Influence of Zn and Sn on the Precipitation Behavior of New Al–Mg–Si Alloys

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Authors

External Organisational units

  • Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
  • Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
  • Christian Doppler Laboratory for Advanced Aluminum Alloys

Abstract

In this study, we demonstrate how Zn and Sn influence hardening behavior and cluster formation during pre-aging and paint bake treatment in Al-Mg-Si alloys via hardness tests, tensile tests, and atom probe tomography. Compared to the standard alloy, the Sn-modified variant shows reduced cluster size and yield strength in the pre-aged condition. During the paint bake cycle, the clusters start to grow very fast and the alloy exhibits the highest strength increment. This behavior is attributed to the high vacancy binding energy of Sn. Adding Zn increases the formation kinetics and the size of Mg-Si co-clusters, generating higher yield strength values for both the pre-aged and paint baked conditions. Simultaneous addition of Zn and Sn creates a synergistic effect and produces an alloy that exhibits moderate strength (and good formability) in the pre-aged condition and accelerated hardening behavior during the paint bake cycle.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number2547
Number of pages13
JournalMaterials
Volume12.2019
Issue number16
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Aug 2019