A conventional thermo-mechanical process of Al–Cu–Mg alloy for increasing ductility while maintaining high strength

A conventional thermo-mechanical process is developed to increase strength and provide good ductility for an Al–Cu–Mg alloy. After the aging treatment, the elongation to failure reaches ∼12%, which is higher by a factor of ∼2.6 than that of conventional T8 heat-treated alloys, and there is also a notable increase of ∼40 MPa in the yield strength in comparison to T8 heat-treated alloys.