To analyze the effects of strain rate and temperature on the flow stress of 2519A aluminum alloy, the dynamic mechanical properties of 2519A aluminum alloy were measured by dynamic impact tests and quasi-static tensile tests. The effects of strain rate and temperature on the microstructure evolution were investigated by optical microscopy （OM） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. The experimental results indicate that 2519A aluminum alloy exhibits strain-rate dependence and temperature susceptibility under dynamic impact. The constitutive constants for Johnson--Cook material model were determined by the quasi-static tests and Hopkinson bar experiments using the methods of variable separation and nonlinear fitting. The constitutive equation seems to be consistent with the experimental results, which provides reference for mechanical characteristics and numerical simulation of ballistic performance.
The precipitation behavior and its influence on the electrical resistivity of the Al-0.96Mg2Si alloy during aging were investigated with in-situ resistivity measurement and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. The precipitates of the peak aged alloy include both β＂ and if, but the amount ratio of β＂ to β＂ varies with the aging temperature and time increasing. The precipitates during aging at 175 ℃ are dominated by needle-like β＂ phases （including pre-β＂ phase）, the size of which increases with the time prolonging, but does not increase substantially after further aging. The evolution of electrical conductivity is directly related to such microstructural evolution. However, the hardness of the alloy stays at the peak value for a long term. When the alloy is aged at 195 ℃, the ratio of β＂ to β＇ becomes the main factor to influence relative resistivity （Ap） value. The higher the temperature is, the smaller the ratio is, and the faster the Ap value decreases. Moreover, the hardness peak drops with the decrease of the ratio. With the size and distribution parameters measured from TEM images, a semi-quantitative relationship between precipitates and the electrical resistivity was established.
The effects of copper on the ageing precipitation behavior of as-quenched and pre-aged AA6016 aluminum alloy were studied by differential scanning calorimetry （DSC）, Vickers hardness measurement and transmission electronic microscopy （TEM）. The results indicate that the addition of copper facilitates the growth of clusters （GP I） to the critical size during pre-ageing. Therefore, the addition of copper accelerates the transition from GP I （pre-β＂） to GP II （β＂） during final artificial ageing, and finally results in the favorable paint-bake response. However, the one with the copper level of 0.3% does not show significant baking hardening response as expected. Pre-aging can also reduce the detrimental effect due to natural aging of copper-containing alloys.
