Effects of pre-deformation on microstructure and properties of Al–Cu–Mg–Ag heat-resistant alloy

The effects of the pre-deformation on the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of Al–Cu–Mg–Ag alloys were investigated by means of hardness tests, tensile tests, intergranullar corrosion (IGC) tests and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. The results show that with the increase of deformation amount, the aging hardening rate increases while the strength of the alloy decreases and then increases. The sample with a pre-deformation of 6% possesses the highest tensile strength due to the refinedly and homogeneously distributed precipitations. The pre-deformation aging accelerates the heterogeneous nucleation of Ω and θ′ phases at dislocations, and also refines the precipitations both in the grains and along the grain boundaries. The precipitation of Ω phase is restrained while that of θ′ phase is accelerated in pre-deformed Al–Cu–Mg–Ag alloy compared with the sample without pre-deformation. In addition, the width of the precipitate free zone decreases with increasing the pre-deformation amount, leading to a narrower IGC passageway. This results in an enhanced IGC resistance of Al–Cu–Mg–Ag alloy treated by pre-deformation aging.