METALLOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS ON THE EFFECTS OF

PRECIPITATION HARDENING IN 6061-T6 ALUMINUM ALLOY

Chee-Fai Tan1*, Mohamad Radzai Said1 and Napsiah Ismail2

Abstract

The precipitation behavior and hardening of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy was

investigated. The experimental study was to determine the effects of artificial ageing

on the strength of 6061-T6 aluminium alloy. The precipitation hardening usually

undergoes a thermal treatment, which consists of heat treatment, quenching process

and artificial ageing. The experimental study was focused on artificial ageing

temperature between 175C to 420C at different period of time. The microstructure

variation was analyzed using scanning electron microscope and optical microscope

to observe the precipitation before and after the heat treatment. The optimum

ageing time and temperature were also determined at the end of this experiment to

identify energy reductions and total production cost. The study leads to the

conclusion that the optimum aged can be achieved within 175C to 195C at 2 to 6

hours ageing time.

Keywords: 6061-T6 aluminium alloy, metallographic test, ageing, temperature

1
__________________________________________________________________________________
1
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Durian

Tunggal, 76109 Melaka,, Malaysia. Email: cheefai@utem.edu.my

2
Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

* Corresponding author

Suranaree J. Sci. Technol. XX (X):.....

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Introduction

Aluminium is ranked after iron and steel in the metal market. The demand of aluminium

grows rapidly because it is a unique combination of properties, which make it as one of

the most versatile engineering and construction materials. Aluminium alloy become the

selection by designers and engineers as the material for different kind of applications.

Aluminium is light in weight, with specific gravity of 2.7; only 30% weight of copper and

one-third weight of iron. Except for magnesium, aluminium is the lightest of all common

metals. Besides, it has good electrical and thermal conductivity and high reflectivity to

both heat and light. It is non-toxic and good in corrosion-resistant under many service

conditions. Aluminium provides a wide variety of surface finishes and it can be casted

and worked into different form. Aluminium has become prime importance as engineering

material with all these outstanding properties.

Generally, strength is further improved by cold working, grain size refining,

precipitation hardening and dispersion hardening. In this study, the strength of 6061-T6

aluminium alloy was improved by precipitation hardening. Precipitation hardening is a

process that enhances the strength and hardness of some metal alloys by the formation of

extremely small uniformly dispersed particle of a second phase within the original phase

matrix. The general requirement for precipitation strengthening of supersaturated solid

solution involves the formation of finely dispersed (ASM Handbook, 1991). The

precipitate particle nucleates and grows; by the diffusion of solute atoms into it from the

matrix phase. It is called precipitation because the small particles of the new phase are

3
termed precipitates (Jastrzebski, 1959). Artificial ageing will be accomplished not only

below the equilibrium solvus temperature, but below a meta-stable miscibility gap called

Guinier-Preston (GP) zone solvus line. The paper describes the metallographic analysis of

6061-T6 aluminium alloy under precipitation hardening process.

The basic requirement in a precipitation hardening alloy system is that the solid

solubility limit should decreases with the decreasing of temperature. During the

precipitation hardening, alloy is first treated with heat at high temperature and

subsequently cooled rapidly by quenching it into water or other cooling medium. The

process of rapid cooling suppresses the separation of -phase so that the alloy will be

maintained in an unstable supersaturated state at low temperature. However, if the alloy is

allowed to age for a sufficient of time after quenching, the second phase would

precipitates out (Smallman and Bishop, 1995).

Kulkarni and Krishnamurthy (2004) conducted a study the effect of particle size

distribution on strength of precipitation-hardened alloys. Ageing of precipitation

hardened alloys results in particle coarsening, which in turn affects the strength in alloy.

In this study, the effect of particle size distribution on the strength of precipitation-

hardened alloys was considered, to better represent real alloy, the particle radii were

distributed using Wangner, Lifshitz and Slyozov (WLS) particle size distribution theory.

