Nanoscale Hardening Precipitiation in AlMgSi Alloys: A Transmission Electron Microscopy and Small‐Angle Neutron Scattering Study

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) have been used to study hardening precipitation in a 6056 Al–Mg–Cu–Si alloy at peak ageing. TEM observations revealed that the precipitates adopt rod and lath morphologies. A TEM image analysis, using group-symmetry properties, revealed that the precipitates belong to the orthorhombic (2/m 2/m 2/m) point group. The SANS data analysis, based on a log-normal model, yields the distribution and mean size of the rod precipitates.