Research on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy when modified by La, Ce and thermo-mechanical treatment

Influence of rare-earth (La, Ce) and thermo-mechanical treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy are presented in this article. After casting, the alloy which was modified by La, Ce, the grain size of samples obtained around 40–50 µm compared to that of without about 65 µm; and after homogeneous, the grain sizes is about 30 µm. After the cold deformation process, the distance between plates is 10 µm. By EDS after casting, the samples have tended to more La, Ce elements at the grain boundary, after homogeneous, the uniformation distribution of rare-earths was presented by mapping of EDS’s results. In addition, after rolling and heat treatment, the elements were found on the grain boundary and matrix. After recrystallization annealing, the grain size is around 10 µm with the modification sample. The grain size was reduced by two processes of modification as well as thermal-mechanical treatment is a condition for increasing the ductility of the studied alloy. Further, as a result of ability deformation from the tensile test, these results demonstrate that the tensile test obtained 140 % when adding La, Ce contents into the alloy combine with thermal-mechanical treatment. The combined used of La, Ce and thermal-mechanical treatment have increased the ductility of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy