Effect of Aging Heat Treatment on Wear Behavior and Microstructure Characterization of Newly Developed Al7075+Ti Alloys

Abstract

In this study, Al7075+0%Ti-, Al7075+2%Ti-, Al7075+4%Ti-, and Al7075+8%Ti-reinforced alloys were prepared by melting processes using Al7075 and Al-10%Ti main alloys. All newly produced alloys were subjected to T6 aging heat treatment and some samples were cold rolled at 5% beforehand. The microstructure, mechanical behavior, and dry-wear behavior of the new alloys were examined. Dry-wear tests of all alloys were carried out at a total sliding distance of 1000 m, at a sliding speed of 0.1 m/s, and under a load of 20 N. In the hardness measured after T6 aging heat treatment, the peak hardness of the Al7075+0%Ti-, Al7075+2%Ti-, Al7075+4%Ti-, and Al7075+8%Ti-reinforced alloys was found to be 105.63, 113.60, 122.44, and 140.41 HB, respectively. The secondary phases formed by the addition of Ti to the Al7075 alloy acted as precipitate-nucleation sites during aging heat treatment, further increasing the peak hardness. Compared to the peak hardness of the unrolled Al7075+0%Ti alloy, the increase in the peak hardness of the unrolled and rolled Al7075+8%Ti-reinforced alloys was 34% and 47%, respectively, and this difference in the increase was due to the change in the dislocation density with cold deformation. According to the dry-wear test results, the wear resistance of the Al7075 alloy increased by 108.5% with a reinforcement of 8% Ti. This result can be attributed to the formation of Al, Mg, and Ti-based oxide films during wear, as well as the precipitation hardening, the secondary hardening with acicular and spherical Al3Ti phases, the grain refinement, and solid-solution-hardening mechanisms.