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CORRELATIONS BETWEEN ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY AND AGING

BEHAVIOUR OF 7O1O BASE ALUMINIUM ALLOYS

Conference Paper · May 2003

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Chandan Mondal
Defence Research and Development Organisation
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Proceedings of tlfe lnternational Conference on Aluminium, INCAL'O3;23-25 April 2003; New Delhi
Vol.l (2003) 255-260; Eds. S. Subramanian and D. H. Sastry
@The Aluminium Association ol lndia

CORRELATIONS BETWEEN ELECTRTCAL

CONDUCTTVITY AND AGING BEHAVIOUR OF 7O1O BASE
ALUMINIUMALLOYS
CHANDAN MONDAL and A. K. MUKHOPADHYAY
Defence Metallurgical Research laboratory, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad-500058, India

Blectrical conductivity measurement has proven to be an important non-destructive testing

method for confiol and assessment of heat-treatable aluminium alloys. In this work, using a
TECHNOFOUR TYPE 979 electrical conductivity meter [that measures the electrical
conductivity in terms of 7o lnternational Annealed Copper Standard (IACS)1, the variation in
electrical conductivity as functions of various aging conditions of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu-Zr base AA
7010 alloys is presented. The electrical conductivity values are correlated with the hardness
and microsffuctural changes that occur during the heat ffeatment. The results demonsffate that
the electrical conductivity decreases and the hardness increases with aging time at room
temperature immediately following solution treatment and water quenching. On the other
hand, the electrical conductivity increases with increasing artificial aging temperatures and
times. The present study established that the changes in electrical conductivity during artifrcial
aging are most sensitive to the changes in the solute contents in the solid solution.

INTRODUCTION
During development of a material component and its subsequent manufacturing, the
use of a suitable non-destructive test has often proved to be a desirable process [1]. The
conventional procedure, howeveq has been the destructive testing of a small part of the
component chosen by random sampling, assuming that the entire material is homogeneous.
This not only destroys the component but also fails to detect the heterogeneous properties (if
any) present in the material. A suitable non-destructive test allows information to be obtained
over an entire cgmponent without damaging it. This is essential when the material is to be used
for critical applications (e.g. heat-treated plates for aircraft and aerospace industries) []. The
use of a non-destructive test in the form of electrical conductivity measurement for quality
control and assessment of heat-treated aluminium alloy products has proven to be of great help
in this respect [-a]. High sensitivity with respect to properties developed by heat treaffnents
together with its excellent reproducibility make it a ready choice for the quality control of heat-
treated products.
Electrical conductivity of a material depends on the ease with which the free electrons
move through the crystal lattice. Because, electrical conductivity is sensitive to changes in alloy
composition and thermal conditions [2] and it is readily measured with high precision, the
electrical conductivity values are routinely used to monitor the quality of, commercial
aluminium alloys. This provides an excellent tool to monitor the quality of high sffength
aluminium alloys subjected to multi-step artificial aging treatments [4-6].
The aim of the present study is to characterizethe natural and artificial aging behaviour
of AA 7010 base alloys by electrical conductivity measurement. Selected, known binary and
ternary aluminium alloys were initially examined to monitor changes in electrical conductivity
as a function of aging time. The resultant trends were then utilized to explain similar changes in
the electrical conductivity of 7010 A1 alloys. The purpose is to generate elementary correlations
between heat treatment practices and the resultant hardness and conductivity of such alloys and
to use them for assessment of heat ffeated products for quality conffol purposes.
DGERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
The chemical compositions of the alloys used in this investigation are given in Table 1.
High strength A1-Zn-Mg-Ct-Zr base AA 7010 alloys with nominal composition, scandium (Sc)
addition, and higher magnesium (Mg) content were produced via ingot metallurgical route at
DMRL, Hyderabad. The alloys were cast, homogenized, scalped and hot-rolled to 5mm thick
sheets. The high purity Al (99.997o), Al-Cu, Al-Cu-Mg, and Al-Mg-Si alloys in the form of
sheets (3 mm in thickness), were obtained from ALCOA, USA through the co-author (AKM).
For elecffical conductivity and hardness measurements, samples of dimension 26mm x26mm
were cut from the rolled sheets. AA 7010 alloy samples were given solution treatment at 465"C
for 90 minutes and peak aging using both commercial treatment (122"C124h) and two-step
aging (100"C/8h + 122'Cl8i). The baseline 7010 Al alloy was subsequently given an overaging
treatment of 8h at 172'C. Natural aging behaviour was characterized by allowing the material
to age at room temperature.after solution treatment and water quenching. Other Al alloys were
solution treated, water quenihed, and their natural aging behaviour was monitored by electrical
conductivity measurement. Electrical conductivity measurements were carried out on the
polished samples using a TECHNOFOUR TYPE 979 direct reading elecffical conductivity
meter. Age hardening behaviour of the materials was monitored by Vickers hardness tests using
a 10 kg load. Microstructural studies were carried out using transmission electron microscopy
(TEM) on a PHILIPS EM 430T electron microscope operating at 150 kV. Specimens for TEM
were prepared by twin jet electro-polishing in a 307io nitric acid + TOVo (by volume) methanol
solution at -35oC.

