Effect of annealing on microstructure and properties of Er modified 5052 alloy.

Abstract Microstructure of 5052 + Er alloy at continuous casting, hot-rolled, cold-rolled and annealed state were observed, studied the effect of annealing on the microstructure, mechanical properties and forming properties of the alloy, and explored the mechanism of its action. The results showed that, when the annealing temperature is between 340 °C and 360 °C, the tensile strength and yield strength of the 5052 + Er alloy have a large decline while the elongation increase obviously; The recrystallization starting temperature of the alloy is 320 °C, and recrystallization ending temperature is 320 °C; The average strength ratio of the 5052 + Er alloy with 360 °C annealing for 2 h is 0.592, when the average strain hardening exponent is 0.3882, which shows the alloy has good ductility and formability; the second Al3Er phase with the size about 20–30 nm has the coherent/semi coherent relationship with the matrix, which can play an inhibitory role of recrystallization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]