Materials and Design 31 (2010) 23682374

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Materials and Design

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matdes

Aging behavior of a 2024 Al alloy-SiCp composite

S.M.R. Mousavi Abarghouie *, S.M. Seyed Reihani
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Azadi Ave., Tehran P.O. Box 11155-9466, Iran

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 8 September 2009
Accepted 29 November 2009
Available online 3 December 2009
Keywords:
2024 Al
Composite
Age-hardening

a b s t r a c t
In the present research work the 2024 aluminum alloy was reinforced with SiC particles via powder metallurgy method. The effect of heat treatment conditions on articial aging kinetics was investigated. The
solution treatment of the composite sample and the unreinforced alloy was carried out at 495 C for 1, 2
and 3 h followed by aging at 191 C for various aging times between 1 and 10 h. The existence of SiC particles led to increasing the peak hardness of the alloy. The peak hardness of the composite sample took
place at shorter times than that of the unreinforced alloy for the samples solution treated for 2 and 3 h,
but took place at longer times for the samples solution treated for 1 h. The suitable solution treating time
was about 2 h for both the composite and the unreinforced alloy that led to the fastest aging kinetics and
the maximum hardness. At the solution treating time shorter than 2 h due to incomplete dissolution of
precipitates, the aging kinetics decelerated and the hardness values decreased. X-ray diffraction studies
indicated the presence of precipitation phases such as CuAl2 and CuMgAl2 in the composite in both asextruded and solutionized conditions. For the samples solution treated more than 2 h, hardness values
decreased due to the grain growth of matrix but no change occurred in the aging kinetics.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
In recent years, Al alloys have attracted attention of many
researchers, engineers and designers as a promising structural
material in different industries like aerospace and automotive. Special 2xxx series of Al alloys have been studied extensively because
of their high strength to weight ratio, good formability, age hardenablity and other appropriate properties. Among Al alloys, 2024 Al
has the highest hardness [1]. But some of the mechanical properties such as low wear resistance; have limited application of these
materials. Adding SiC reinforcing particles to these materials leads
to increase the wear resistance [2]. Aging treatment can signicantly increase properties of some of Al alloys and their composites, especially 2xxx and 6xxx series alloys. In investigation of
age-hardening kinetics, it has been shown that the addition of
ceramic particles to age-hardenable Al alloys has different effects
on precipitation of composite compared with unreinforced alloy
[35]. It was proposed that the addition of reinforcing particles
accelerates the aging kinetics [69], on the other hand, there were
some explanations that it decreases or poses very little alteration
in the aging kinetics [10,11].
Cottu et al. [12] showed that age-hardening kinetics of
AlCuMg alloy-10 wt.% SiC ber composite was enhanced by
the presence of the reinforcement during heat treatment. They
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 9133561769; fax: +98 2166165261.
E-mail address: smr.mousavi1364@gmail.com (S.M.R. Mousavi Abarghouie).
0261-3069/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2009.11.063

explained this by the plastic deformation induced during heat

treatment due to the difference between coefcients of thermal
expansion (CTE) of matrix and reinforcement. Thomas and King
[13] stated that in powder metallurgy (PM) aluminium alloy
2124/SiCp composites, the presence of reinforcing particles facilitates the nucleation of S0 which results in the reduction of the required time to achieve peak hardness. Dutta and Bourell [14] and
Appendino et al. [15] studied 6061 aluminum alloy reinforced with
SiC particles. They showed that the precipitation sequence of the
composite was similar with that of the unreinforced 6061 alloy,
but the aging kinetics was altered. Aging was accelerated because
solute diffusivity increased as dislocation density increased too.
However, Pal et al. [16] showed that in the AlCuMg alloy composite reinforced with different percentages of SiC particles, the
presence of reinforcing particles led to decelerate age-hardening
kinetics. They attributed this behavior to lower concentration of
vacancies, inadequate dislocation density and extensive interfacial
segregation of alloying elements. Similar observations of the effect
of the ceramic particles on the aging kinetics were previously made
for Al alloys-Al2O3 composites [17,18]. Skibo et al. [19] reported
that there is not obvious difference in the age-hardening kinetics
between the 6061 Al alloy and its composite reinforced with 10
and 20 wt.% SiC aged at 175 C. Although it is accepted that the
aging behavior depends on the type of reinforcement and its volume fraction, alloy composition, heat treatment and other processing parameters [16], it is known that there is still a lack of
information about aging behavior of Al alloys and their composites.