Table L Compositions (wt%o) of the alloys used in the investigation

Alldvs Zn nlls Cu Zr Fe si Sc AI
AA 7010 (nom) 6.2 2.3 t.7 o.t4 0.r5 0.12 balance
AA 7010 + Sc 6.2 2.3 t.7 o.t4 0.15 0.12 o.25 balance
AA 7010 ftish Me) 6.2 2.7 1.7 0.14 0.15 0.12 balance
Al-Cu 4.0 balance
Al-Cu-Ms 1.0 1.3 balance
Al-Ms-Si 0.9 o.52 balance
Al-Me-Si ftish Si) 0.58 0.45 balance

256
 RE,SULTS AND DISCUSSION
The results show in general that the electrical conductivity increases with increasing
artificial aging temperature and time regardless of alloy compositions.
Fig. 1(a) shows the variation in the electrical conductivity with various aging tempers for AA
7010 base alloys. Alloys with scandium additions exhibit lower conductivity. This is due partly
to the increase in grain boundary resistance owing, in turn, to the finer grain size of the material
[6]. On the other hand, in the high Mg containing alloy, it is the high solute concentration in the
solid solution that lowers the conductivity. It is generally believed that the increase in
conductivity at higher aging temperatures & times is due to the depletion of solute content of
the solid solution as a consequence of enhanced precipitation 14,61. This is corroborated by the
hardness data as shown in Fig. 1(b).

39
37
35
33
31
29
27
25
T4 (24h) T7x (8h) T7x (10h)

f ,,0

8
o
180

f;
L
roo
(E --.- 701o(nom) -+-- 7010+Sc --*-
luo 701O(high Mg)

T4 (24h) 100"C/8h TO (two T6 (com) T7x (6h) T7x (8h) T7x (10h)
step)

Fig. 1 (a) Electrical conductivity (%IACS) data of AA 7010 base alloys plotted against
various heat treatment conditions and (b) corresponding Vicker's hardness data

One interesting observation is the initial decrease in the electrical conductivity during
natural aging [Fig. l(a)]. A detailed experimentation involving continuous conductivity
measurement during natural aging was carried out for this purpose over a number of alloys. For
all the AA 7010 base alloys, electrical conductivity decreases rapidly during the initial stages of
natural aging as shown in Fig. 2 (a). Fig. 2 (b) shows the concomitant increase in the hardness
of the alloys during the early stages of natural aging. In order to further understand this
phenomenon, electrical conductivity data were collected from Al-Cu, Al-Cu-Mg, and Al-Mg-Si
alloys, for which the natural aging behaviour is well known [Figs. 3(a) & (b)].

