Repurposing the θ (Al2Cu) phase to simultaneously increase the strength and ductility of an additively manufactured Al–Cu alloy

Hu, Xiaohua; Bahl, Sumit; Shyam, Amit; Plotkowski, Alexander J.; Milligan, Brian K.; Allard, Jr., Lawrence F.; Haynes, James Allen; Ren, Yang; Chuang, Andrew Chihpin P.

doi:10.1016/j.msea.2022.143511

Repurposing the θ (Al₂Cu) phase to simultaneously increase the strength and ductility of an additively manufactured Al–Cu alloy

Journal Article · Sat Jul 02 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Materials Science and Engineering. A, Structural Materials: Properties, Microstructure and Processing

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2022.143511· OSTI ID:1876326

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Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)

The Al–Cu–Mn–Zr (ACMZ) cast family of alloys offers unique properties and value propositions for higher strength, higher temperature lightweight components of future vehicles. Earlier research has demonstrated trade-offs in the selection of the alloy chemistry in which an increase in Cu content from 6 up to 9 wt% improves hot tear resistance but lowers ductility. However, a recent study has demonstrated that higher-Cu (9Cu) ACMZ fabricated with laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing (AM) results in an increase in both ductility and strength when compared to as-aged microstructure of cast 9Cu alloys. The mechanisms of differing mechanical performance of the cast and AM ACMZ alloys are elucidated in the current paper through the utilization of in situ high energy x-ray diffraction (HEXRD) tensile testing wherein lattice strains of different phases are calculated and correlated to their stresses. The ACMZ alloys consisted of theta (θ) and theta prime (θ') phases (both Al₂Cu in nominal composition) within an aluminum matrix. The larger micron-size θ phase which decorated the grain boundaries in 9Cu ACMZ cast alloys recorded small lattice strains, while the submicron, homogeneously distributed θ phase in the 9Cu ACMZ AM alloy recorded considerably higher lattice strains. The maximum stress reached in the θ phase for the cast 9Cu alloy was found to be ~280 MPa, which was lower than the AM 9Cu alloy which registered a maximum stress of ~1.4 GPa. These measurements indicate that delayed fracture of the finer intermetallic phases simultaneously improves the ductility and strength of AM 9Cu alloy relative to the cast 9Cu alloy, which exhibits early fracture of the larger intermetallic particles.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Vehicle Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1876326

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1909030

Journal Information:: Materials Science and Engineering. A, Structural Materials: Properties, Microstructure and Processing, Journal Name: Materials Science and Engineering. A, Structural Materials: Properties, Microstructure and Processing Vol. 850; ISSN 0921-5093

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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