• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.285-297
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• 2023

The effects of aging treatment sequence, specifically pre-aging and post-aging, on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu aluminum alloys has been studied in comparison to symmetrically rolled specimens. In symmetrically rolled specimens, a straight-band precipitation distribution was observed, whereas asymmetrically rolled specimens exhibited a curved-band microstructure of fine precipitates. Notably, the asymmetrically rolled specimens displayed higher strengths. In the case of post-aging, the aging process occurred after rolling, and the dislocations generated during rolling acted as nucleation sites for precipitates during aging. This resulted in the formation of fine precipitates, contributing to improved mechanical properties compared to symmetric rolling. To enhance strength of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu aluminum alloys, asymmetric rolling proves to be more effective than symmetric rolling, with post-aging showing greater efficacy than pre-aging.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.456-465
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• 1999

The overall objective of this study is to investigate the effect of Ag addition on the mechanical properties and microstructure of rapid solidified 7000 Al series alloys. Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys with small amounts of Ag was fabricated into the powder by gas atomization. The powder was extruded after the cold compaction and degassing and then followed by T6 heat treatment. Microstructure observation, phase analysis, room and high temperature tensile test and hardness test were pursued. The tensile strength and hardness of Ag-added alloy after heat treatment was increased with increasing Ag contents. However, the elongation of extruded alloys was not increased as much as to be expected. The reason of this result seems to be related to $the{\Omega}$ phase, which contribute to the high temperature strength stability of Al-Cu-Zn alloys through the formation of eutectoid with Ag addition.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.54-59
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• 2014

In this study, the extruded Al-6.3Zn-2.4Mg alloys were selected among the 7000 series aluminum alloys sensitive to hydrogen environment in order to examine the effects of both the aging conditions and the length of hydrogen charging period on the mechanical properties of the alloy. The specimens were aged for 24hours at $100^{\circ}C$ (under aging (UA)), $120^{\circ}C$ (peak aging (PA)), and $160^{\circ}C$ (over aging (OA)), respectively. Charging tests were performed at RT for 12, 24, 36 hours under potentiostatic conditions (-2000 mV vs (Ag/AgCl)) for 12, 24 and 36 hours in 1M $H_2SO_4$ and 0.1%$NH_4SCN$ solution. The fracture surface was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern in peak aged sample was obtained before and after hydrogen charging from extruded Al-6.3Zn-2.4Mg alloys. The decreasing rate of tensile strength and elongation is represented in order of over aging < under aging < peak aging, and it is believed that the hydrogen recharge is more sensitive to elongation than tensile strength. The formation of $AlH_3$ in hydrogen charged Al-6.3Zn-2.4Mg alloys has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction studies.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.470-477
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• 2023

The effects of annealing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Si alloys fabricated by high-energy ball milling (HEBM) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) were investigated. The HEBM-free sintered alloy primarily contained Mg₂Si, Q-AlCuMgSi, and Si phases. Meanwhile, the HEBM-sintered alloy contains Mg-free Si and θ-Al₂Cu phases due to the formation of MgO, which causes Mg depletion in the Al matrix. Annealing without and with HEBM at 500℃ causes partial dissolution and coarsening of the Q-AlCuMgSi and Mg₂Si phases in the alloy and dissolution of the θ-Al₂Cu phase in the alloy, respectively. In both alloys, a thermally stable α-AlFeSi phase was formed after long-term heat treatment. The grain size of the sintered alloys with and without HEBM increased from 0.5 to 1.0 ㎛ and from 2.9 to 6.3 ㎛, respectively. The hardness of the sintered alloy increases after annealing for 1 h but decreases significantly after 24 h of annealing. Extending the annealing time to 168 h improved the hardness of the alloy without HEBM but had little effect on the alloy with HEBM. The relationship between the microstructural factors and the hardness of the sintered and annealed alloys is discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.243-249
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• 2007

The age hardening behavior and mechanical properties of an extruded Al-Zn-Mg-(Cu)-0.1 wt.%Sc alloy were investigated with the Sc addition and ageing temperature. The results showed that the $Al_3Sc$ compounds were formed by Sc addition and distributed preferentially along the extrusion direction. The age hardening of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-0.1 wt.%Sc alloy which was treated by T6 process was more significant than that of Al-Zn-Mg-0.1 wt.%Sc alloy. The tensile property of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu+0.1 wt.%Sc alloy was also higher than that of Al-Zn-Mg-0.1 wt.%Sc alloy, which is 691 MPa and 584 MPa in strength and 9% and 11% in elongation, respectively.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.100-106
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• 2014

