Distortion behaviour and mechanical properties of AlCu4Mg1 sheet components after high-pressure gas quenching in comparison to liquid quenching

The quenching process after solution annealing of age hardenable aluminium alloys is necessary for an improvement of the mechanical properties, but also tends to result in distortion, especially in thin or complex shaped parts, and requires a costly reworking. High-pressure gas quenching can reduce distortion compared to liquid quenching, because of the better temperature uniformity during quenching. A determination of the distortion behaviour of different serial parts of the aluminium wrought alloy 2024cl (AlCu4Mg1,clad) points out, that high-pressure gas quenching offers predominantly excellent values regarding the dimensional accuracy after quenching compared to liquid quenchants. In comparison to the conventional heat treatment, similar values in strength, hardness and electrical conductivity have been determined after gas quenching and aging of different aluminium alloys (2024, 6013, and 7075), Furthermore, the residual stresses have been investigated and could be clearly reduced after gas quenching.