DSC analyses of static and dynamic precipitation of an Al–Mg–Si–Cu aluminum alloy

In the present investigation, both static and dynamic precipitations of an Al–Mg–Si–Cu aluminum alloy after solid-solution treatment (SST) were comparatively analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Dynamic aging was performed in the SST alloy through equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) at different temperatures of room temperature, 110, 170, 191 and 300 °C. For comparison, static artificial aging was conducted in the SST alloy at 191 °C with two aging times of 4 and 10 h. The DSC analyses reveal that the dynamic precipitation has occurred in the ECAPed samples, while the activation energies associated with the strengthening precipitates in the dynamic samples are considerably higher than the energies in the SST and static aged samples. The higher activation energies are probably attributed to the smaller grains and higher dislocation density developed after ECAP. The results in the present investigation allow the prediction of the type of the dynamic precipitates to influence the strength of the ultrafine grained alloy during ECAP at various temperatures.