Influence of Zirconium Additions and Ageing Time on Some Mechanical Properties of (6063) Aluminum Alloy

The influence of Zr additions and artificial ageing time on some mechanical properties of 6063 alloy has been studied. This study aims to prepare the 6063 alloy containing different amounts of Zr and study the effect of Zr and ageing time on some mechanical properties of 6063 alloy such as Vickers hardness, tensile strength, and impact toughness. The results showed that the addition of 0.2 wt.% Zr to the 6063 alloy improves Vickers hardness and tensile strength by 12.96% and 7.86% respectively at ageing time 6h and improves impact toughness by 8.13% at ageing time 2h. Vickers hardness and tensile strength increase with increasing of ageing time for a certain limit of ageing time. Impact toughness decreases with increasing of ageing time and increases with further ageing time. The specimens with the highest Vickers hardness have the lowest impact toughness. The addition higher than 0.2wt.% Zr gives slight increase in studied properties of 6063 alloy .