Lumley et al. (2002) proposed the control of secondary precipitation to improve

the performance of aluminium alloy. Beneficial effects of under ageing in enhancing the

creep resistance of certain aluminium alloy may be diminished or lost if the alloys are

held at close to ambient temperature prior to testing. This problem is associated with

undesirable secondary precipitation during the dwell period and may be overcome by

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cooling the alloy slowly from the initial ageing temperature. A method has been

successfully exploiting secondary precipitation to improve the mechanical properties of

aluminium alloy. It involves interrupting artificial ageing with a low-temperature dwell

period.

Eskin (2002) studied the hardening and precipitation in Al-Cu-Mg-Si alloying

system. The composition and hardening phase in Al-Cu-Mg-Si alloys, which contain

2.5% - 4.5% Cu were considered with respect to the chemical composition of the

supersaturated solid solution. For the first time the composition of the supersaturated

solid solution was calculated using Thermocalc software as the equilibrium composition

at quenching temperature. The influence of precipitation on the work-hardening behavior

of the Aluminium Alloys AA6111 and AA7030 were carried out by Cheng et al. (2003).

Tensile tests were conducted on the aluminium alloy AA6111, after various artificial

ageing treatments in order to examine the influence of precipitation state on yield stress

and work-hardening behavior. Schiffmann et al. (2004) performed the evolution of

precipitates during age-hardening of AW 6016 alloy. Specimens of a sheet of his

commercial age-hardening aluminium alloy 6016 were heat treated in order to produce

different hardening stages. By neutron small angle scattering (SANS) the precipitation

sequence and its development in the nanometer range can be monitored. Variations in the

precipitation sequence were observed at different age-hardening temperatures.

Mechanical properties such as hardness and strength has been modified due to the

nanostructure precipitation process.

Qiang et al. (2002) performed the influence of ageing conditions on the

microstructure and tensile strength of aluminium alloy 6063. Materials in three pre-

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ageing conditions: 288 hour natural ageing i.e. ageing at room temperature, 3 hours

natural ageing and 3 hours natural ageing plus 5 hours ageing at 80C, were subsequently

aged with different temperature of 165C, 185C and 205C from 0.25 hour to 64 hours

respectively. Tensile tests were performed after ageing. Microstructure study was

performed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atom probe field ion

microscopy (APFIM). The results showed that for the materials with same pre-ageing

condition, the higher the subsequent ageing temperature, the lower the peak strength with

shorter time takes to reach the peak strength.

Kang et al. (2004) performed the effect of applied pressure and heat treatment

condition on microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of the thixoforged

357 aluminum alloy. The characteristics of the microstructure and mechanical properties

of thixoforged 357 Al parts with an arbitrary shape were studied for microstructure and

mechanical property variations as the result of changes in the applied pressure i.e. 110,

140, and 170 MPa, and the ageing time of heat treatment i.e. 4 hours, 6 hours and 10

hours. Through the experiment of forging with combination of T6 heat treatment, a

sample part with good mechanical properties was obtained. For a 6 hours heat treat

ageing time, an ultimate tensile strength of 394 MPa was obtained. The percentage

elongation for this sample was 10%.

Milan and Bowen (2004) conducted a tensile and fracture toughness properties of

SiCp reinforced aluminium alloys on the effects of particle size; particle volume fraction,

and matrix strength. It aimed to evaluate the effects of particle size, particle volume

fraction, and matrix strength on the monotonic fracture properties of two different Al

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alloys, namely T1-A12124 and T1-A16061, with the reinforcement of silicon carbide

particles (SiCp).

The Preparation of Specimen

6061-T6 aluminium alloy encompasses a wide range of chemical compositions and

hardness. Therefore, various techniques are required for metallographic preparation and

examination. The specimen was grounded and polished into a smooth finishing by using

abrasive papers and powders. The process involved the removing of material damage

parts such as scratch, rough surface and mirror crack. The specimen was undergone solid

solution, quenching and ageing process. After that, the specimen was cut into

approximately 10 mm. Subsequently, proceed with the mounting, grinding, polishing and

cleaning process.

