MATERIALS
The influence of aging parameters on thermal, mechanical and structural properties of the EN AW-6060 aluminum alloy
This paper investigates the influence of aging parameters (temperature and time) on thermal, mechanical and structural properties of the EN AW-6060 aluminum alloy. Thermal diffusivity and hardness were measured after applied heat treatments followed by investigation on scanning electron and transmission electron microscopes. Heat treatments included: solutionizing at 550°C for 1 hour followed by quenching in ice water; after quenching samples were aged at two separate temperatures of 180°C and 200°C for 1-8 hours. The results show that hardness gradually increases with aging time achieving peak value of 95 HV10 after aging at 180°C for 5 hours. Thermal
diffusivity also increases with both aging time and temperature achieving peak values after aging at 200°C for 4 hours. SEM/EDS analysis show the existence of finely distributed precipitates containing Mg, Si and Fe. TEM investigation confirms the existence of rod-shaped precipitates several nanometers in length.