Sulaimani

Polytechnic University
Technical Engineering College

Mechanical Engineering

Ex no/2
Exp name :
Age Hardening of Aluminum Alloys (AA 6061)

Bako khoshnaw
3rd stage
  Objective
he effect of age hardening or precipitation hardening on
mechanical properties of Aluminum alloys (AA 6061).

 Equipment: 
 1. High Temperature Oven 
 2. Water Source of Room Temperature (24 C) 
o

 3. Heat Resistant Gloves

 4.  Oven Tongs for Removal of the Test Bar from the Oven
 5. Hardness Tester

 Procedure
Four strain gauges are to be installed on a tensile bar specimen,
thus fullbridge configuration is used. The performance of
experiment required:-
1- Fit the tension bar in the frame as shown in Fig. (2), using the holder
with hook. 
2- Connect up and switch on measuring instrument. 
3- Use offset adjuster to balance display. 
4- Load bar with large set of weights. Increase load in stages and note
down reading.                      

Materials: 
One of The three alloys will be studied in this experiment are among the
most widely used heat treatable aluminum alloys.  They represent three
different alloys: 
a) 2024 Al (Al-4.5Cu-1.5Mg-0.6Mn), 
b) 6061 Al (Al-1Mg-0.6Si-0.25Cu- 0.2Cr).
 c) 7075 Al (Al-5.6Zn-2.5Mg-1.6Cu-0.3Cr).

Theory
The precipitation-hardening process involves three basic steps:
1) Solution Treatment, or Solutionizing, is the first step in the
precipitation-hardening process where the alloy is heated above
the solvus temperature and soaked there until a homogeneous
solid solution (α) is produced. The θ precipitates are dissolved in
this step and any segregation present in the original alloy is
reduced.
2) Quenching is the second step where the solid α is rapidly
cooled forming a supersaturated solid solution of αSS which
contains excess copper and is not an equilibrium structure. The
atoms do not have time to diffuse to potential nucleation sites and
thus θ precipitates do not form.
3) Aging is the third step where the supersaturated α, αSS, is
heated below the solvus temperature to produce a finely
dispersed precipitate. Atoms diffuse only short distances at this
aging temperature. Because the supersaturated α is not stable,
the extra copper atoms diffuse to numerous nucleation sites and
precipitates grow. The formation of a finely dispersed precipitate
in the alloy is the objective of the precipitation-hardening process.
The fine precipitates in the alloy impede dislocation movement by
forcing the dislocations to either cut through the precipitated
particles or go around them. By restricting dislocation movement
during deformation, the alloy is strengthened.
Age Hardening – Precipitation. The strongest aluminum alloys
(2xxx, 6xxx and 7xxx) are produced by age hardening. A fine
dispersion of precipitates can be formed by appropriate heat
treatment.
A general model for decomposition is given, followed by details of
the precipitation sequences in 4 specific alloy systems: Al-Cu, Al-
Cu-Mg, Al-Mg-Si and Al-Zn-Mg. The Al-Cu system is used as the
main example of decomposition, i.e.
a0 (SSSS) → GP zones → θ'' → →θ' → θ        or, more fully:
a0 (SSSS) → α1 + GP zones → α2 + θ'' → α3 + θ' → α4 + θ

Figure 1: The aluminum rich end of the Al-Cu phase diagram showing the three steps in the age-
hardening heat treatment and the microstructures that are produced.

 Procedure
 1. Solution treat four Al 2017 alloy specimens for 12 hours
(overnight) at 550°C; two of the specimens should be cut into 6
equally sized pieces. (Lab Instructor).
 2. Rapidly quench all of the specimens in ice water.
 3. Immediately following quenching, place one of the Charpy
specimens and all of the small cut pieces into an oven that has been
preheated to 180°C.
 4. Immediately following quenching, take one Rockwell Hardness
(HRB) measurements on the Natural Aging specimen; make sure
the reading is taken away from the notched region of the specimen.
 5. Measure the hardness of the Natural Aging specimen over the
course of cooling according to the provided data sheet (T4
Treatment -> aging at room temperature) taking one HRB hardness
reading after 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90
minutes. After 90 minutes, conduct a Charpy Impact test on the
specimen. Complete the Natural Aging Data Sheet provided.
 6. Using the small piece samples, measure the hardness due to
Artificial Aging over the course of the process (T6 Treatment ->
artificial aging) taking one HRB hardness reading after
Discussion:
In the test generally we have known that aluminum can be
strengthened by precipitation, and we known that (sss) is not in
equilibrium state, and hardness of the material after the test is
more than before the test because of small uniformly partical that
despite on aluminum