S.M.R. Mousavi Abarghouie, S.M. Seyed Reihani / Materials and Design 31 (2010) 23682374

2369

Table 1
Chemical analysis (wt.%) of 2024 aluminum alloy used in this research.
Element

Cu

Mg

Mn

Si

Fe

Al

Chemical composition (wt.%)

4.3

1.4

0.55

0.01

0.01

Balance

Considering strict importance and widespread applications of

these materials, in this research the effect of heat treatment conditions and also SiC reinforcing particles on the articial aging kinetics and behavior of a 2024 Al-SiCp composite produced by powder
metallurgy technique was studied.
2. Materials and experimental procedure
2.1. Materials
The 2024 Al alloy powder with average particle size of 80 lm
was used in this research that supplied by Khorasan Powder Metallurgy Company, Mashhad, Iran. The composition of this powder
is given in Table 1. Commercial a-SiC particles with average particle size of 20 lm and density of 3.2 g/cm3 were used as the
reinforcement.
2.2. Processing

Fig. 1. SEM (SE) micrograph of the 2024 Al alloy-20 vol.% SiC composite in the asextruded, showing a uniform distribution of SiC particles in the extrusion
direction(ED).

In this research, the aluminum matrix composite was manufactured by powder metallurgy technique. In this process the 2024 Al
powder and 20 vol.% SiC particulates were blended in a Turbula.
The mixture was cold pressed into Al cans with a load of
250 MPa using a STS hydraulic press. Then the pressed samples
were extruded with the extrusion ratio of 16:1 after pre-heating
at 495 C for 30 min in the argon environment. The ram speed
was 2.5 mm/s in this experiment. The unreinforced 2024 Al alloy
was produced by the same method. The as-extruded 2024 Al alloy-20 vol.% SiC composite and its unreinforced alloy were solution
treated at 495 C for 13 h and then quenched in the cold water.
The specimens were placed inside the furnace, after the required
temperature was reached, and time was measured after the temperature stabilized. The cooling rate of specimens is expected to
be in the range of 470475 C/s during the quenching, supposing
an initial decrease about 2025 C had happened in the interval between the exit from the furnace and quench medium. Some of the
solution treated specimens were kept inside the freezer in the temperature about 18 C in order to prevent the natural aging. Other
samples were subsequently articially aged at 191 C for various
times.
The chemical composition of microstructural features was
determined by use of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) of type
VEGA2 TESCAN equipped with a RONTOC energy dispersive X-ray
(EDX) detector. SEM micrographs of the as-extruded and solution
treated samples were acquired using back-scattered electron
(BSE) and secondary electron (SE) detectors. A PHILIPS PW3710 diffractometer was used to identify the present phases in the as-extruded and solution treated composites using CuKa radiation. In
order to investigate the aging kinetics, hardness measurements
were performed using an INSTRON WOLPERT Vickers hardness tester with the load of 30 kg. At least 5 hardness measurements were
done on each sample and then averaged.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Microstructural characterization
Fig. 1 shows a SEM (SE) micrograph of 2024 Al-20 vol.% SiC
composite in the as-extruded condition. One can see the uniform
distribution of SiCp arranged in the direction of extrusion (ED) at

Fig. 2. (a) SEM (BSE) micrograph of the 2024 Al alloy-20 vol.% SiC composite in the
as-extruded; (b) EDX spectrum of a precipitate shown in the SEM image of Fig. 2a.

2370

S.M.R. Mousavi Abarghouie, S.M. Seyed Reihani / Materials and Design 31 (2010) 23682374

