Hardness modification of aluminum-alloys by means of energetic ion irradiation and subsequent thermal aging

Hardness modification of Al–Mg–Si alloy by using energetic ion beam irradiation

“…This experimental result suggests that nanometer-scaled precipitates produced by irradiation were grown by the thermal aging. Our previous result shows the similar phenomenon for the ion-irradiated Al-Cu-Mg alloy (Duralumin) [13]. The size of precipitates produced by the combination of ion irradiation and thermal aging is smaller than that by only thermal aging.…”

Radiation enhanced precipitation of solute atoms in AlCu binary alloys

“…Since the projected range of 16MeV Au ion is 3.3 m, this irradiation is a very effective method to increase the surface hardness of AlCu binary alloys in a short time and at room temperature. Our previous study shows that the hardness of the ion-irradiated practical Al alloys, also increases much faster and a bit higher than the aged specimens [3,5,6]. This result suggests that high density defect region (so called cascade damage) little affects the phenomenon of radiation enhanced diffusion and precipitation in AlCu alloy.…”

“…Although this phenomenon has such advantages for controlling various materials properties, it has been studied mainly for investigating the cause of promoting embrittlement of materials for nuclear reactor systems [1,2]. Recently, we have applied this phenomenon as an effective method to control the mechanical properties of metallic alloys [3][4][5][6]. Especially in Al-based alloys, point defects easily move and precipitation of solute atoms can occur even at room temperature.…”

“…Accordingly, the change in the mechanical property by the irradiation would occur easily in Al alloys. Our previous study shows that the hardness of some practical aluminum alloys increases when irradiated with energetic ion radiation at room temperature [3,5,6]. However, practical Al alloys include several kinds of solute elements.…”

Modification of Lattice Structures and Mechanical Properties of Metallic Materials by Energetic Ion Irradiation and Subsequent Thermal Treatments

“…However, such studies for nuclear power plants and space developments have treated the negative effects of ion irradiation (so-called "radiation damage") on materials' properties. In our recent studies, we have positively used the energies deposited by energetic ion/electron irradiation for the modification of materials properties such as the mechanical properties [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23], magnetic properties [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37], and optical properties [38] of metallic and oxide materials.…”