Journal of Materials Science, Vol.42, No.4, 1299-1303, 2007
Effect of an electric field applied during the solution heat treatment of the Al-Mg-Si alloy AA6022 on the subsequent natural aging kinetics
The influence of a dc electric field E = 5 kV/cm applied during the solution heat treatment (SHT) of the Al-Mg-Si alloy AA6022 at 475-552 degrees C on the subsequent natural aging kinetics was determined employing resistivity. It was found that the increase in the as-quenched resistivity which resulted from application of the field during SHT was retained throughout the natural aging process. An Avrami-type analysis of the natural aging kinetics gave n (avg.) = 0.3 and k (avg.) = 5 x 10(-2) (min(-1))(0.3)s. These values are in qualitative accord with those determined for the Al-Mg-Si-Cu alloy AA6111.