United States Patent 11) Gilman et al. [54] DISPERSION STRENGTHENED ALUMINUM ALLOYS. Paul S. Gilman, Suffera; Stephen J. Donachie, New Windsor, both of N.¥.; Robert D, Schelleng, Barboursville, W. Va, INCO Alloys International, Ine., Huntington, W. Va. + 998,579 ‘Aug. 21, 1986 {75} Inventors: [73] Assignee: ey 2] Related U.S. Application Data [63] tof Ser. No, 664,058, Oct. 23,1984, and a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 664,24, Oct. 24, 1984, (st «. C22€ 21/02; C22C 21/04 : 1 15/249; 75/234; 15/237; 419/32 [58] Field of Search cous 75/232, 234, 235, 236, 15/237, 249; 420/546, $47; 419/30, 32, 38, 41, 66, 67 {52} [6] References Cited U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 3,226,267 12/1965. Foerster . 8,948 -9/1967 Raclot ... 740,210 6/1973 Bomford etal. si9/4t 20/849 95/03 BC (11) Patent Number: {45] Date of Patent: 4,758,273 Jul, 19, 1988 3.816080 6/1974 Bomford etal. woesensnsene 15/233 4292079 9/1981 Pickens etal 15/232 $297,136 10/1981 Pickens etal 15/234 44091038 10/1983 Weber 45/415 4435213 3/1986 Hildeman eta. vu 15/249 4532106 7/1985. Pickens 75/233 4)557,893 12/1985. Jatkar et al. -. 419/13, 4)597,782 7/1986 Webster 75/249 46001556 1/1986 Donachie t al ‘320/542 $643,180 2/1987 Gilman etal Tae A $661,172 4/1987. Skinner etal fe T5249 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 1178218 9/1964 Fed, Rep. of Germany .... 420/549 5821518 2/1980 Jepan 419/41 Primary Examiner—Jobn F. Terapane Assisiant Examiner—Eric Jorgensen Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Raymond J. Kenn: 3. Mulligan i ABSTRACT ‘A process for decreasing the embrittling tendency of lithium in aluminum-base alloy compositions containing lithium comprising incorporating silicon in the alloy composition and forming the alloy as a dispersion strengthened powder, and dispersion strengthened luminum-base alloy compositions comprised of alumi- ‘num, lithium and silicon having improved properties. ‘rancis 17 Claims, 1 Drawing Sheet 2in co) OPO] OBA OS/0871]; fi RPUS. Patent Jul. 19, 1988 4,758,273 Ba Ba 05 1c 2 09 06. FIG1B 3 10, Oo4,758,273 1 DISPERSION STRENGTHENED ALUMINUM ‘ALLOYS This is a continuation-in-part of copending applica- tion Ser. No. 664,058 filed on Oct. 23, 1984 and Ser. No. (664,241 filed on Oct. 24, 1984. TECHNICAL FIELD ‘The present invention relates toa dispersion strength- ened alloy system comprising aluminum, lithium and silicon and to a method of producing forged “mechani cally alloyed” aluminum alloys of such system having, improved mechanical properties. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Jn recent years there has been an intensive search for high strength aluminum which would satisfy the de- mands of advanced design in aircraft, automotive, naval and electrical industries. While high strength is a key characteristic of the materials sought, to mect the quali- fications for certain advanced design applications the alloys must meet a combination of property require- ‘ments such as density, strength, ductility, toughness, fatigue and corrosion resistance, depending on the ulti- mate end use of the materials. The complexity of the problem goes far beyond the difficulties of developing, ‘materials With suitable combinations of properties not achieved before. Economics also plays @ large role in the choice of materials. The ultimate product forms are often complex shapes, and the potential savings result- ing from possible composition substitution is only a part of the picture. The new aluminum alloys would be particularly valuable if they could be shaped into de- sired forms using cost effective techniques such as forg- ing while maintaining good characteristics and/or if they could be fabricated economically into the same complex shapes now used with other materials so as to eliminate the need for retooling for fabrication of ‘weight saving structures. ‘The use of powder metallurgy routes to produce high strength aluminum has been proposed and has been the subject of considerable research. Powder metallurgy techniques generally offer a way to produce homoge- nous materials, to control chemical composition and to incorporate dispersion strengthening particle into the alloy. Also, dfficult-to-handle alloying elements can at times be more easily introduced by powder metallurgy than ingot melt techniques. The preparation of disper- sion strengthened powders having improved properties by a powder metallurgy technique known as mechani- cal alloying has been disclosed, ¢.