Researchers of Isfahan University of Technology (Iran) have introduced a method to improve the strength and erosive resistance of nanostructured aluminum leading to its better performance in auto industry and aerospace.
Nazanin-o-Sadat H. Nahouji is a researcher who evaluated the effect of nanostructuring on the formation of age hardening precipitate as well as examining the thermal stability of nanostructured Al6061 alloy (produced by mechanical milling) during isothermal treatment and identifying the mechanism governing grains growth.
"Commercial Al6061 alloy chips together with stearic acid (as process controller) were milled in a planetary ball mill. Then, the synthesized nanostructured powder underwent isothermal treatment at definite temperatures for 1 to 3 hours," She explained to the news service of INIC (Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council).
Precipitation of intermetallic compound Mg2Si during the thermal treatment of 30 hours milled powders at 250-300 centigrade degrees verifies the formation of a supersaturated solid solution of Mg and Si in Al. Aluminum grains in nanostructured Al6061 are so stable that grains with sizes of 60 nanometers were even observed after thermal treatment, she added.
She described "the estimation of key values of grains growth activation energy within different temperature ranges" as one of this research precious achievements.
Aluminum alloys have wide applications in auto and aerospace industries. The transformation of common structures of this alloy to nanostructured ones results in significant improvement of strength and erosive resistance of materials which consequently extends their application.
The details of the present study are available at Materials Science and Engineering A, volume 525, pages 107 to 111, 2009.
