Calibrating a Solution Heat Treatment Model for Mg₂Si in AA 6061 Plate: From Plant Data to Predictive Process Windows
摘要
This research investigated the effect of solution heat treatmentHeat treatment temperature (450–570 °C) and time (2–32 min) on the dissolutionDissolution behaviour of Mg2Si in AA 6061AA 6061. Comparisons were made between experimental results and predictions from a dissolutionDissolution model. The study also examined how SHT parameters influence aged electrical conductivity and hardnessHardness. Findings aligned with existing literature regarding Mg2Si dissolutionDissolution kinetics: limited dissolutionDissolution and particle coarsening occurred at lower temperatures, while near the solvus temperature, full dissolutionDissolution was achieved within two minutes. Both the model predictions and experimental data exhibited similar trends, although the model tended to underestimate Mg2Si dissolutionDissolution, with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.541 µm. Lower SHT temperatures resulted in higher electrical conductivity (~45–47% IACS) and moderate hardnessHardness (~50–90 HV) after ageing. Conversely, higher SHT temperatures improved aged hardnessHardness (~102–114 HV) but decreased electrical conductivity (~41% IACS). The study demonstrates the utility of predictive modelling for alloy optimizationOptimization.