Precipitation of the b-phase in Al-Mg alloysIn order to clarify the effects of the ageing temperature and the Mg content on precipitation of the b'and b-phases in Al -Mg alloys, Al-6, 7, 8 and 9 wt.% Mg alloys were solution treated either at 450°C and isothermally aged at temperatures between 150 and 325°C. Precipitation of these phases was investigated in detail by optical microscopy and by the measurements of electrical conductivity and micro-Vickers hardness. It was found that, in these alloys, nucleation of precipitates occurred much more rapidly at grain boundaries than within the grains at all ageing temperatures. It was always after grain boundary precipitation had completed that precipitation within the grains began to take place. Time Temperature Transformation curves were therefore constructed both for grain boundary precipitation and for precipitation within the grains. These TTT curves showed that, in all cases, both types of precipitation occurred most rapidly at ageing temperatures between 250 and 275°C. At ageing temperatures above these nose temperatures, precipitation occurred mainly by rapid growth of a limited number of precipitates, whereas at ageing temperatures below these nose temperatures, precipitation took place by the nucleation of numerous fine precipitates and by their subsequent slow growth. The increase in the Mg content not only accelerated precipitation, but also it increased the amount of precipitation within the grains.