Heat-Treatment (precipitation-hardening) of Aluminium (non-ferrous) Alloys:

The strength and hardness of some metal alloys may be enhanced by the formation of extremely
small and uniformly dispersed particles of a second phase within the original phase matrix; this must
be accomplished by appropriate heat treatment.
The heat treatment process is called Precipitation Hardening or Age Hardening which involves
three distinct steps:
Solution Treatment to dissolve the solute atoms (e.g. Cu) in the solvent (e.g. Al matrix),
Quenching in water to create a supersaturated solid solution of solute atoms in the solvent, and
Aging to facilitate the formation of coherent precipitates which strengthen the alloy by interfering
with dislocation movement during deformation or applied loads.

Heat treatment to increase strength of aluminium alloys is therefore a three-step process:

Step 1: Solution heat treatment: dissolution of soluble phases in the solvent
Step 2: Quenching: development of supersaturation of solute atoms in the solvent
Step 3: Age hardening: precipitation of solute atoms either at room temperature (natural ageing) or
elevated temperature (artificial ageing or precipitation heat treatment).
The major aluminium alloy systems with precipitation hardening capabilities include:
Aluminum-copper systems with strengthening from CuAl2
Aluminum-copper-magnesium systems (magnesium intensifies precipitation)
Aluminum-magnesium-silicon systems with strengthening from Mg2Si
Aluminum-zinc-magnesium systems with strengthening from MgZn2
Aluminum-zinc-magnesium-copper systems
The general requirement for precipitation strengthening of supersaturated solid solutions involves the
formation of finely dispersed precipitates during ageing heat treatment (which may include either
natural ageing or artificial ageing). The ageing must be accomplished not only below the equilibrium
solvus temperature, but below a metastable miscibility gap called the Guinier-Preston (GP) zone
solvus line.
The commercial heat-treatable alloys are, with few exceptions, based on ternary or quaternary
systems with respect to the solutes involved in developing strength by precipitation. Commercial
alloys whose strength and hardness can be significantly increased by heat treatment include 2xxx,
6xxx, and 7xxx series wrought alloys and 2xx.0, 3xx.0 and 7xx.0 series casting alloys.

Precipitation hardening, or age hardening, provides one of the most widely used mechanisms for
the strengthening of metal alloys. The fundamental understanding and basis for this technique was
established in early work at the U.S. Bureau of Standards on Duralumin (Al+4.5wt%Cu).
As mentioned earlier, the strength and hardness of some metal alloys may be enhanced by the
formation of extremely small and uniformly dispersed second-phase particles within the original phase
matrix in a process known as precipitation or age hardening. The precipitate particles act as obstacles
to dislocation movement and thereby strengthen the heat-treated alloys. Many aluminum based
alloys, copper-tin, certain steels, nickel based super-alloys and titanium alloys can be strengthened by
the age hardening processes.
In order for an alloy system to be able to be precipitation-strengthened, there must be a terminal solid
solution that has a decreasing solid solubility as the temperature decreases. The Al-Cu (Duralumin is
an aluminum alloy of 2XXX group) phase diagram shown in Figure 1 shows this type of decrease
along the solvus between the and + regions. Consider a 96wt%Al 4wt%Cu alloy which is
chosen since there is a large degrease in the solid solubility of solid solution in decreasing the
temperature from 550C to 75C.

Figure 1: The aluminum rich end of the Al-Cu phase diagram showing the three steps in the agehardening heat treatment and the microstructures that are produced.
It follows therefore that the precipitation-hardening process involves three basic steps:
1) Solution Treatment, or Solutionizing, is the first step in the precipitation-hardening process where
the alloy is heated above the solvus temperature and soaked there until a homogeneous solid
solution () is produced. The precipitates are dissolved in this step and any segregation present in
the original alloy is reduced.
2) Quenching is the second step where the solid is rapidly cooled forming a supersaturated solid
solution of SS which contains excess copper and is not an equilibrium structure. The atoms do not
have time to diffuse to potential nucleation sites and thus precipitates do not form.
3) Ageing is the third step where the supersaturated , SS, is heated below the solvus temperature
to produce a finely dispersed precipitate. Atoms diffuse only short distances at this aging temperature.
Because the supersaturated is not stable, the extra copper atoms diffuse to numerous nucleation
sites and precipitates grow. The formation of a finely dispersed precipitate in the alloy is the objective
of the precipitation-hardening process. The fine precipitates in the alloy impede dislocation movement
by forcing the dislocations to either cut through the precipitated particles or go around them. By
restricting dislocation movement during deformation, the alloy is strengthened.

Age Hardening Precipitation. The strongest aluminum alloys (2xxx, 6xxx and 7xxx) are produced
by age hardening. A fine dispersion of precipitates can be formed by appropriate heat treatment.
A general model for decomposition is given, followed by details of the precipitation sequences in 4
specific alloy systems: Al-Cu, Al-Cu-Mg, Al-Mg-Si and Al-Zn-Mg. The Al-Cu system is used as the
main example of decomposition, i.e.
a0 (SSSS) GP zones '' '

or, more fully:

