Abstract:We use a systematic approach to investigate the influence of the specific solution condition on quench-induced precipitation of coarse secondary phase particles during subsequent cooling for a wide range of cooling rates. Commercially produced plate material of aluminum alloy EN AW-6082 was investigated and the applied solution treatment conditions were chosen based on heating differential scanning calorimetry experiments of the initial T651 condition. The kinetics of the quench-induced precipitation were investigated by in situ cooling differential scanning calorimetry for a wide range of cooling rates. The nature of those quench-induced precipitates was analyzed by electron microscopy. The experimental data was evaluated with respect to the detrimental effect of incomplete dissolution on the age-hardening potential. We show that if the chosen solution temperature and soaking duration are too low or short, the solution treatment results in an incomplete dissolution of secondary phase particles. This involves precipitation during subsequent cooling to start concurrently with the onset of cooling, which increases the quench sensitivity. However, if the solution conditions allow the formation of a complete solid solution, precipitation will start after a certain degree of undercooling, thus keeping the upper critical cooling rate at the usual alloy-specific level.

Wide softening zones are typical for welded joints of age hardened aluminium alloys. In this study, the microstructure evolution and distribution of mechanical properties resulting from welding processes of the aluminium alloy EN AW-6082 (AlSi1MgMn) was analysed by both in-situ and ex-situ investigations. The in-situ thermal analyses included differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), which was used to characterise the dissolution and precipitation behaviour in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of welded joints. Thermo-mechanical analysis (TMA) by means of compression tests was used to determine the mechanical properties of various states of the microstructure after the welding heat input. The necessary temperature–time courses in the HAZ for these methods were measured using thermocouples during welding. Additionally, ex-situ tensile tests were done both on specimens from the fusion zone and on welded joints, and their in-depth analysis with digital image correlation (DIC) accompanied by finite element simulations serve for the description of flow curves in different areas of the weld. The combination of these methods and the discussion of their results make an essential contribution to understand the influence of welding heat on the material properties, particularly on the softening behaviour. Furthermore, the distributed strength characteristic of the welded connections is required for an applicable estimation of the load-bearing capacity of welded aluminium structures by numerical methods.