Calorimetric analysis of aged Al-4Cu-0.5Mg-0.9Si-0.8Mn alloy (AA2014 grade)

An Al–4.4Cu–0.5Mg–0.9Si–0.8Mn alloy (IADS 2014 grade) in the solution annealed and peak aged condition was exposed at 170°C for relatively long times (up to about 1800 h) in order to check the stability of the alloy. The investigated aging temperature was in the frame of a research on the long-term mechanical behaviour of such alloy. Microstructure evolution was monitored via calorimetric analyses, metallographic inspections and hardness measurements. Further, X-ray analyses were carried out on selected samples. The attention was focused on differential scanning calorimetry performed at different scanning rates, with the aim of evaluating the kinetics of the precipitation phenomena. Notwithstanding the wide industrial diffusion of this alloy, literature survey showed that there is not a consensus view on the precipitation sequences and on calorimetric peak identification. The present results show the progressive evolution of calorimetric peaks, corresponding to that of strengthening particles towards more stable phases, proved by the disappearance of exothermic peaks. Activation energy from Kissinger kinetic analysis in the case of aged samples provided scattered values that could be reasonably attributed to an overlapping of transformation peaks. Moreover, in these samples transformations partially occurred before DSC scans, providing non-constant transformation fraction at signal peak temperatures and resulting in different activation energies.