Improved material properties of wire arc additively manufactured Al-Zn-mg-cu alloy through severe deformation interlayer friction stir processing and post-deposition heat treatment

In this study, Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys were prepared by wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) combined with interlayer friction stir processing (IFSP). To enhance the FSP region, an improved stirring pin was designed to broaden the stir zone effectively. Moreover, the effects of typical T6 and T73 heat treatments on the microstructure and mechanical properties of as-deposited (AS) specimen were meticulously investigated. The results indicated that heat treatments had minimal impact on grain size, dislocation density, and texture strength, but significantly altered the type, size, and distribution of precipitates. The differences in strength were primarily attributed to precipitation strengthening rather than grain boundary or dislocation strengthening. Following T6 heat treatment, the precipitates were predominantly η’, which were smaller in size and exhibited a significantly increased number density compared to AS specimen. Therefore, the average yield strength (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) increased by 39.51 % (500.21 MPa) and 15.84 % (584.26 MPa), respectively. In contrast, T73 treatment caused a substantial number of fine η’ to transform into coarser η, leading to a significant decrease in precipitate number density. Consequently, compared to T6 specimen, the average YS and UTS decreased by 47.19 % and 13.13 %, respectively.