Technical Papers and Discussions - Aluminum Alloys - Tensile Properties of Aluminum-alloy Sheet at Elevated Temperatures (Metals Tech., Dec. 1945, T. P. 1929, with discussion)

It is necessary occasionally to use aluminum-alloy sheet where moderately elevated temperatures are encountered. Considerable attention has been directed toward determining the influence of "artificial aging" on the room-temperature properties of the precipitation-hardenable alloys, as testified by numerous company reports and by references I to 4. Investigations on the properties at elevated temperatures are few, however, and have not always covered the range of times and temperatures of greatest interest. The present investigation was instituted to overcome this deficiency. The work was done for the Office of Production Research and Development of the War Production Board, under the supervision of the War Metallurgy Committee, as a part of the "restricted" Project NRC-548. It has been released for publication by the Office of Production Research and Development. AS is well known, the high-strength aluminum alloys achieve their remarkable properties as a result of precipitation-hardening. In production they are subjected to a solution heat-treatment followed by quenching, to retain the supersaturated solid solution. The solution treatment is followed by "aging" (precipitation-hard- ening) either at room temperature or at a suitable elevated temperature. A considerable increase in tensile and compressive yield stresses results from precipitation at room temperature ("natural aging"). Through the elevated-temperature process ("artificial aging") it is possible to obtain values of yield stress considerably higher than those attainable by natural aging. The increase in yield stress is accompanied by a smaller gain in ultimate tensile stress and by a decrease in elongation. During the first stages of artificial aging the yield stress increases steadily until it reaches a maximum value. In this condition the material is said to be "fully aged." Further exposure results in "averaging," attended by a steady decrease in yield stress. In the production of the artificially aged materials, temperatures and times are selected to achieve full aging. The following important characteristics are associated with the process: 1. The higher the temperature, the more rapidly is the fully aged condition attained. :7