Improvement of anisotropic tensile properties of Al-7.9Zn-2.7Mg-2.0Cu alloy sheets by particle stimulated nucleation

Abstract The annealing treatment and homogenization were applied in Al-7.9Zn-2.7Mg-2.0Cu alloy before the hot rolling process to control the second-phase particles. The second-phase particles were remained after annealing treatment and most of second phases dissolved into the matrix after the homogenization. Particle stimulated nucleation (PSN) was occurred in the annealed specimen during hot rolling process. Large number of equiaxed dynamic recrystallization grains with random orientations were formed around the coarse particles, and PSN accelerated recrystallization, which resulted in grain refinement. PSN enhanced the strength and elongation along transverse direction in the studied alloy sheet, which improved the tensile properties anisotropy.