Significant Increase in Tensile Strength and Hardness in 2024 Aluminum Alloy by Cryogenic Rolling

Because of high strength to weight ratio and good resistance to corrosion, 2024Al alloy has attracted a high attention in the aerospace and shipbuilding industries. Most of the research activities to grain refinement lead to decrease in ductility. In this article, the researchers have developed a novel approach in achieving both high strength and good ductility in 2024 Al alloy. The approach involves Solid solution-treating, rolling at cryogenic temperature (containing a high density of dislocations) and artificial aging treatment to generate bimodal structure and nanosized S’ precipitates (Al2CuMg). Under optimal processing conditions, tensile strength (653 MPa), ductility (11% tensile elongation) and hardness (170 HV) were obtained.