Effect of tensile stress on microstructure evolution of Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloys

The effect of tensile stress on thermal microstructure evolution of Ω phase in an AI-Cu-Mg-Ag alloy with high Cu/Mg ratio and higher Ag content was investigated by transmission electron microcopy （TEM） .The samples were aged at 200 ℃ for 1 h （T6 condition）, then thermal exposed at 250 ℃ for 100 h with and without a tensile stress （130 MPa）, respectively. The results indicate that Ω precipitates uniformly disperse in the matrix as a major precipitate after artificially aging at 200℃ for 1 h （T6 condition）. Exposed at 250℃ for 100 h without stress, Ωprecipitates dissolve dramatically. Whereas, during stress exposure they coarsen unexpectedly rather than dissolve into matrix. It can be deduced that the stress retards the redissolution of Ω phase.