Effect of creep-aging on precipitates of 7075 aluminum alloy

The creep-aging behaviors of 7075 aluminum alloy are studied by uniaxial tensile creep experiments under elevated temperatures. The effects of creep-aging temperature and applied stress on the precipitates of 7075-T651 aluminum alloy are investigated using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Results show that (1) coarse insoluble precipitates ( Al 7 Cu 2 Fe and Mg 2 Si ) and intermediate precipitates ( Al 18 Mg 3 Cr 2 and Al 3 Zr ) are found in the aluminum matrix, and the effects of creep-aging treatment on these precipitates are not obvious; (2) the main aging precipitates are η′ and η phases, and the amount of aging precipitates increase with the increase of creep-aging temperature and applied stress; (3) with the increase of creep-aging temperature and applied stress, the precipitates are discontinuously distributed on the grain boundary, and the width of precipitate free zone increases with the increase of creep-aging temperature and applied stress and (4) compared with the microstructure in the traditional stress-free aged sample, the creep-aging process can refine the precipitates and narrow the width of the precipitate free zone.