In the mounting process, the specimen was shaped into the preferred size by using

mounting die. After that, the specimen was grinded by using silicon carbide abrasive

paper. For this experiment, the specimen was cut with a diamond wheel. The specimen

was washed thoroughly after each grinding to prevent carryover of abrasive particles to

the next stage. Mechanical polishing was accomplished in two steps, i.e. rough polishing

and final polishing. For rough polishing, it used a suspension of 600-grit alumina (Al 2O3)

powder in distilled water alumina (50g / 500 ml H 2O) on a billiard cloth fixed to a

rotating wheel. Diamond abrasive of 1, 3 or 6 m was used. After that, specimens were

washed thoroughly in order to remove the abrasive. For final polishing, it used a pure,

7
heavy grade magnesium oxide (MgO) powder with distilled water on a uniformly

textured medium. For the cleaning process, the specimen was immersed in the ultrasonic

water bath.

Results and Discussions

In this section, two types of metallography analysis results are discussed i.e. optical

microscope for highest hardness value and scanning electron microscope (SEM) for

lowest hardness value.

Microstructure Examination

Specimen ageing at under aged, peak aged, and over aged conditions at 185 C (highest

hardness) were carried out to analyze its metallography by optical microscope. For half

an hour ageing (Figure 1), there were no observable features. This were due to the pre-

aged condition of the samples with the hardness of 80.65 HV.

Figure 1. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for half an hour at 1850C

under 100 x magnification

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 As indicated in Figure 2, with the further ageing at 2 hours, dislocation was

started to loop around the particles. In this stage, the misfit strain was large; the interface

was coherent, or the average particle separation was above a certain critical value;

dislocation was unable to cut through the precipitate; instead it was loop around

individual partical as shown in Figure 2 and the hardness increased to 112.65 HV.

Figure 2. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for 2 hours at 1850C

under 100 x magnification

Subsequently, 6061-T6 aluminium alloy was aged at 185C for 6 hours (Figure 3).

It showed a fully strengthened condition, such as structure consist of GP zones and

precipitates. The highest value of hardness, which was 121.6 HV, was obtained at this

point. The interparticle spacing of microstructure was smaller compared to the previous

microstructure. According to Orowans mechanism , when the sample is at its peak aged,

numerous fine precipitate particles will be formed. These particles will cause the degree

of complication for the dislocations to pass through the particles to increase.

Figure 3. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for 6 hours at 185C

under 100 x magnification

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 After 10 hours of ageing, the particles started to decrease in number but its

became bigger (Figure 4). The interparticle spacing also decreased, allowing the

dislocation to move easily. The hardness and strength was inclined to 94.1 HV with

304.57 MPa of ultimate tensile strength.

Figure 4. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for 10 hours at 185C

under 100 x magnification

By using scanning electron microscope (SEM), the microstructure of the lowest

hardness value specimens at 420C was examined. As shown in Figure 5, it can be seen

that the amounts of the fine precipitate particles decreased rapidly from the beginning of

the experiment to half an hour of ageing where the hardness was 41.42 HV.

Figure 5. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for an hours at 420C

under 4000x magnification

As shown in Figure 6, for the ageing at 2 hours, the majority of the small plate-

shaped dard precipitate particles were coarsened and started to form at the over aged

region. The interparticle spacing also increased and bigger particles were formed.

Figure 6. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for 2 hours at 420C

under 4000x magnification

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 For ageing at 6 hours (Figure 7), the hardness of the inconsistency and the

softening of the specimen was declining, simultaneously with the precipitate particles

continue to dissolve to form larger and coarse particles. This will eventually cause the

hardness and strength of 6061-T6 aluminium alloy to decrease.

Figure 7. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for 6 hours at 420C

under 4000x magnification

In 10 hours of ageing time at 420C (Figure 8), the number of small plate-shaped

dark precipitate particles increased and the intermediate precipitate coarsens the alloy and

become weaker in the peak aged condition. However, the peak age could not be

determined because the hardness and strength were unable to be increased when longer

ageing time was conducted.

