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Tailoring hierarchical microstructures and nanoprecipitates in additive-manufactured Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Nb alloys for simultaneously enhancing strength and ductility

Xiao, Fei; Shu, Da; Wang, Yixiao; Sun, Qinyao; Wang, Donghong; Yang, Chao; Wang, Shubin; Mi, Jiawei; Sun, Baode; StJohn, David H.

Authors

Fei Xiao

Da Shu

Yixiao Wang

Qinyao Sun

Donghong Wang

Chao Yang

Shubin Wang

Baode Sun

David H. StJohn



Abstract

Additive manufacturing provides an efficient way of producing metallic components with complex geometries. Their microstructure is substantially different to those from conventional processing, creating opportunities for manipulating the final microstructure and properties via heat treatment. Here, we demonstrate that as-built heterostructures in an Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Nb alloy produced during the solidification of molten pools provide a driving force and additional Zener pinning sources for recrystallization. This creates a bimodal grain structure after solution treatment, causing additional hetero-deformation-induced strengthening and hardening. Coarse grains are found to promote work hardening and blunt the propagate of cracks during deformation, increasing ductility. Together with precipitation strengthening from a high number density nanoprecipitates, the simultaneous improvement of strength and ductility in a highly alloyed Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Nb alloy is achieved. These results provide a simple strategy for the development of additively manufactured age-hardening alloys with improved strength and ductility for high performance structural applications.

Citation

Xiao, F., Shu, D., Wang, Y., Sun, Q., Wang, D., Yang, C., Wang, S., Mi, J., Sun, B., & StJohn, D. H. (2024). Tailoring hierarchical microstructures and nanoprecipitates in additive-manufactured Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Nb alloys for simultaneously enhancing strength and ductility. communications materials, 5(1), Article 52. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-024-00489-1

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 3, 2024
Online Publication Date Apr 16, 2024
Publication Date Dec 1, 2024
Deposit Date Jun 26, 2024
Publicly Available Date Jun 27, 2024
Journal Communications Materials
Electronic ISSN 2662-4443
Publisher Nature Research
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 5
Issue 1
Article Number 52
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-024-00489-1
Keywords Mechanical properties; Metals and alloys
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4634360

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2024.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.




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