Aluminum-lithium-beryllium alloys have been prepared by melt spinning, using prealloyed arc-melted buttons. The alloy ribbon was comminuted and cold compacted to 30 to 50% density, vacuum hot pressed to 100% density, and extruded. The bar product was subsequently solution heat treated, quenched, and aged. The microstructure of the alloys consists of a relatively featureless matrix containing a homogeneous dispersion of fine beryllium particles, mostly 50 to 500 nm in size. The results of heat treatment show that the alloys respond to age hardening in a manner similar to that of binary Al-Li alloys. Preliminary results on the mechanical properties and their relationships with microstructural features are presented for the Al-Li-Be alloys, as well as their potential for weight savings. The authors estimate that these monolithic aluminum alloys may exhibit specific strength and elastic modulus values comparable to those of the best whisker or particulate metal-matrix composites, while showing concomitant high weight savings.
A microstructural investigation has been carried out on a series of small castings of arc-melted AI-Li-Be alloys. The alloy composition included amounts of lithium up to 3wt% and beryllium up to 10 wt%. Optical metallographic examination has revealed gross macrosegregation in the highly alloyed compositions. On the microstructural level, the structure consists of primary beryllium particles in a matrix of primary aluminium containing eutectic structure at the cell walls. A detailed Auger electron spectroscopy examination has been carried out on a section of an AI-3Li-10Be arc-cast alloy to determine the precise compositional variations. This approach is demonstrated to be a necessary prerequisite for selection of material for rapid solidification processing by techniques such as splat quenching.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.