Effect of creep-aging on precipitates of 7075 aluminum alloy

The creep-aging behaviors of 7075 aluminum alloy are studied by uniaxial tensile creep experiments under elevated temperatures. The effects of creep-aging temperature and applied stress on the precipitates of 7075-T651 aluminum alloy are investigated using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Results show that (1) coarse insoluble precipitates (Al7Cu2FeAl7Cu2Fe and Mg2SiMg2Si) and intermediate precipitates (Al18Mg3Cr2Al18Mg3Cr2 and Al3ZrAl3Zr) are found in the aluminum matrix, and the effects of creep-aging treatment on these precipitates are not obvious; (2) the main aging precipitates are η′ and η phases, and the amount of aging precipitates increase with the increase of creep-aging temperature and applied stress; (3) with the increase of creep-aging temperature and applied stress, the precipitates are discontinuously distributed on the grain boundary, and the width of precipitate free zone increases with the increase of creep-aging temperature and applied stress and (4) compared with the microstructure in the traditional stress-free aged sample, the creep-aging process can refine the precipitates and narrow the width of the precipitate free zone.