Significant Increase in Strength and Elongation of Al-3.7 Cu-1Mg Alloy Via Short Age Treatment Cycle

In this paper, the effect of two-step precipitation hardening on the mechanical properties of Al-3.7Cu-1Mg was investigated. For this meaning, some specimens were subjected to the first step aging at 175, 190 and 205 °C for 2 h, once the samples solution treated at 500 °C. To have stable precipitates uniformly distributed in the microstructure and to reduce the heat treatment time, the second step was implied at 65 °C. The tensile and hardness tests were performed at ambient temperature immediately after aging. The results indicated that depending on the first step temperature, the second aging time affects the mechanical behavior of the alloy in different aspects. A factor named SNMP introduced to determine the cycle giving the best mechanical properties. The strength and elongation increase 1.5 and 2 times, respectively; compared to the values reported in the DIN EN 755-2 standard by performing the two-step aging cycle, consisting of the first-stage at 175 °C and the second step at 65 °C for 10 hours. Moreover, using the proposed two-step aging, the heat treatment time was reduced considerably compared to the conventional precipitation-hardening process.