Microstructural evolution of nanotwinned Al-Zr alloy with significant 9R phase

Authors

N.A. Richter, Purdue University, West Lafayette
Y.F. Zhang, Purdue University, West Lafayette
D. Y. Xie, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
R. Su, Purdue University, West Lafayette
Q. Li, Purdue University, West Lafayette
S. Xue, Purdue University, West Lafayette
T. Niu, Purdue University, West Lafayette
J. Wang, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
H. Wang, Purdue University, West Lafayette
Xinghang Zhang, Purdue University, West LafayetteFollow

ORCID IDs

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3273-2276 http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5544-7534

http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1183-3641 http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5442-259X

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8445-8718 http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5130-300X

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7397-1209 http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8380-8667

Date of this Version

2020

Citation

MATER. RES. LETT. 2020, VOL. 9, NO. 2, 91–98 https://doi.org/10.1080/21663831.2020.1840451

Comments

2020 The Author(s).

Abstract

Aluminum (Al) alloys have a multitude of applications, notably in the automotive, aerospace and coating industries, yet they exhibit significantly lower mechanical strength than conventional steels. Nanotwins drastically improve mechanical strength while retaining ductility. However, the high SFE of Al largely prevents twinning. Here, we synthesize Al-Zr alloy films containing an abundance of incoherent twin boundaries and 9R phases. These alloys exhibit an extended solid solubility of Zr, retaining a columnar nanotwinned structure across all compositions. These films reach a hardness up to 4.2 GPa with 10 at% Zr and demonstrate the capacity for producing strong Al alloys with nanotwins.