M. Murayama et al., ATOM-PROBE STUDIES ON THE EARLY STAGES OF PRECIPITATION IN AL-MG-SI ALLOYS, Materials science & engineering. A, Structural materials: properties, microstructure and processing, 250(1), 1998, pp. 127-132
Pre-precipitation stages of Al-0.70Mg-0.33Si and Al-0.65Mg-0.70Si (at.
%) alloys have been investigated by atom probe field ion microscopy (
APFIM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HREM). At
om probe results show that clusters of Mg atoms are present in the as-
quenched state. After a prolonged aging at room temperature, clusters
of Mg, Si and their co-clusters are detected, although no contrasts su
ggesting the presence of precipitates are observed in HREM images. In
the specimens aged at 175 degrees C for 30 min, small equiaxed Mg-Si p
recipitates are observed by TEM. APFIM results show that the ratio of
Mg to Si atoms in the precipitates is close to 1, rather than 2, which
is expected from the equilibrium concentration of Mg,Si. (C) 1998 Els
evier Science S.A. All rights reserved.