Recrystallization resistance in aluminum alloys containing zirconium

Zirconium forms a fine dispersion of the metastable β' (Al3Zr) phase that controls recrystallization by retarding the motion of high-angle boundaries. The primary material chosen for this research was aluminum alloy 7150 containing zinc, magnesium, and copper as the major solute elements and zirconium as the dispersoid-forming element. The size, distribution, and the volume fraction of β' was controlled by varying the alloy composition and preheat practices. Preheated ingots were subjected to a specific sequence of hot-rolling operations to evaluate the resistance to recrystallization of the different microstructures. Optical and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques were used to investigate the influence of dispersoid morphology resulting from the thermal treatments and deformation processing on the recrystallization behavior of the alloy. Studies were conducted to determine the influence of the individual solute elements present in 7150 on the precipitation of β' and consequently on the recrystallization behavior of the material. These studies were done on compositional variants of commercial 7150