Overheating temperature of 7B04 high strength aluminum alloy

The microstructure and overheating characteristics of the direct chill semicontinuous casting ingot of 7B04 high strength aluminum alloy, and those after industrial homogenization treatment and multi-stage homogenization treatments, were studied by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC), optical microscopy(OM) and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(SEM-EDX). The results show that the microstructure of direct chill semicontinuous casting ingot of the 7B04 alloy contains a large number of constituents in the form of dendritic networks that consist of nonequilibrium eutectic and Fe-containing phases. The nonequilibrium eutectic contains Al, Zn, Mg and Cu, and the Fe-containing phases include two kinds of phases, one containing Al, Fe, Mn and Cu, and the other having Al, Fe, Mn, Cr, Si and Cu. The melting point of the nonequilibrium eutectic is 478 °C for the casting ingot of the 7B04 alloy which is usually considered as its overheating temperature. During industrial homogenization treatment processing at 470 °C, the nonequilibrium eutectic dissolves into the matrix of this alloy partly, and the remainder transforms into Al2CuMg phase that cannot be dissolved into the matrix at that temperature completely. The melting point of the Al2CuMg phase which can dissolve into the matrix completely by slow heating is about 490 °C. The overheating temperature of this high strength aluminum alloy can rise to 500–520 °C. By means of special multi-stage homogenization, the temperature of the homogenization treatment of the ingot of the 7B04 high strength aluminum alloy can reach 500 °C without overheating.