Figure 8. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for 10 hours at 420C

under 4000x magnification

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Fracture Behavior

Examination of the fracture surfaces using scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed

that the fracture behavior of 6061-T6 aluminium alloy was influenced by ageing tem

perature and ageing time. Specimens ageing at 175C and 185C showed that there was a

small transition in the fracture behaviour from ductile to a brittle manner in the

transformation process from pre-aged to peak aged region. Figure 9 and Figure 10

illustrated the ductile fracture in the sample whereas Figure 11 showed the peak ageing

time. The highest particle size was found and the elongation percentage was 11.02%. The

strength was not proportional with the elongation; it fulfilled the theory of the ductility

where the higher the strength, the lower the elongation was taken.

(a)

(b)

Figure 9. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for half an hours at 175C

(a) under 3000x magnification

(b) under 6000x magnification

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 (a)

(b)

Figure 10. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for 2 hours at 175C

(a) under 3000x magnification

(b) under 6000x magnification

(a)

(b)

Figure 11. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for 4 hours at 175C

(a) under 3000x magnification

(b) under 6000x magnification

For 10 hours ageing time at 175C (Figure 12), it reached a point where the

precipitate particles started to dissolve to form bigger and coarse particles. It was caused

the increment of ductility but the decrement in the strength of particle.

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 (a)

(b)

Figure 12. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for 10 hours at 175C

(a) under 3000x magnification

(b) under 6000x magnification

Figure 13 showed that some large particle exhibited several flat facets of fractured

particles and voids within the matrix were larger at 1 hour ageing time with temperature

of 185C. The failure mechanism seems to be a combination of particle fracture and

ductile failure through the matrix linkage of the fractured particles. Therefore, it was

capable to accommodate a higher level of plastic strain between the interparticle spacing

and clustering levers. Figure 14 shows the visual result of specimen under 2 hours ageing

time at 185C.

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 (a)

(b)

Figure 13. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for 1 hour at 185C

(a) under 3000x magnification

(b) under 6000x magnification

(a)

(b)

Figure 14. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for 2 hours at 185C

(a) under 3000x magnification

(b) under 6000x magnification

Futhermore, Figure 15 and Figure 16 shows the more brittle fracture since the

hardness was the highest, which was 121.6 HV. Depending on the different ageing

temperature and ageing time, different trend in toughness was obtained. In addition, there

was an optimum particle size for a given particle volume friction/matrix strength in which

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the toughness was minimized. It is suggested that a more complex investigation of the

effects of particle size should be carried out by using several temperature and ageing time

with different aluminium alloys.

(a)

(b)

Figure 15. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for 6 hours at 185C

(a) under 3000x magnification

(b) under 6000x magnification

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 (a)

(b)

Figure 16. 6061-T6 aluminium alloy ageing for 10 hours at 185C

(a) under 3000x magnification

(b) under 6000x magnification

Conclusions

In the metallographic analysis, it can be concluded that the artificial ageing have positive

effect on the mechanical properties of 6061-T6 aluminium alloy. As preliminary research

for the evaluation of precipitation hardening on 6061-T6 aluminium alloy, the study

identified that the microstructure variation and fracture behavior of the aluminium alloy

was subjected to different ageing temperature and time. SEM results has provided

importance evidence of the relevance of artificial ageing on the formation of hardenable

precipitates of the presence of small plate-shaped dard precipitate particles particle

coarsen a little due started of the over aged region at ageing temperature of 420C.

The optimum aged can be produced by using long ageing time at low temperature.

To obtain a better elongation rate for 6061-T6 aluminium alloy, the ageing temperature

was increased to 420C until over-aged condition. SEM results provided the importance

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of the relevance of artificial ageing on the formable hardenable precipitates where the

small plate-shaped dark precipitate particles increased and the intermediate precipitate

coalesces and coarsens the alloy and become weaker at temperature of 420 C. Based on

the results, it was concluded that there is an inconsistency and the softening of the 6061-

T6 aluminium alloy, which makes the ageing at 420 C not suitable. Thus, ageing at

excessive temperatures must be avoided at any cause.

Acknowledgement

The authors wish to thank Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of

Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) for the support granted for this research.

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