Theoretical Prediction of Structural, Mechanical, and Thermophysical Properties of the Precipitates in 2xxx Series Aluminum Alloy

oleh: Xuewei Fang, Yefei Li, Qiaoling Zheng, Jianye Guo, Yanmei Yang, Weiyun Ding, Chunhui Ma, Ke He, Ningning Su, Jingyi Jiang, Xiaoxue Chen, Haoran Wang

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-12-01

Deskripsi

We presented a theoretical study for the structural, mechanical, and thermophysical properties of the precipitates in 2xxx series aluminum alloy by applying the widely used density functional theory of Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE). The results indicated that the most thermodynamically stable structure refers to the Al<sub>3</sub>Zr phase in regardless of its different polymorphs, while the formation enthalpy of Al<sub>5</sub>Cu<sub>2</sub>Mg<sub>8</sub>Si<sub>6</sub> is only -0.02 eV (close to zero) indicating its metastable nature. The universal anisotropy index of <i>A<sup>U</sup></i> follows the trend of: Al<sub>2</sub>Cu > Al<sub>2</sub>CuMg ≈ Al<sub>3</sub>Zr_D0<sub>22</sub> ≈ Al<sub>20</sub>Cu<sub>2</sub>Mn<sub>3</sub> > Al<sub>3</sub>Fe ≈ Al<sub>6</sub>Mn > Al<sub>3</sub>Zr_D0<sub>23</sub> ≈ Al<sub>3</sub>Zr_L1<sub>2</sub> > Al<sub>7</sub>Cu<sub>2</sub>Fe > Al<sub>3</sub>Fe<sub>2</sub>Si. The thermal expansion coefficients (TECs) were calculated based on Quasi harmonic approximation (QHA); Al<sub>2</sub>CuMg shows the highest linear thermal expansion coefficient (LTEC), followed by Al<sub>3</sub>Fe, Al<sub>2</sub>Cu, Al<sub>3</sub>Zr_L1<sub>2</sub> and others, while Al<sub>3</sub>Zr_D0<sub>22</sub> is the lowest one. The calculated data of three Al<sub>3</sub>Zr polymorphs follow the order of L1<sub>2</sub> > D0<sub>23</sub> > D0<sub>22</sub>, all of them show much lower LTEC than Al substance. For multi-phase aluminum alloys, when the expansion coefficient of the precipitates is quite different from the matrix, it may cause a relatively large internal stress, or even produce cracks under actual service conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss the heat misfit degree during the material design. The discrepancy between <i>a</i>-Al and Al<sub>2</sub>CuMg is the smallest, which may decrease the heat misfit degree between them and improve the thermal shock resistant behaviors.