The retrogression kinetics for grain boundary precipitate (GBP) of 7A55 aluminum alloy was investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation. The results reveal that the coarsening behavior of GBP obeys “LSW” theory, namely, the cube of GBP average size has a linear dependence relation to retrogression time, and the coarsening rate accelerates at the elevated retrogression temperature. The GBP coarsening activation energy Q_dof (115.2±1.3) kJ/mol is obtained subsequently. Taking the retrogression treatment schedule of 190 °C, 45 min derived from AA7055 thin plate as reference, the non-isothermal retrogression modelfor GBP coarseningbehavior is established based on “LSW” theory and “iso-kinetics” solution, which includes an Arrhenius form equation. After that, the average size of GBP r(t) is predicted successfully at any non-isothermal process T(t) when the initial size of GBP r₀ is given. Finally, the universalcharacterization method for the microstructure homogeneity along the thickness direction of 7A55 aluminum alloy thick plate is also set up.

First-principles based calculations were carried out to explore the possible mechanisms of stress/strain aging in Al alloys. Potential effects of temperature and external stress/strain were evaluated on the solvus boundary of Al₃Sc in Al-Sc alloy, and the interface energy of Al/θ'''''''' in Al-Cu alloys. Results show that applying tensile strain/stress during conventional aging can significantly decrease the solubility entropy, by red-shifting the phonon DOS at high states. The resulted solvus boundary would shift up on the phase diagram, suggesting a reduced solubility limit and an increased maximum possible precipitation volume of Al₃Sc in Al-Sc alloy.Moreover, the applied strain/stress has different impacts on the formation energies of different orientated Al/θ'''''''' interfaces in Al-Cu alloys, which can be further exaggerated by the Poisson effect, and eventually affect the preferential precipitation orientation in Al-Cu alloy. Both mechanisms are expected to play important roles during stress/strain aging.

The aim of the present work is to develop a model for simulating double-peak precipitation hardening kinetics in Al-Zn-Mg alloy with the simultaneous formation of different types of precipitates at elevated temperatures based on the modified Langer–Schwartz approach. The double aging peaks are present in the long time age-hardening curves of Al-Zn-Mg alloys. The physically-based model, while taking explicitly into account nucleation, growth, coarsening of the new phase precipitations and two strengthening mechanisms associated with particle-dislocation interaction (shearing and bypassing), was used for the analysis of precipitates evolution and precipitation hardening during aging of Al-Zn-Mg alloy. Model predictions were compared with the measurements of Al-Zn-Mg alloy. The systematic and quantitative results show that the predicted hardness profiles of double peaks via adding a shape dependent parameter in the growth equation for growth and coarsening generally agree well with the measured ones. Two strengthening mechanisms associated with particle-dislocation interaction (shearing and bypassing) were considered operating simultaneously in view of the particle size-distribution. The transition from shearing to bypassing strengthening mechanism was found to occur at rather early stage of the particle growth. The bypassing was found to be the prevailing strengthening mechanism in the investigated alloys.

Both of chromium and zinc could appear as either minor impurities or alloying elements in recycled and commercial aluminum alloys, and they could have detrimental effects on the final product properties if not controlled in an appropriate way. A Kampmann-Wagner numerical modeling approach, built on the basis of computational thermodynamics and diffusion kinetics, is employed to investigate the effect of these two minor impurities on dispersoids precipitation during homogenization heat treatment of AA3xxx alloys. The simulation results obtained from different simulation set-ups were compared. The aim is to demonstrate that the modeling approach has the potential to guide the design or optimization of the chemical compositions and heat treatment parameters of aluminum alloys.

The realization way of snake rolling was introduced. Flow velocity, strain and stress distribution of 7075 aluminum alloy plate during snake rolling and symmetrical rolling were analyzed in Deform 3D. Effects of velocity ratio, offset distance between two rolls and pass reduction on the distribution of equivalent strain and shear strain were analyzed. The results show that flow velocity and equivalent strain on the lower layer of the plate are larger than those of the upper layer because of the larger velocity of the lower roll and the gap is increased with the increase of velocity ratio and pass reduction. The shear strain of rolling direction in the center point is almost zero during symmetrical rolling, while it is much larger during snake rolling because of the existence of rub zone. The shear strain is increased with the increase of velocity ratio, offset distance and pass reduction. This additional shear strain is beneficial to improve the inhomogeneous strain distribution.

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been used extensively to study different solid state reactions. The signals measured in DSC are associated with the growth and dissolution of different precipitates during a specific heat cycle. The time-temperature dependence of heat cycles and the corresponding heat flow evolution measured in the sample by DSC provide valuable experimental information about the phase evolution and the precipitation kinetics in the material. The thermo-kinetic computer simulation was used to predict the DSC signals of samples taken from 6xxx and 2xxx alloys. In the model, the evolution of different metastable and stable phases and the role and influence of excess quenched-in vacancies in the early stage of precipitation were taken into account. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM were used to verify the existence of precipitates, their size and number density at specific points of the DSC curves.

The cooling curves of 6061 aluminum alloy were acquired through water quenching experiment. The heat transfer coefficient was accurately calculated based on the cooling curves and the law of cooling. The online quenching process of complex cross-section profile was dynamically simulated by the ABAQUS software. The results suggest that the heat transfer coefficient changes during online quenching process. Different parts of the profile have different cooling velocity, and it was verified by water quenching experiment. The maximum residual stress of the profile was predicted using FEM simulation based on ABAQUS software. The relations between the temperature and stress were presented by analyzing the data of key points.