257
 At the initial
of natural aging, electrical conductivity decreases rapidly for all
stages
such alloys Figs. 3(a) & (b)l due to the formation of solute clusters/G.P zones [7]. In the
absence of any solute clustering event in pure aluminium, there is no decrease in conductivity
with natural aging time Fig. 3(b).

a) sz b) rss
--.- 701o(nom)
31 +7010+Sc
30
--+-701o(hbh [,b)
125
at)
o29 115
*ea
-+-7op(nom)
27 --{-708+5c
+-7oD(highMg)

50 100 150 110

l,latural aging time (h) l{atural aging time (h)

Fig.2 (a) Electrical conductivity data plotted against natural aging time forAA 7010 alloys,
and (b) hardness data corresponding to natural aging

The initial decrease in conductivity observed in Figure 2(a) is, therefore, attributed to
the formation of solute clusters i.e. G-P zones that begin to form during and/or immediately
after quenching [6,8,9]. As the G-P zones grow, the conductivity falls rapidly and when the
zone size becomes equal to the wavelength of free electron, the conductivity attains a minimum
owing to maximum electroq scattering [10]. Further growth of clusters does not lower the
conductivity significantly [1 1].

a)tz ---r-Al-Or -*-Al-O.r-[,b

b)'63
41

40 50.5
U)
o
<39 t)
4e.5
E
s s
38 48.5

37
47.5
10 20 30 40 50
0102030,O50&}70
l,latural aging time (h) Nduralagir€ time {h)

Fig.3 (a) & O) Electrical conductivity data plotted against natural aging time for the aluminium
alloys where solute clustering is known to occur
Fig: 4 represents a transmission electron micrograph showing the formation of G-P
zones in a7010 A1 alloy aged at room temperature for 12 weeks [6]. The spherical shape of the
G.P. zones is consistent with that of the G.P. zones formed in Al-Zn-Mg base TXXX series
aluminium alloys [9]. Furthermore, the spherical G.P. zones are known to be the only aging

258
product in such alloys [6,8,9]. The selected area electron diffraction pattern corresponding to
Fig. 4 shows diffraction spots only due to the matrix aluminium implying that the G.P. zones
have the same crystal structure as that of the aluminium matrix [see inset].

Fig. 4 Transmission electron micrograph showing a uniform and frne distribution of GP zones in
the 7010 Al alloy naturally aged for 12 weeks. Inset: corresponding selected area electron
dffiraction pattern
The zoomed part of Fig. 2(a), as depicted in Fig. 5 shows the effects of different alloy
additions on the rate of solute clustering. It is evident that for the high Mg containing alloy, the
conductivity values decrease at a faster rate and this is consistent with the high Mg-vacancy
binding energy in aluminiuin [12]. As a result, the higher Mg content of the alloy facilitates
solute diffusion by trapping more vacancies and enhances the rate of the natural aging process.
The Sc containing alloys also show faster kinetics and this is due to enhanced diffusion because
of higher grain boundary arcapresent in these alloys [6].

31

aging time (h)

_ Natural

Fig. 5 Electrical conductivity data plotted against natural asing time for AA 7010 base alloys
[zoomed part of Fig.2(a)]
 CONCLUSIONS
l. Electrical conductivity decreases with aging at room temperature following solution
treatrnent and water quenching of Al-Zn-Mg-Ct-Zr base AA 7010 alloys. This is attributed
to the process of solute clustering in these alloys. A similar trend in the electrical
conductivity data has been observed for Al-Cu, AI-Cu-Mg & Al-Mg-Si alloys *here
decomposition of solid solution by solute clustering process is knwn to occur.
2. Sc addition and higher Mg content accelerate the process of solute clustering in 7010 Al
alloys. The former is associated with the refinement of grain size, whilst the latter is
consistent with the high Mg-vacancy binding energy in aluminium.
3. Electrical conductivity increases with increasing artificial aging temperatures and times.
This is associated with decreasing solute contents in the solid solution.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support from Defence Research and
Development Organisation @RDO), Government of India.
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