The precipitation behaviour during cooling from solution annealing of high alloyed 7049A aluminium alloy was investigated, covering the complete cooling-rate-range of technical interest. This ranges from slow cooling rates close to equilibrium up to rates above complete supersaturation and is covering seven orders of magnitude in cooling rate (0.0005 to 5000 K/s). The continuous cooling precipitation behaviour of 7049A alloy was recorded by combining different differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques and microstructure analysis by SEM and Vickers hardness testing. The high alloyed, high strength and quench sensitive wrought aluminium alloy 7049A was investigated during quenching from solution annealing by conventional DSC in the cooling rate range of 0.0005 to 4 K/s. In this range at least two exothermal precipitation reactions were observed: a high temperature reaction in a narrow temperature interval of 450-430 °C, and a low temperature reaction in a broad temperature interval down to about 200 °C. Intensities of both reactions decreased with increasing cooling rate. Quenching from solution annealing with rates up to 1000 K/s was investigated by differential fast scanning calorimetry (DFSC) and the differential reheating method (DRM). A critical quenching rate to suppress all precipitation reactions of 100-300 K/s was been determined.

The precipitation behaviour during quenching of cast Al-7Si-0.3Mg aluminium alloy was investigated by DSC in the cooling rate range of 0.01 K/s to 3 K/s and by quenching dilatometry for higher rates. Two main precipitation reactions were observed during cooling, a high temperature reaction starting almost directly with quenching from 540 °C and a low temperature reaction starting at about 400 °C. Quenching with 3 K/s already significantly suppresses precipitation during quenching. Hardness after T6 ageing increases with increasing quenching rate, due to the increasing content of supersaturated solid solution. By dilatometry and hardness results the critical cooling rate can be estimated as about 60 K/s. Quenched Al-7Si-0.3Mg microstructures have been investigated by light microscopy. The microstructures consist of an aluminium-silicon eutectic structure, aluminium solid solution dendrites and precipitates inside the aluminium dendrites, depending on quenching rate.

The potency of Al₃Zr and Al₃Nb as grain refiners for Al alloys was investigated from a crystallographic point of view using the edge-to-edge matching (E2EM) model. The results show that both Al₃Zr and Al₃Nb have small values of interatomic spacing misfit and interplanar spacing mismatch with respect to Al. Furthermore, energetically favourable orientation relationships predicted by the model exist between Al and each of these two intermetallic phases. In the light of the edge-to-edge matching model predictions, it is suggested that both Al₃Zr and Al₃Nb are potent heterogeneous nucleation refiners for Al grains from the crystallographic point of view. The present crystallographic analysis provides a more reasonable explanation for the significant grain refinement obtained in the peritectic Al-Zr and Al-Nb alloys and also provides fresh insight into the understanding of the grain refinement mechanism of Al alloys.

A thermodynamic assessment of the Al-Fe-Mn-Si quaternary system and its subsystems was performed by the Calphad method. First, the Al-Fe-Si ternary description was deeply revised by considering the most recent experimental investigations and employing new models to ternary compounds. Significant improvements were made on the calculated liquidus projection over the entire compositional range, especially in the Al-rich corner. The Al-Mn-Si system was refined in the Al-rich region by adopting new models for the two ternary compounds, α-AlMnSi and β-AlMnSi. The extended solubility of the α-AlMnSi phase into the Al-Fe-Mn-Si quaternary system was modeled to reproduce the phase equilibria in the Al-rich region. Special cares were taken in order to prevent α-AlMnSi from becoming stable in the Al-Fe-Si ternary system. The obtained thermodynamic descriptions were then implemented into the TCAL database, and extensively validated with phase equilibrium calculations and solidification simulations against experimental data/information from commercial aluminum alloys. The updated TCAL database can reliably predict the phase formation in Al-Fe-Si- and Al-Fe-Mn-Si-based aluminum alloys.

AA7085 aluminum alloys with different Cu/Mg ratios (0.67, 1.0, 1.06, 1.6) were prepared by ingot metallurgy method. The effects of Cu/Mg ratio on the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion behavior of the AA7085 alloys were investigated by optical microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM), mechanical properties and corrosion testing. The results indicate that a better recrystallization inhibition and corrosion resistance can be achieved when Cu/Mg ratio is 1.6. When Cu/Mg ratio is 0.67, the alloy reveals better mechanical properties, and the tensile strength and yield strength of AA7085 alloys are 586 and 550 MPa, respectively. Moreover, both the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the alloy are reduced when Cu/Mg ratio is equal to 1.0.

The precipitation sequence of η(MgZn₂) phase along low-angle grain boundaries in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy was investigated by examining samples aged at 135 °C for various times from 5 min to 6 h. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) observations and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis indicate that the precipitation sequence of η phase along low-angle grain boundaries should be supersaturated solid solution (SSS)→vacancy-rich clusters (VRC)→GP II zones→η′→η. Based on the theory of non-equilibrium grain boundary segregation(NGS) and non-equilibrium grain boundary co-segregation (NGCS), the excessive solute elements gradually segregate to the grain boundaries by the diffusion of the solute-vacancy complex during aging treatment. The grain boundary segregation plays an important role in the nucleation and growth of VRC, GP II zones, η′ phase as well as η phase.

The precipitation behaviors of 2124 aluminum alloy under the conditions of artificial aging (AA), creep aging (CA) and creep aging with pre-deformation (PCA) were investigated by means of mechanical property and microstructure. The results show that the mechanical properties of CA treated sample decrease significantly compared with AA treated sample. The yield strength of the CA treated sample falls by 14%, the tensile strength falls by 6.2%, and the elongation falls by 21%. Nevertheless, the mechanical properties of PCA sample are improved obviously, close to the AA treated sample. Moreover, the generation and control mechanisms of the precipitation orientation effect in 2124 aluminum alloy were studied. It is deduced that the key mechanism lies in the effect of dislocation.