Abstract
The effect of Sn on the hardening and corresponding precipitation behavior of as-quenched Al–0.4Mg–1.0Si alloy at different aging temperatures was investigated with hardness tests, differential scanning calorimetry analysis, and transmission electron microscopy. The hardness of the Sn-free alloy was higher than that of the Sn-added alloys during under-aging, but the tendency is reversed during over-aging. The effect of Sn on the hardening behavior of these alloys is not substantially affected by the aging temperature, i.e., the addition of Sn can improve resistance to over-aging softening at different aging temperatures. The reason for the resistance to over-aging softening by the addition of Sn is related to the increase in the number density of precipitates during under-aging and the decrease in precipitates size during over-aging.
NSTL
Elsevier