Effect of Aging Heat Treatment on Wear Behavior and Microstructure Characterization of Newly Developed Al7075+Ti Alloys

In this study, Al7075+0%Ti-, Al7075+2%Ti-, Al7075+4%Ti-, and Al7075+8%Ti-reinforced alloys were prepared by melting processes using Al7075 and Al-10%Ti main alloys. All newly produced alloys were subjected to T6 aging heat treatment and some samples were cold rolled at 5% beforehand. The microstructure, mechanical behavior, and dry-wear behavior of the new alloys were examined. Dry-wear tests of all alloys were carried out at a total sliding distance of 1000 m, at a sliding speed of 0.1 m/s, and under a load of 20 N. In the hardness measured after T6 aging heat treatment, the peak hardness of the Al7075+0%Ti-, Al7075+2%Ti-, Al7075+4%Ti-, and Al7075+8%Ti-reinforced alloys was found to be 105.63, 113.60, 122.44, and 140.41 HB, respectively. The secondary phases formed by the addition of Ti to the Al7075 alloy acted as precipitate-nucleation sites during aging heat treatment, further increasing the peak hardness. Compared to the peak hardness of the unrolled Al7075+0%Ti alloy, the increase in the peak hardness of the unrolled and rolled Al7075+8%Ti-reinforced alloys was 34% and 47%, respectively, and this difference in the increase was due to the change in the dislocation density with cold deformation. According to the dry-wear test results, the wear resistance of the Al7075 alloy increased by 108.5% with a reinforcement of 8% Ti. This result can be attributed to the formation of Al, Mg, and Ti-based oxide films during wear, as well as the precipitation hardening, the secondary hardening with acicular and spherical Al3Ti phases, the grain refinement, and solid-solution-hardening mechanisms.

Automated summary

In this study, Al7075+0%Ti-, Al7075+2%Ti-, Al7075+4%Ti-, and Al7075+8%Ti-reinforced alloys were prepared and examined for their microstructure, mechanical behavior, and dry-wear behavior. The addition of Ti increased the peak hardness and wear resistance of the Al7075 alloy, attributed to the formation of oxide films, precipitation hardening, secondary hardening, grain refinement, and solid-solution-hardening mechanisms.