Computational design and development of novel Al-Mg-Sc-Cr alloy

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to design and develop precipitation hardened Al-Mg alloy imparting enhanced strength with acceptable ductility through minor addition of Sc and Cr by using multi-objective genetic algorithm-based searching. In earlier attempts of strengthening aluminum alloys, owing to the formation of Al3Sc and Al7Cr phase, addition of Sc and Cr have yielded attractive precipitation hardening, respectively. Both the Al-Sc and Al-Cr system are quench sensitive due to presence of a sloping solvus in their phase diagrams. It is also known that both the Al3Sc and Al7Cr phases nucleate directly from the supersaturated solid solution without formation of GP-zones or transient phases prior to the formation of the Al3Sc and Al7Cr. Sc also found to have beneficial effect on the corrosion property of such alloys. In view of the above, it is of interest to explore the possibility of enhancing the age hardening effect in Al-Mg alloy by addition of Sc and Cr. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses an approach where experimental information of two different alloy systems (namely, Al-Mg-Sc and Al-Cr) has been combined to generate a single database involving the potential features of both the systems with the aim to formulate the suitable artificial neural network (ANN) models for strength and ductility. The models are used as the objective functions for the optimization process. The patterns of the optimized Pareto front are analyzed to recognize the optimal property of the alloy system. The hitherto unexplored Al-Mg-Sc-Cr alloy, designed from the Pareto solutions and suitably modified on the basis of prior knowledge of the system, is then synthesized and characterized. Findings – The paper has demonstrated the ANN- and genetic algorithm (GA)-based design of a hitherto unexplored alloy by utilizing the existing information concerning the component alloy systems. The paper also established that analyses of the Pareto solutions generated through multi-objective optimization using GA provide an insight of the variation of the parameters at different combination of strength and ductility. It also revealed that the Al-Mg-Sc-Cr alloy has exhibited a two-stage age hardening effect. The first and second stages are due to the precipitation of Al3Sc and Al7Cr phases, respectively. Research limitations/implications – In the present study the two alloy systems are used in tandem to develop models to describe the properties involving the distinct mechanistic features of phase evolution inherent in both the systems. Though the ANN models having the capability to capture huge non-linearity of a system have been employed to predict the convoluted effects of those characteristics when an alloy containing Mg, Sc and Cr are added simultaneously, but the ANN models predictions can be checked experimentally by the future researchers. Practical implications – The paper demonstrates the role of scandium and chromium addition on the ageing characteristics of the alloy by analyzing the age hardening behavior of the designed alloy in cast and cold rolled condition clearly. Originality/value – The approach stated in this paper is a novel one, in the sense that experimental data of two different alloy systems have been clubbed to generate a single database with the aim to formulate the suitable ANN models for strength and ductility.