the industry bulk alloys’microstructures and properties.展开更多
Al-Cu binary alloys are important and interesting industry materials.Up to date,the formation mechanisms of the key strengthening precipitates,namedθ’-phase,in the alloys are still controversial.Here,we report that ...Al-Cu binary alloys are important and interesting industry materials.Up to date,the formation mechanisms of the key strengthening precipitates,namedθ’-phase,in the alloys are still controversial.Here,we report that for non-deformed bulk Al-Cu alloys theθ’-phase actually has its own direct precursors that can form only at elevated aging temperature(>ca.200℃).These high-temperature precursors have the same plate-like morphology as theθ’-phase precipitates but rather different structures.Atomicresolution imaging reveals that they have a tetragonal structure with a=0.405 nm and c=1.213 nm,and an average composition of Al_(5-x)Cu_(1+x)(0≤x<1),being fully coherent with the Al-lattice.This precursor phase may initiate with a composition of Al5 Cu and evolve locally towards Al_(4)Cu_(2)in composition,eventually leading to a consequent structural transformation into theθ’-phase(Al4 Cu2=Al2 Cu).There are evidences that because of their genetic links in structure,such a high-temperature precursor may transform to theθ’-phase without having to change their morphology and interface structure.Our study reveals a well-defined and previously hidden precipitation scenario for theθ’-phase to form in Al-Cu alloys at an elevated aging temperature.展开更多
Anneal hardening has been one of the approaches to improve mechanical properties of solid solution alloys with the face-centered cubic(FCC) structure,whereby a considerable strengthening can be attained by annealing o...Anneal hardening has been one of the approaches to improve mechanical properties of solid solution alloys with the face-centered cubic(FCC) structure,whereby a considerable strengthening can be attained by annealing of cold-worked alloys below the recrystallization temperature(T_(rx)).Microscopically,this hardening effect has been ascribed to several mechanisms,i.e.solute segregation to defects(dislocation and stacking fault) and short-range chemical ordering,etc.However,none of these mechanisms can well explain the anneal hardening recently observed in phase-pure and coarse-grained FCC-structured high-entropy alloys(HEAs).Here we report the observations,using high-resolution electron channeling contrast imaging and transmission electron microscopy,of profuse and stable dislocation substructures in a cold-rolled CoCrFeMnNi HEA subject to an annealing below T_(rx).The dislocation substructures are observed to be thermally stable up to T_(rx),which could arise from the chemical complexity of the high-entropy system where certain elemental diffusion retardation occurs.The microstructure feature is markedly different from that of conventional dilute solid solution alloys,in which dislocation substructures gradually vanish by recovery during annealing,leading to a strength drop.Furthermore,dilute addition of 2 at.% Al leads to a reduction in both microhardness and yield strength of the cold-rolled and subsequently annealed(≤500℃) HEA.This Al induced softening effect,could be associated with the anisotropic formation of dislocation substructure,resulting from enhanced dislocation planar slip due to glide plane softening effect.These findings suggest that the strength of HEAs can be tailored through the anneal hardening effect from dislocation substructure strengthening.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.51831004 and 52171006).
文摘The Al-Cu alloy is a historical model alloy system in the physical metallurgy of engineering aluminum al-loys.Nevertheless,a few fundamental phenomena of phase transformation occurring in this simple alloy are still not adequately understood.Among all,for instance,the formation mechanisms of its key harden-ingθ'-phase remain mysterious.There is strong evidence thatθ'-precipitates can form from a different high-temperature precipitation pathway,while their formation mechanism via the conventional pathway well-known since 1938 remains to be clarified.Using state-of-the-art electron microscopy,here we report a secondary high-temperature precipitation pathway ofθ'-precipitates.It is demonstrated that led by a secondary high-temperature precursor,namedθ'_(S-HTP),very fineθ'-precipitates can form in the unde-formed bulk Al-Cu alloys at elevated temperatures(≥250℃).Interestingly is that with Sc-microalloying the surviving rate of meta-stableθ'_(S-HTP) precipitates increases drastically and the formedθ'-precipitates become much finer,significantly enhancing the alloys’strength and thermal stability.It is also revealed that aθ'_(S-HTP) precipitate can genetically evolve into aθ'-precipitate without having to change its mor-phology and orientation.Our study provides new insights into understanding the industry bulk alloys’microstructures and properties.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.51831004,51801060,51671082,11427806,51471067)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2016YFB0300801)。
文摘Al-Cu binary alloys are important and interesting industry materials.Up to date,the formation mechanisms of the key strengthening precipitates,namedθ’-phase,in the alloys are still controversial.Here,we report that for non-deformed bulk Al-Cu alloys theθ’-phase actually has its own direct precursors that can form only at elevated aging temperature(>ca.200℃).These high-temperature precursors have the same plate-like morphology as theθ’-phase precipitates but rather different structures.Atomicresolution imaging reveals that they have a tetragonal structure with a=0.405 nm and c=1.213 nm,and an average composition of Al_(5-x)Cu_(1+x)(0≤x<1),being fully coherent with the Al-lattice.This precursor phase may initiate with a composition of Al5 Cu and evolve locally towards Al_(4)Cu_(2)in composition,eventually leading to a consequent structural transformation into theθ’-phase(Al4 Cu2=Al2 Cu).There are evidences that because of their genetic links in structure,such a high-temperature precursor may transform to theθ’-phase without having to change their morphology and interface structure.Our study reveals a well-defined and previously hidden precipitation scenario for theθ’-phase to form in Al-Cu alloys at an elevated aging temperature.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52001120)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 531118010450)+10 种基金the Hundred Talent Program of Hunan Provincethe State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy,Central South University,Changshathe State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metals and Materials(No. 2021-Z09)University of Science&Technology Beijing,Chinasupported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51801060)supported by the Swedish Research Councilsupported by the National Science Foundation under Contract (No. DMR-1408722)sponsored by the Whiting School of EngineeringJohns Hopkins Universityfunded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2016YFB0300801)the National NaturalScience Foundation of China (Nos. 51831004, 11427806, 51671082,51471067)。
文摘Anneal hardening has been one of the approaches to improve mechanical properties of solid solution alloys with the face-centered cubic(FCC) structure,whereby a considerable strengthening can be attained by annealing of cold-worked alloys below the recrystallization temperature(T_(rx)).Microscopically,this hardening effect has been ascribed to several mechanisms,i.e.solute segregation to defects(dislocation and stacking fault) and short-range chemical ordering,etc.However,none of these mechanisms can well explain the anneal hardening recently observed in phase-pure and coarse-grained FCC-structured high-entropy alloys(HEAs).Here we report the observations,using high-resolution electron channeling contrast imaging and transmission electron microscopy,of profuse and stable dislocation substructures in a cold-rolled CoCrFeMnNi HEA subject to an annealing below T_(rx).The dislocation substructures are observed to be thermally stable up to T_(rx),which could arise from the chemical complexity of the high-entropy system where certain elemental diffusion retardation occurs.The microstructure feature is markedly different from that of conventional dilute solid solution alloys,in which dislocation substructures gradually vanish by recovery during annealing,leading to a strength drop.Furthermore,dilute addition of 2 at.% Al leads to a reduction in both microhardness and yield strength of the cold-rolled and subsequently annealed(≤500℃) HEA.This Al induced softening effect,could be associated with the anisotropic formation of dislocation substructure,resulting from enhanced dislocation planar slip due to glide plane softening effect.These findings suggest that the strength of HEAs can be tailored through the anneal hardening effect from dislocation substructure strengthening.