In recent years, Mg and its alloys have attracted a great deal of attention due to their low density, relatively excellent castability, and straightforward recyclability. Mg alloys have been widely applied to various industrial fields, and are representatively used in automotive and electronic parts. According to previous researches, the electrical conductivity of Mg alloys greatly decreases with increasing Al content. However, with the addition of Zn and/or Cu, the electrical conductivity of Mg alloys is maintained or slightly increased, and improved mechanical properties are obtained as well. On this basis, Mg-Zn-Cu alloys have been investigated in the present study with a focus on the effect of adding Zn and Cu on the electrical conductivity. The Zn and Cu contents ranged from 4 to 6wt.% and 0 to 1.5wt.%, respectively. Ternary Mg-Zn-Cu alloys have been prepared by gravity casting in a steel mold. In the as-casting condition, the electrical conductivity of Mg-Zn-Cu alloys showed a linear increasing trend with decreasing Zn and increasing Cu contents. Furthermore, impact values of Zn = -1.5 and Cu = 2.5 were determined for these alloys by electrical conductivity tests.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.33-43
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• 2019

In this study, the effects of Zn additions on the mechanical properties of Al-Si-Mg-Cu alloys were investigated by increasing the amount of Zn up to 8wt.%. As the Zn content was increased up to 6 wt.%, the yield strength and elongation changed linearly without any significant changes in the size and shape of the main reinforcement phase. However, it was confirmed by SEM observation that the Mg-Zn phase formed between the reinforcement phases when the amount of Zn added exceeded 7wt.%. A Mg-Zn intermetallic compound formed between the $Mg_2Si$ phase, becoming a crack initiation point under stress. Thus, the formation of the Mg-Zn phase may cause a sharp decrease in the elongation when Zn at levels exceeding 7 wt.%. It was also found that the matrix became more brittle with increasing the Zn content. From these results, it can be concluded that the formation of the Mg-Zn intermetallic compound and the brittle characteristics of the matrix are the main causes of the remarkable changes in the mechanical properties of this alloy system

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.77-83
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• 2002

Magnesium alloys casting are gaining increased acceptance in the automotive and electronic industeries and die casting is the most efficient method of manufacturing such mass produced parts. This study has been investigated the microstructures and mechanical properties of Mg-9Al-lZn alloy fabricated by die casting process for development of air bag case. The microstructure of die casted specimen were composed of pro-eutectic magnesium solid solution and $\beta$(Mg17Al12) precipitates. The tensile strength of as-fabricated Mg-9Al-lZn alloy revealed 231.4MPa. It was found that Mg-9Al-lZn alloy have good corrosion resistance in electrochemical polarization test.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.148-157
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• 1999

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of three main chemical compositions(Mg, Zn, Si) on extrudability of 7xxx Al alloy with high tensile strength. A few Al alloys based on 7xxx alloys were metal mold cast with various weight*%) of Mg 0.3-1.2%, Zn 5.0-8.0% and Si 0.4-0.7%, to envestigate the effects of extrudability, as well as mechanical properties. To measure the extrudability of cast billets, maximum extrusion pressure and surface temperature at die exit before tearing occurs were obtained by experiment and simulation of thermo-viscoplastic F.E.M. Also the yield and tensile strength of extruded products were tested.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.168-174
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• 2019

The microstructural features and relative room temperature mechanical properties were investigated in various compositions of Mg-xAl-yZn alloys by thxiomolding process. The microstructure was composed of ${\alpha}$-Mg particles and mixture of ${\alpha}$-Mg and ${\beta}-Mg_{17}Al_{12}$ eutectic phase. The amount of ${\beta}-Mg_{17}Al_{12}$ eutectic phase in mixture was increased with increasing Al and Zn contents without grain refinement. After adding Ti content, however, the morphology of ${\beta}-Mg_{17}Al_{12}$ eutectic phase transformed from net-like to discontinuous shape and the average grain size reduced. To determine the relationship between microstructural features and their mechanical properties, a tensile test was performed at room temperature. As a result, it was found that the mechanical properties were improved in all of Ti contained alloys due to increased elongation and the mechanisms are discussed in terms of microstructural evolution.