Coarsening behavior of precipitate Al3(Sc,Zr) in supersaturated Al-Sc-Zr alloy via melt spinning and extrusion

Al-Sc-Zr alloy contains precipitate Al(Sc,Zr) shows good coarsening resistance due to the small diffusivities of Sc and Zr. Two supersaturated Al-0.4Sc-0.4Zr at% alloys were produced using melt-spinning and following extrusion. The coarsening behavior of supersaturated Al-0.4Sc-0.4Zr at% alloys was investigated using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). Accelerated coarsening was observed in the extruded melt-spun ribbon with larger precipitate size and higher precipitate volume fraction than in melt-spun ribbon. The accelerated effective diffusivity after extrusion was explicitly linked to the initially refined extruded microstructure. Precipitate volume fraction and chemical composition in both melt-spun ribbon and extruded rod during annealing were quantified with the help of STEM and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. Precipitate size and number density were predicted using Umantsev-Olson-Kuehman-Voorhees model for ternary alloys, and the predictions showed good agreement with experimental results by considering changes in diffusivity and precipitate volume fraction.

Automated summary

Accelerated coarsening was observed in the extruded melt-spun ribbon with larger precipitate size and higher precipitate volume fraction than in melt-spun ribbon. The accelerated effective diffusivity after extrusion was explicitly linked to the initially refined extruded microstructure. Predictions using the Umantsev-Olson-Kuehman-Voorhees model for ternary alloys showed good agreement with experimental results by considering changes in diffusivity and precipitate volume fraction.