Effect of an improved multistage thermo-mechanical processing on microstructure and mechanical property of TiB2/Al-Cu composites

An improved multistage thermomechanical processing including multitemperature rolling and solution heat treatment, severe cold rolling and short-time aging heat treatment, of in-situ TiB2/Al-Cu composites have been proposed to modify matrix grain size, TiB2 particle distribution and precipitates. The average grain size of multitemperature rolling process was about 2 times smaller than that of conventional high temperature rolling. Additional, severe cold rolling prior to aging heat treatment was beneficial to form homogeneous distribution TiB2 particles. The strength and ductility of TiB2/Al-Cu composites were significantly increased by the improved multistage thermomechanical processing due to the formation of finer recrystallized grains, more homogeneous distribution of TiB2 particles and finer aging precipitates.