Fracture behaviors and microstructure evolution of an Al-Mg-Mn-Sc-Zr alloy at elevated and cryogenic temperature

The mechanical properties and fracture behavior of Al-5.8Mg-0.4Mn-0.25Sc-0.1Zr alloy were investigated across cryogenic temperatures (-196.15 degrees C-56.15 degrees C) and elevated temperature (room temperature 250 degrees C), with results indicating sensitivity of the alloy's mechanical properties to temperature. Firstly, the tensile test at elevated temperatures shows a decrease in strength and strain hardening exponent (n) due to thermal softening effects, while elongation increases and then decreases, peaking at 100 degrees C. Within the temperature range of-196.15 degrees C-56.15 degrees C, the yield stress (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS), and ductility tend to increase with the decreasing temperature gradually, which can be attributed to the decrease in lattice thermal vibration energy at low temperatures, resulting in an elevated external force requirement for dislocation motion. Meanwhile, throughout the entire high-temperature range, the alloy exhibits ductile fracture, with the number of dimples peaking at 100 degrees C. Differently, when the alloy is deformed at low temperatures, dislocations tend to accumulate within the grains, and with the grain boundaries acting as weak bonding areas between grains and experiencing significant stress concentration, the fracture mechanism gradually transitions from transgranular to intergranular fracture. Microstructural analysis at low temperatures shows minimal texture content changes, while at elevated temperatures, regular changes in texture components occur due to grain orientation rearrangement. Furthermore, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy was employed to investigate the evolution of precipitates at various temperatures, and the results shows that uniform and fine Al3(Sc1-x, 3 (Sc 1- x , Zrx) x ) precipitates are distributed within the crystal, acting as effective dislocation pinning sites and leading to a uniform intragranular dislocation arrangement after tensile test at cryogenic temperature. Notably, after tensile test at higher temperatures, a few precipitates lose coherency with the matrix and started growing, which diminishing grain boundary pinning effect and promoting recrystallization.