Assessment of parameters for precipitation simulation of heat treatable aluminum alloys using differential scanning calorimetry

Abstract

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been used extensively to study different solid state reactions. The signals measured in DSC are associated with the growth and dissolution of different precipitates during a specific heat cycle. The time-temperature dependence of heat cycles and the corresponding heat flow evolution measured in the sample by DSC provide valuable experimental information about the phase evolution and the precipitation kinetics in the material. In the present work, we use thermo-kinetic computer simulation to predict the DSC signals of samples taken from 6xxx and 2xxx alloys. In the model, evolution of different metastable and stable phases and the role and influence of excess quenched-in vacancies in the early stage of precipitation are taken into account. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM are used to verify the existence of precipitates, their size and number density at specific points of the DSC curves.