Effect of Thermal-cold Cycling Treatment on Mechanical Properties and Microstructure of 6061 Aluminum Alloy

The influence of thermal-cold cycling treatment on mechanical properties and microstructure of 6061 aluminum alloy was investigated by means of tensile test, optical microscopy(OM), X-ray diffraction(XRD) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM). The cryogenic treatment mechanism of the alloys was discussed. The results show that thermal-cold cycling treatment is beneficial since it produces a large number of dislocations and accelerates the ageing process of the alloy and yields the finer dispersed β″ precipitates in the matrix. This variation of microstructural changes leads to more favorable mechanical properties than the other investigated states, while grain boundary precipitation is coarse and distributed discontinuously along grain boundaries, with a lower precipitation free zone (PEZ) on the both sides of precipitated phase. As a result, the tensile strength, elongation and conductivity of 6061 aluminum alloy after thermal-cold cycling treatment are 373.37 MPa, 17.2% and 28.2 MS/m, respectively. Compared with conventional T6 temper, the mechanical properties are improved significantly.