Enhancing the stress corrosion cracking resistance of a low-Cu containing Al-Zn-Mg-Cu aluminum alloy by step-quench and aging heat treatment

• DOI: 10.1016/j.corsci.2019.108184
• Publication Date: 2019-08-27T11:10:19Z
• Authors: Peng Xie; Songyi Chen; Kanghua Chen; Huibin Jiao; Lanping Huang; Zhuo Zhang; Zhen Yang
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology

Abstract The influence of heat treatment on stress corrosion cracking resistance of a low-Cu containing Al-Zn-Mg-Cu aluminum alloy has been investigated. The results show that the stress corrosion cracking resistance is significantly improved by step-quench and aging heat treatment whereas retrogression and re-aging heat treatment and two-stage over aging heat treatment could hardly enhance the stress corrosion cracking resistance compared with peak aging. The improved stress corrosion cracking resistance of the low-Cu containing Al-Zn-Mg-Cu aluminum alloy subjected to step-quench and aging heat treatment is mainly attributed to grain boundary precipitates with high Cu content, large size and discontinuous distribution.