Quantitative characterization of the microstructure of an electron-beam welded medium strength Al-Zn-Mg alloy

The microstructure of an electron beam weld of a medium strength Al-4.5%Zn-1%Mg (wt.%) alloy has been characterized in terms of solute element distribution, grain structure and fine-scale precipitates after a T6 post-welding heat treatment. It is found that the weld nugget consists of small grains, whose size (1-50 mu m) is heterogeneously distributed. The nugget composition is unaffected in Mg but depleted of 20% in Zn in the first run zone. This is shown to affect the fine-scale precipitate microstructure, which has been mapped in the weld cross-section using Small-Angle X-ray Scattering. It is shown that the nugget exhibits a precipitate size only slightly different from that of the base material after the post-welding heat treatment, and that the difference in volume fraction, much more significant, can be understood from the magnitude of the solute depletion. The relative precipitate sizes and volume fractions in the weld nugget and base material enable to understand effectively the corresponding microhardness levels. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.