Imparting high-temperature grain stability to an Al-Mg alloy

Abstract

Al alloys, despite their excellent strength-to-weight ratio, cannot be used at elevated temperatures because of microstructural instability owing to grain growth and precipitate coarsening, thus, leading to a drastic loss in their strength. In this work, we have attempted to address the issue of grain growth by introducing in-situ formed polymer derived ceramics in an Al-Mg alloy. A stable grain structure with minimal loss in hardness when exposed to 450 °C and 550 °C for 1 hour was obtained due to the particle pinning of the grain boundaries by the Zener mechanism.