Effects of Rapid Infrared Heating and Cryogenic Cooling on the Tensile Properties and Fracture Behavior of Al-Cu-Mg

The objective of the present paper is to investigate the effects of rapid heating and cryogenic cooling on on the microstructure and tensile properties of Al-Cu-Mg. The specimens were subjected to three heat treatment cycles in which the Infrared heating (IR) were used as the heating medium at the ageing stage, and the liquid nitrogen and water were used as the quenching mediums. The ageing temperature and time were 190⁰C and from 2 hours to 10 hours, respectively.The results indicated that by using IR at the ageing stage, the hardening rate enhanced because the rapid heating via this method leads to faster diffusion of the alloying elements. Moreover, the high density of nano-sized precipitates formed during ageingleads to higher strength and suitable ductility. Cryogenic treatment showed a negligible effect on both microstructure and tensile properties; however, it improved ductility. Overall, the combination of a high heating rate and cryogenic treatment led to the highest mechanical properties. SEM micrograph of the fracture surface of alloy demonstrated that in Cryogenic treatment+Artificial Ageing (CAA) condition, the surface had been fully covered by deep dimples in contrast to the Cryogenic treatment+Infrared Heating (CIR) and Water-Quench+ Infrared Heating (QIR) conditions which their dimples were shallow and also some facets were observed.