a0 (SSSS) 1 + GP zones 2 + '' 3 + ' 4 +

Age Hardening Strengthening. The 3 main mechanisms are:
Coherency strain hardening;
Chemical hardening;
Dispersion hardening
Coherency strain hardening results from the interaction between dislocations and the strain fields
surrounding GP zones and/or coherent precipitates. Chemical hardening results from the increase in
applied stress required for a dislocation to cut through a coherent (or semi-coherent) precipitate. This
in turn depends on a number of factors, including:
the extra interfacial area - and hence energy - between precipitate and matrix;
the possible creation of an anti-phase boundary (APB) within an ordered precipitate and
the change in separation distance between dissociated dislocations due to different stacking fault
energies of matrix and precipitate.
Dispersion hardening occurs in alloys containing incoherent precipitates or particles - i.e. typically
those that have been overaged. This hardening results from the increased shear stress required for
dislocations to by-pass these obstacles.
As mentioned above, the precipitation reactions in Al-Cu are quite complex. The equilibrium phase
CuAl2 is difficult to nucleate so its formation is preceded by a series of metastable precipitates.
Guinier and Preston first discovered many of the age hardening phenomena. The first two precipitates
to form in the sequence are, therefore, known as GP zones. GP1 consists of 10 nm diameter copperrich plates on {100}Al planes. These develop into GP2 zones which are also coherent plates 10 nm
thick and 150 nm diameter. These lead to maximum hardening. Theta' /'/ precipitates then replace
the GP zones as semi-coherent particles, a stage known as over-aging because the hardness begins
to decrease. The equilibrium phase CuAl2 has a tetragonal crystal structure and contributes little to
hardness.
In the field of 6000 series precipitation hardening aluminum alloys, for instance, process models have
been able to describe the effect of quench-induced precipitation on structural defects on the
hardening potential during isothermal low-temperature aging.
The fracture toughness of 7000 series alloys has been related to some elements of the microstructure
resulting from the thermo-mechanical treatment in phenomenological models. The general strategy of
process modeling is to use individual equations which have been developed for well defined
experiments and try to integrate them in an integrated manner for the more complex practical
situations where coupled effects operate.
However, a good description is still lacking when several of these phenomena are simultaneously
operative. The understanding of competitive precipitation of several phases (metastable and stable)
on several nucleation sites (e.g. homogeneous and on structural defects) is very limited, as well as
the understanding of the shearing/by-passing transition leading to the maximum strength for
precipitation hardening materials. The strain hardening behavior of materials containing precipitates
(and thus necessarily a solid solution) is poorly understood, and predicting the fracture toughness in
cases where several fracture modes are simultaneously operating is not possible in the present state
of the art.

Microstructures of Age Hardened Al-Cu and Al-Si alloys

Al-Cu alloys
adding Cu lowers the melting point of Al
alloy suitable for casting
Al-Cu alloys can be age hardened (see precipitation hardening)

Fine Al2Cu precipitates (formed after age hardening) in Al (white) matrix.

Coarse Al2Cu precipitates formed due to over ageing at grain boundaries.

Al-Si alloys
adding Si lowers the melting point of Al
alloy suitable for sand or die casting (high fluidity)
Al and Si have no solid solubility below the eutectic, therefore we obtain a microstructure of Si
particles in an Al matrix
good corrosion resistance and good weldability
microstructure can be refined by rapid cooling to increase strength and ductility
or modify microstructure by adding Sr

Fine Si particles (dark) in Al matrix (white) for rapidly cooled cast Al-12wt.% Si alloy

Coarse Si particles in Al matrix for slowly cooled cast Al-12wt.% Si alloy.

Practical (industrial) Heat-treatment of Aluminium Alloys

The heat treatment of cast and wrought aluminium alloys is carried out to change the mechanical
properties of the castings or extrusions. The heat treatment consists of one or more thermal cycles
being applied to the aluminium alloy components.
The thermal treatments are designed by suffixes and main ones are as follows:
M
TB or T4
TE or T5
TB7
TF of T6
TF7
TS

As cast or as manufactured
Solution treated and naturally aged
Artificially aged
Solution treated and stabilized
Solution heat treated and fully artificially aged
Solution treated and artificially aged and stabilized
Stress relieved and annealed

Solution Treatment (TB Condition)

Castings or extrusion are heated to a temperature just below the alloy melting point (this varies
depending on the chemical Compositions), for a time (this varies with alloy and section of the
component) to allow the alloying constituents to enter Into a solid solution. This solid solution is
maintained by rapid cooling either by air blasting or quenching into a suitable medium usually water.
In order to maintain distortion or avoid server internal stresses boiling water or polymer may be used
Precipitation Treatment (TE Condition)
This treatment is carried out in order to increase the strength and hardness of solution treated or as
cast and as manufactured Extrusions. The times and temperature vary depending upon the alloy and
are usually in the temperature range 150/200C.
Times vary between 2/24 hours. Lower temperatures and longer times give better precipitation and
thus better mechanical Properties.
Solution Treated and Stabilized Treatment (TB7 Condition)
After solution treatment the casting can be brought into a stable state by heating to a temperature
between 200/250C. Times and temperature vary with different alloys and mass of the components.
Solution and Precipitation Treatment (TF Condition)
The highest mechanical properties are obtained by solution treatment followed by a precipitation
treatment as described in the section on precipitation.
Solution Treated and Stabilized Treatment (TF7 Condition)
Some components that are used at elevated temperatures such as pistons require a solution
treatment and stabilization between 200/250C in order that further heating of the component in
service will not affect the mechanical properties.
Stress Relieving and Annealing Treatment (TS Condition)
These processes are used to remove casting stresses of soften alloys for subsequent shaping or
mechanical working.
Stress relieving can be carried out between 200/250c and annealing from 350/400c.

Phase diagrams for binary Non-Ferrous alloys

A phase diagram for a binary system displaying a eutectic point.