Stress-induced thickening of Ω phase in Al–Cu–Mg alloys containing various Ag additions

The thickening of Ω phase in Al–Cu–Mg alloys containing various bulk Ag contents during stress aging at 200 °C with a tensile stress of 240 MPa was investigated by a combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and atom probe tomography (APT). TEM characterization confirmed preferred orientation of Ω phase in all stress-aged samples. Corresponding quantitative TEM calculations revealed the thickening kinetics of Ω phase was significantly accelerated during stress aging as compared to that during stress-free aging at 200 °C. HRTEM analysis on the α/Ω interfacial structure confirmed that the applied tensile stress facilitated the rapid nucleation of the growth ledge on the broad face of Ω phase, thereby resulting in the accelerated plate thickening during stress aging at 200 °C. Meanwhile, quantitative TEM analysis highlighted the stress-induced thickening of Ω phase at 200 °C was affected by the bulk Ag content. This was consistent with the HRTEM observation as the ledge nucleation was found to be suppressed with increasing Ag addition. Our APT analysis on different stress-aged samples further suggested the progressive enrichment of Ag atoms in the segregation layer helped to stabilize the interfacial structure and was responsible for the lowest nucleation rate of the ledge in 1.77Ag alloy as compared to that in 0.46Ag alloy.