the matrix structure. Fig. 2a shows a SEM (BSE) micrograph of the

as-extruded composite sample. The precipitates which formed
during the extrusion treatment can be seen clearly. It can be seen
that there is a considerable volume fraction of these precipitates in
the matrix. The brightness of these precipitates is due to higher
atomic number of Cu in comparison with aluminum, silicon and
carbon. EDX spot analyses can conrm the enrichment of solutes,
including Cu and Mg at the bright spots shown in the SEM image
of Fig. 2a. These results have been shown in Fig. 2b. Also the Xray diffraction (XRD) pattern of this specimen (Fig. 3) can prove
the existence of these precipitates as CuAl2 and CuMgAl2 phases.
Fig. 4ac shows SEM (BSE) images of 2024Al alloy-20 vol.% SiCp
composite in three different conditions of solution treatment at
495 C for 13 h, respectively. It can be seen from Fig. 4a that there
are much undissolved precipitates in the structure (the bright
phases in the microstructure). The typical XRD pattern of the sample solution treated at 495 C for 1 h (Fig. 5) can conrm the existence of these remanent undissolved precipitates in the structure.
These phases are often CuAl2 and CuMgAl2. The EDX spot analyses
of this sample, with spectra resembling has been shown in Fig. 4d.
We can propose that the enrichment of solutes like Cu and Mg at
the structure shown in the SEM image of Fig. 4a can be conrmed.
Therefore, the time of solution treatment (1 h) had not been sufcient for complete dissolution of precipitates because many of
these precipitates have remained undissolved in the composite
matrix. Fig. 4b shows the SEM image of the composite sample solution treated at 495 C for 2 h. As can be seen, a few undissolved
precipitates (bright phases) have remained in the matrix. It is clear
that the undissolved precipitates in the sample solution treated for
2 h (Fig. 4b) are much less than those in the sample solution treated for 1 h (Fig. 4a). Image Analysis of the samples solution treated
for 1 and 2 h with the same interfaces of matrix-particles showed
that the remnant precipitates in the composite matrix in the latter
sample (solution treated for 2 h) equals almost one fth of those in
the former sample (solution treated for 1 h). In fact, the dissolution
of precipitates in the sample solution treated for 2 h is much closer
to its completion than that in the sample solution treated for 1 h.
Fig. 4c shows the SEM micrograph of the composite sample solu-

tion treated at 495 C for 3 h. It is clear that the amounts of precipitates in this condition are almost similar to those in the 2 h
solution treated condition (Fig. 4b). Therefore, the solution treating
time has a signicant effect on dissolution of the precipitates. It
is important to note at high cooling rates (in this research about
470475 C), the possibility of segregation of the solutes and the
formation of the intermediate precipitates during quenching from
solution treating temperature is unlikely. Therefore the precipitates and the enrichment zones of solutes in the structure that
their existence was proved are the precipitates that have existed
in the structure before the heat treatment and have not been dissolved during the solution treatment.
3.2. Aging kinetics
Fig. 6ac shows the hardness changes of the composite and its
unreinforced alloy as a function of aging time after the solution
treatment at 495 C for 13 h, respectively. It can be seen that with
increasing of the solution treating time to 2 h, the aging kinetics in
the composite and the unreinforced alloy accelerates (the required
time for reaching the peak hardness decreases). We can suppose
that the solution treating time for complete dissolution of precipitates was insufcient for the samples solution treated for 1 h. This
theory can be proved by obtaining much more remained precipitates compared with the sample solution treated for 2 h (Fig. 4b).
Therefore, the lower aging kinetics of the composite sample at
shorter solution treating time can be attributed to the presence
of undissolved precipitates. This can lead to reduction of alloying
elements content in the matrix and will subsequently reduce the
supersaturation of solute. It leads to reduce the chemical driving
force for the precipitation and subsequently causes the slower
aging kinetics. So in the samples solution treated for 2 h due to
suitable solution treating time, a considerable volume fraction of
precipitates has dissolved. Therefore, the aging kinetics increases.
The reason of hardness changes in the unreinforced alloy is similar
to the composite sample. We can see from Fig. 6a and b that the
peak hardness values have increased for both the composite and
the unreinforced alloy on solution treatment for 2 h compared to

Fig. 3. XRD pattern of the as-extruded 2024 Al alloy-20 vol.% SiC composite.

S.M.R. Mousavi Abarghouie, S.M. Seyed Reihani / Materials and Design 31 (2010) 23682374

2371

Fig. 4. SEM (BSE) micrograph of the 2024 Al alloy-20 vol.% SiC composite solution treated at 495 C for: (a) 1 h; (b) 2 h; (c) 3 h, (d) EDX spectrum of a precipitate shown in the
SEM image of Fig. 4a.

