Electrical Resistivity and Positron Lifetime Studies of Precipitation Effects in Al-Cu-Based Alloys

The improved workability of the commercial automatic machine designed alloy Al-Cu-Bi-Pb is guaranteed by the presence of Pb. Nevertheless, the toxic element Pb reduces some of the alloy properties. Therefore new Pb-free machinable Al-based alloys are developed. The Al-Cu-Bi-Sn alloy belongs to these non-traditional materials. The contribution deals with the investigation of precipitation effects in Al-Cu-Bi-Sn alloy during step-by-step isochronal annealing up to 500°C after previous solution heat treatment by means of positron annihilation spectroscopy completed with electrical resistivity measurements and results of independent transmission electron microscopy studies. The used combination of experimental methods gives the possibility to detect separately the redistribution of Sn and Cu atoms in the matrix and to study the influence of vacancies on this process.