Development of aluminium alloys with ultimate recrystallisation resistance

摘要

In the present work the precipitation behaviour and recrystallisation resistance of Al-alloys containing Hf, Sc and Zr in different concentrations and combinations have been investigated. Special focus has been put on the Hf-containing alloys, as one of the objectives of this work was to find out if Hf can be used as a replacement for Sc. Additions of Sc, either alone or in combination with Zr, leads to the formation of coherent and homogeneously distributed dispersoids, which very efficiently inhibit recrystallisation. Despite these attractive properties, the high price of Sc has limited its use as an alloying element in aluminium. The present investigation has revealed that Hf cannot fully replace Sc, as only heterogeneous dispersoid distributions are obtained in the absence of Sc, i.e. in regions where the number density is low the alloys would still be prone to recrystallisation. However, as an extra addition to the already remarkably stable Sc+Zr-containing alloys, Hf can lead to further improvements and consequently open for the use of aluminium alloys at very high temperatures. Al3(Sc,Zr,Hf)-dispersoids were present at the largest f/r-ratios and also displayed lower coarsening rates than Al_3(Sc,Zr)-dispersoids. Very promising results were obtained for an Al-Hf-Sc-Zr alloy, which maintained mainly an unrecrystallised structure after extrusion and large degrees of cold rolling.