Effects of energetic heavy ion irradiation on hardness of Al–Mg–Si alloys

Al–Mg–Si alloys were irradiated with 5.4 MeV Al ions, 7.3 MeV Fe ions, 10 MeV I ions, and 16 MeV Au ions at room temperature and the Vickers microhardness was measured. The hardness of Al–Mg–Si alloys increases with increasing the ion fluence. In a viewpoint of ion fluence, hardness change of the Al alloys is different by the kind of irradiating ions. But, in a viewpoint of the density of elastically deposited energy, the effect of the four kinds of them on hardness is almost the same. This result means that the effect of irradiation on hardness of Al–Mg–Si alloys is dominated by the elastically deposited energy. The microstructure of the ion-irradiated specimens were investigated by means of three-dimensional atom probe (3DAP). The experimental result was compared with the microstructure and the hardness for thermally aged specimens. We also discuss the difference in ion-irradiation induced change in hardness between Al–Mg–Si alloys and Al–Cu–Mg alloys (duralumin).