¢,, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,362 (incorporated herein by reference). Mechani- cally alloyed materials are characterized by fine grain structure which is stabilized by uniformly distributed dispersoid particles such as oxides and/or carbides. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,740,210, 3,816,080 (incorporated herein by reference) pertain particularly to the preparation of mechanically alloyed dispersion strengthened alumi- ‘num. Other aspects of mechanically alloyed aluminum- base alloys have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,292,079, 4,297,136, 4,409,038, 4,532,106, 4,557,893 and 4,600,556. For most usesa powder must be fabricated into a final product, e.g, by degassing, compaction, consolidation and shaping in one or more steps. To obtain complex parts the fabricetion may take the form, e.g., of extrud- ing, forging and machining. Usually, the less machining 2% 30 3 45 55 C 65 2 required to make a part the greater the economy in ‘material use, labor and time. It will be appreciated that itisan advantage tobe able to make a complex shape by forging rather than by @ route which requires the shap- ing by manual labor on an individual bass. It is academic that composition of an alloy often dictates the fabrication techniques that can be used to ‘manufacture a particular product. In general, the target properties which must be attained in the type aluminum alloys of this invention before other properties will be considered are strength, density and ductility. One of the marked advantages of mechanically alloyed pow- ders is that they can be made into materials having the ‘same strength as materials made of similar compositions, made by other routes, but with a lower level of disper- soid. This enables the production of alloys which can be fabricated more easily without resorting to age harden- ing additives. While the mechanical alloying route pro- duces materials that are easier to fabricate than other aluminum alloys of comparable composition, the de- ‘mands for strength and low density and the additives used to obtain higher strength and/or lower density usually decrease workability of the alloy system. (Workability takes into account at least ductility at the ‘working temperature and the load necessary to form the material). The extent of the effect is generally related to the level of additive inthe alloy. The additives not only affect the method by which the material can be fabri- cated, but also the fabrication techniques affect the properties of the materials. In designing low density aluminum alloys, preferred additives are magnesium and lithium. These elements not only lower the density but also increase the strength of the aluminum. Lithium also increases the elastic mod- ulus of aluminum. These highly useful effects are the basis for current interest in developing alloys of this type. However, efforts to develop high strength alloys of this type have been severely hampered by the pro- pensity for these alloys to display relatively low tensile strength and low fracture toughness, US. patent application Ser. No. 664,058, co-pending herewith discloses Al-Mg-Li alloys which are strength- ‘ened through mechanical alloying and then prepared in the forged condition. These alloys have useful proper- ties and the processing route disclosed enables the possi- bility of using a wider range of conditions under which the materials can be forged and affords improved repro- dducibility of the forged parts. While the alloys disclosed have highly desirable properties, they have limitations. For example, lithium additions are far more effective in Jowering the density of aluminum than any other ele- ment. Each percent of lithium added reduces density b about 3%. The maximum solubility of lithium in alumi ‘mum is about 4% at elevated temperatures, but drops to about 1.3% (wt. %) at room temperature. (Sanders & Starke, Aluminum-Lithium Alloys, AIME Proceed- ings, May 19-21, 1980.) In view of the benefits of lith- ium addition, itis desirable to add as much lithium as possible. However, if lithium is increased above the solubility limit the alloys become age hardenable and susceptible to embrittlement in service. In the alloy system of the present invention, which incorporates silicon in Al-Mg-Li system, the silicon decreases the likelihood of damaging embrittlement. Thus, itis possi- ble to gain the advantages of incorporating higher amounts of lithium while decressing the embritiling effect, thereby obtaining alloys of decreased density and good ductility.