Quench sensitivity of aluminium alloys: analysis of the kinetics and nature of quench-induced precipitation

For aluminium alloys, precipitation strengthening is controlled by age-hardening heat treatments, including solution treatment, quenching, and ageing. Quenching is considered a critical step, because detrimental quench-induced precipitation must be avoided to exploit the full age-hardening potential of the alloy. This work presents a comprehensive report on the solid-solid phase transformation kinetics in Al alloys covering to a vast extent quench-induced precipitation during continuous cooling over a dynamic cooling rate range of ten orders of magnitude