Effect of annealing on the structure and properties of Al–Li–Cu–Zr–Sc–Ag alloy subjected to severe plastic deformation

Methods of transmission electron microscopy and measurements of microhardness were used to study structural and phase transformations upon low-temperature annealing (150°C) in the aluminum–lithium alloy 1469 with Ag addition subjected to severe plastic deformation by high-pressure torsion. It has been shown that the nature of the nanocrystalline structure that forms upon annealing is determined by the competing processes of recrystallization and the decomposition of the supersaturated solid solution. The effect of the structural state of the annealed alloy on the level of mechanical properties (nanohardness, modulus of elasticity, their ratio, and plasticity) is discussed.