Optimisation of the Solution Heat Treatment of Rheo-Processed Al-Cu-Mg-(Ag) Alloys A206 and A201

The traditional solution treatment cycles that are currently applied to rheo-processed A201 are mostly those that are used for conventional castings. These solution treatments are not necessarily the optimum solution treatments for rheo-processing. As a result, DSC analysis was done to optimize this heat treatment. The new solution treatment, which consists of higher temperatures and shorter times (515°C/5h, followed by 570°C/10h), resulted in slightly higher hardness values for both alloy A206 and A201.