those on solution treatment for 1 h. This can be attributed to higher

volume fraction of precipitates in the former (solution treated for
2 h). In the solution treatment condition for 1 h, incomplete dissolution of the precipitates leads to decrease the volume fraction of
the strengthening precipitates formed during the aging in comparison with those formed during the aging treatment after solution
treated for 2 h. Also the hardness of the composite sample and
the unreinforced alloy that both were solution treated for 2 h with
no aging treatment, decreased compared to the samples solution
treated for 1 h with no aging treatment. This can be attributed to
decrease of the undissolved precipitates and the grain growth of
the matrix in 2 h solution treated condition. Therefore, the increase
of the solution treating time leads to more dissolution of the precipitates and will accelerate aging kinetics, but it decreases the
hardness value (in solution treated condition with no aging
treatment).
It can be seen from Fig. 6a that the required time to reach the
peak hardness of the unreinforced alloy and the composite is 7
and 8 h, respectively. So in this condition (1 h solution treated)
the aging kinetics of the unreinforced alloy is faster than that of

the composite. This is contrary to the expected results. Frequently

it is expected that the aging kinetics of composite be faster than
that of the unreinforced alloy. This is due to the high dislocation
density at the interface of matrix-particle in the composite. These
dislocations provide suitable sites for the heterogeneous nucleation of the second phase precipitates and subsequently lead to
the acceleration of the aging kinetics. When the composite is
cooled from the solution treating temperature, mismatch strains
occur due to difference between the coefcients of thermal expansion of the matrix and the ceramic particles (CTE2024Al = 24  106/
C and CTESiC = 4  106/C) [16]. These thermal strains can be calculated by Eq. (1) as follows [20]:

eth Da DT

where Da is the difference between the coefcients of thermal

expansion of the matrix and the reinforcement and DT is the temperature changes.
Because of the thermal mismatch strains, plastic deformation
will take place, and this produces a high density of dislocations,

2372

S.M.R. Mousavi Abarghouie, S.M. Seyed Reihani / Materials and Design 31 (2010) 23682374

Fig. 5. XRD pattern of the 2024 Al alloy-20 vol.% SiC composite solution treated at 495 C for 1 h.

Fig. 6. Variation of hardness vs. aging time for 2024Al-20 vol.% SiC composite and 2024 Al alloy aged at 191 C and solutionized at 495 C for: (a) 1 h; (b) 2 h; (c) 3 h.

especially in the vicinity of SiC particles. The density of dislocations

q can be calculated as follows [20]:

B Vf e
b t1  f

where B is a geometric constant that is theoretically between 4 (for

reinforcement aspect ratio = 1) and 12 (for reinforcement aspect
ratio = 1), e the thermal strain given by Eq. (1), Vf the volume fraction of reinforcement, b the Burgers vector and t the smallest

S.M.R. Mousavi Abarghouie, S.M. Seyed Reihani / Materials and Design 31 (2010) 23682374

2373

Fig. 7. (a) SEM (BSE) micrograph of the solutionized 2024 Al alloy-20 vol.% SiC composite, (b) EDX spectrum of the precipitates shown in the SEM image of Fig. 7a.

dimension of the reinforcement. During the aging, these dislocations are the suitable sites for heterogeneous nucleation of precipitates; furthermore they act as paths for pipe diffusion and thus
increasing the kinetics of aging [2].
However, in this research the aging kinetics of the composite
was slower than that of the unreinforced alloy according to
Fig. 6a. The slower kinetics of aging in the Al alloys-SiC composites
compared to that in their unreinforced alloys can be attributed to
the following theories [16]:
(a) Excessive segregation of alloying elements at the AlSiC
interfaces and presence of undissolved and coarse precipitates in the structure lead to depletion of the solute inside
the matrix. This will lead to the lower supersaturation of solute. A lower degree of supersaturation of solute would
reduce the chemical driving force for precipitation in the
composite. It will reduce the rate of process, consequently.
(b) Dislocation density in the composite that has a critical role
for precipitation may be inadequate for accelerating the
aging kinetics [16].
(c) The presence of SiC particles leads to the reduction in the
volume fraction of GuinierPreston (GP) zones. This is due
to the lower vacancy concentration in the matrix of the composite compared to that in the unreinforced alloy. Lower
vacancy concentration in the composite is due to the large
area of matrix-particle interfaces that acts as vacancy sinks.
Therefore, the lower vacancy concentration in the composite
compared to that in the unreinforced alloy is responsible for
retarding the formation of GP zones. So delay in initial step
of aging due to lower density of GP zones may affect the
remaining steps of aging and leads to the slower aging kinetics of composite compared to that of its unreinforced alloy.
In this study, the slower aging kinetics of the composite compared to the unreinforced alloy is probably due to the existence
of many matrix-particles interfaces in the composite, which are
suitable sites for segregation of the solutes and stability of the precipitates. This leads to lower concentration of the solutes in the
matrix of the composite and causes a decrease in the degree of
the solutes supersaturation. This will cause a decrease in the chemical driving force for precipitation and therefore decelerates the
aging kinetics. Fig. 7a shows a SEM (BSE) image of the composite

