Effect of Extrusion Ratio on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties in an Al-Cu-Mg-Ag Alloy

In order to examine the effect of extrusion ratio on the microstructure and mechanical behavior in Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloy, the Al-6.3Cu-0.48Mg-0.4Ag alloy was subjected to extruding with different extrusion ratios of 17, 30 and 67. The results indicate that the grains are refined and the strength is improved effectively with increasing extrusion ratio. However, further investigation shows that the extrusion ratio of 30 is more effective than the lower extrusion ratio (17) and the higher extrusion ratio (67) to refine the grains in the T6-temper alloy. Moreover, the sample with an extrusion ratio of 30 obtains more precipitates and superior mechanical properties after T6 treatment. This study supports the idea that there exists a critical extrusion ratio for grain refinement and improvement of mechanical properties for the T6-temper alloy. Recrystallization and precipitation during T6 treatment were introduced to explain the effects of extrusion ratio on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloys.