L12 aluminum alloys with bimodal and trimodal distribution
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorAwadh B. Pandey
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Abstract
A two or three phase aluminum alloy having high strength, modulus, ductility and toughness, comprising a fine grain matrix phase nano L12 alloy having a particle size ranging from about 20 nm to 5 microns and a more ductile larger aluminum alloy coarse grain phase having a particle size ranging from about 25 to 250 microns. The fine grain matrix phase alloy comprises aluminum, at least one of scandium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium; and at least one of gadolinium, yttrium, zirconium, titanium, hafnium, and niobium. The alloy may also include ceramic reinforcements in addition to the fine grain matrix phase and the coarse grain phase.
Claims20
An aluminum alloy with at least a bimodal microstructure comprising large grains in a fine grained matrix wherein:
- the large grains comprise any aluminum alloy with sufficient strength and ductility;
- and
- the fine grain matrix comprises an aluminum alloy strengthened with L12 Al3X dispersoids wherein X comprises at least one first element selected from scandium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium, and at least one second element selected from gadolinium, yttrium, zirconium, titanium, hafnium, and niobium.
A method of forming an aluminum alloy with at least a bimodal microstructure, the method comprising:
- (a) forming a melt comprising:
- at least one element selected from the group comprising about 4 to about 25 weight percent silicon, about 1 to about 8 weight percent magnesium, about 0.5 to 3 weight percent lithium, about 0.2 to 3 weight percent copper, about 3 to about 12 weight percent zinc, and about 1 to 12 weight percent nickel;
- at least one first element selected from the group comprising about 0.1 to about 4 weight percent scandium, about 0.1 to about 20 weight percent erbium, about 0.1 to about 15 weight percent thulium, about 0.1 to about 25 weight percent ytterbium, and about 0.1 to about 25 weight percent lutetium;
- at least one second element selected from the group comprising about 0.1 to about 20 weight percent gadolinium, about 0.1 to about 20 weight percent yttrium, about 0.05 to about 4.0 weight percent zirconium, about 0.05 to about 10 weight percent titanium, about 0.05 to about 10 weight percent hafnium, and about 0.05 to about 5 weight percent niobium;
- and
- the balance substantially aluminum;
- (b) solidifying the melt to form a powder;
- (c) mixing the powder with larger aluminum alloy powder particles;
- (e) consolidating the powder into a solid body;
- and
- (f) heat treating the consolidated body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.