sample. From the gure it is clear that much volume fraction of

the undissolved precipitates (bright phases) are located at the
AlSiC interfaces. This indicates that the matrix-particle interfaces
are preferential sites for segregation of the solutes and stability of
the precipitates. Also EDX spot analyses, with spectra resembling
that in Fig. 7b, have conrmed the enrichment of solutes like Cu
and Mg at many of the AlSiC interfaces shown in the SEM image
of Fig. 7a. Previously Hunt et al. [21] have reported retardation of S0
precipitation in the matrix of the composite. They have attributed
this behavior to higher intermetallic phases content in the composite compared to that in the unreinforced alloy and incomplete solution treatment, which makes solutes unavailable for S0 formation.
However, for the composite samples solution treated for 2 and
3 h, the time for dissolving of more precipitates is sufcient and
so the effect of matrix-particles interfaces on stability of precipitates decreases. Therefore, as it can be seen from Fig. 6b and c
the aging kinetics of the composite is faster than that of the unreinforced alloy. By comparison of Fig. 6b and c, it can be seen that
the aging kinetics has not almost changed in solution treatment
condition for 3 h compared to that in solution treatment condition
for 2 h, in both the composite and the unreinforced alloy samples.
Therefore, the solution treating time more than 2 h does not have
any obvious effect on the aging kinetics for the composite and its
unreinforced alloy. Also it is obvious by comparison of Fig. 6b
and c, that the peak hardness value has decreased for the samples
solution treated for 3 h, compared to that of the samples solution
treated for 2 h. This can be attributed to grain growth of the matrix
with increasing of the solution treating time [2224]. With increasing of the solution treating time, the grain size of the matrix has
been increased which would cause fewer obstacles (grain boundaries) to the movement of dislocation and subsequently will decrease the hardness and the strength [2224]. Therefore, solution
treatment for 2 h had been a suitable time for dissolution of more
precipitates. Longer solution treating times would not accelerate
aging kinetics signicantly, although lead to growth of grains and
subsequently decrease the hardness. In fact, in solution treating
times more than 2 h, the solution treating time on the grain growth
and subsequently on decrease of the hardness has been more effective than that on the aging kinetics. Thus, one can say that 2 h is a
critical time for solution treatment of this composite and its unreinforced alloy since the fastest aging kinetics and the maximum
hardness value is obtained in this time.

2374

S.M.R. Mousavi Abarghouie, S.M. Seyed Reihani / Materials and Design 31 (2010) 23682374

4. Conclusion
The aging behavior of the 2024 Al alloy and its composite reinforced with 20 vol.% SiC particles was studied after solution treatment at 495 C for 13 h. The conclusions derived from this study
can be given as follows:
(1) The precipitation phases present in the composite in both
as-extruded and solutionized conditions were CuAl2 and
CuMgAl2 phases. The composite samples solution treated
for 1 h have a larger fraction of these undissolved precipitates than those solutionized for 2 and 3 h.
(2) The suitable solution treating time was about 2 h for both
the composite and the unreinforced alloy that leads to the
fastest aging kinetics and the maximum hardness.
(3) At the solution treating time shorter than 2 h, the aging
kinetics decelerated and the hardness values decreased. At
the solution treating time longer than 2 h, the hardness
value decreased but no change occurred in the aging kinetics. The difference in age-hardening behavior based on the
time of solution treatment has been attributed to the different concentration of solutes in solid solution after the solution treatment. On solution treatment for 1 h due to
incomplete dissolution of precipitates, the concentration of
solutes in the solid solution is lower than that on solution
treatment for 2 and 3 h.
(4) The composite reached its peak hardness in shorter time
compared with the unreinforced alloy on solution treatment
for 2 and 3 h, but reached it in longer time on solution treatment for 1 h.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their gratefulness to Materials Science and Engineering Department of Sharif University of
Tech. ofcials who cooperated during experiments.
References
[1] Kacar H, Atik E, Meric C. The effect of precipitation-hardening conditions on
wear behaviours at 2024 aluminium wrought alloy. J Mater Proc Tech
2003;142:7626.

[2] Guo J, Yuan X. The aging behavior of SiC/Gr/6061 Al composite in T4 and T6

treatments. Mater Sci Eng A 2009;499:2124.
[3] Chen KC, Chao CG. Effect of d alumina bers on the aging characteristics of
2024-based metal-matrix composites. Metall Trans A 1995;26:103543.
[4] Bekheet NE, Gadelrab RM, Salah MF, Abdel-Azim AN. The effects of aging on
the hardness and fatigue behavior of 2024 Al alloy/SiC composites. Mater Des
2002;23:1539.
[5] Nieh TG, Karlak RF. Aging characteristics of B4C-reinforced 6061 aluminum.
Scripta Metall 1984;18:258.
[6] Christman T, Suresh S. Microstructural development in an aluminum alloy-SiC
whisker composite. Acta Metall 1988;36:1691704.
[7] Suresh S, Christman T, Sugimura Y. Accelerated aging in cast Al alloy-SiC
particulate composites. Scripta Metall 1989;23:1599602.
[8] Mandal A, Maiti R, Chakraborty M, Murty BS. Effect of TiB2 particles on aging
response of Al4Cu alloy. Mater Sci Eng A 2004;386:296300.
[9] Lu L, Lai MO, Su Y, Teo HL, Feng CF. In situ TiB2 reinforced Al alloy composites.
Scripta Mater 2001;45:101723.
[10] Li W, Long JP, Jing S, Shen BL, Gao SJ, Tu MJ. Aging characteristics of short
mullite ber reinforced Al4.0Cu1.85Mg metal matrix composite. J Mater Eng
Perform 2003;12:1922.
[11] Janowski GM, Pletka BJ. The effect of particle size and volume fraction on the
aging behavior of a liquid-phase sintered SiC/aluminum composite. Metall
Mater Trans 1995;26A:302735.
[12] Cottu JP, Coudere JJ, Viguier B, Bernard L. Inuence of SiC reinforcement on
precipitation and hardening of a metal matrix composite. J Mater Sci
1992;27:306874.
[13] Thomas MP, King JE. Comparison of the aging behaviour of PM 2124 Al alloy
and AlSiCp metal-matrix composite. J Mater Sci 1994;29:52728.
[14] Dutta I, Bourell DL. A theoretical and experimental study of aluminum alloy
6061-SiC metal matrix composite to identify the operative mechanism for
accelerated aging. Mater Sci Eng A 1989;112:6777.
[15] Appendino P, Badini C, Marino F, Tomasi A. 6061 aluminum alloy-SiC
particulate composite: a comparison between aging behavior in T4 and T6
treatment. Mater Sci Eng A 1991;135:2759.
[16] Pal S, Mitra R, Bhanuprasad VV. Aging behaviour of AlCuMg alloy-SiC
composites. Mater Sci Eng A 2008;480:496505.
[17] Daoud A, Reif W. Inuence of Al2O3 particulate on the aging response of A356
Al-based composites. J Mater Proc Tech 2002;123:3138.
[18] Abdel-Azim AN, Shash Y, Mostafa SF, Younan A. Aging behaviour of 2024-Al
alloy reinforced with Al2O3 particles. J Mater Proc Tech 1995;55:1405.
[19] Skibo M, Morris PL, Lloyd DJ. In: Fishman SG, Dhirngra AK, editors. Cast
reinforced composites. ASM International; 1988. p. 25761.
[20] Everett RK, Arsenault RJ. Metal matrix composites: mechanisms and
properties. Boston: Academic press; 1991. p. 92.
[21] Hunt E, Pitcher PD, Gregson PJ. In: Khan T, effenberg G, editors. Advanced
aluminium and magnesium alloys. PA: ASM International; 1991. p. 687.
[22] Chen YC, Feng JC, Liu HJ. Stability of the grain structure in 2219-O aluminum
alloy friction stir welds during solution treatment. Mater Charact
2007;58:1748.
[23] Cheng S, Zhao YH, Zhu YT, Ma E. Optimizing the strength and ductility of ne
structured 2024 Al alloy by nano-precipitation. Acta Mater 2007;55:582232.
[24] Li W, Xia K. Kinetics of the a grain growth in a binary Ti44Al alloy and a
ternary Ti44Al0.15Gd alloy. Mater Sci Eng A 2002;329331:4304.