Phase Field Simulation of AA6XXX Aluminium Alloys Heat Treatment

Heat treatment has a significant impact on the microstructure and the mechanical properties of Al-Mg-Si alloys. The present study presents a first Phase-Field modelling approach on the recrystallisation and grain growth mechanism during annealing. It focuses on the precipitate fraction, radius, and Mg-Si concentration in the matrix phase, which are used as input data for the calculation of the yield strength and hardness at the end of different ageing treatments. Annealing and artificial ageing simulations have been conducted on the MultiPhase-Field based MICRESS@ software, while the ThermoCalc@ software has been used to construct the pseudo-binary Al-Mg phase-diagrams and the atomic-mobility databases of MgxSiy precipitates. Recrystallisation simulation estimates the recrystallisation kinetics, the grain growth, and the interface mobility with the presence/absence of secondary particles, selecting as annealing temperature 400 °C and a microstructure previously subjected to cold rolling. The pinning force of secondary particles decelerates the overall recrystallisation time, causing a slight decrease in the final grain radius due to the reduction of interface mobility. The ageing simulation examines different ageing temperatures (180 and 200 °C) for two distinct ternary systems (Al-0.9Mg-0.6Si/Al-1.0Mg-1.1Si wt.%) considering the interface energy and the chemical free energy as the driving force for precipitation. The combination of Phase-Field and the Deschamps–Brechet model predicted the under-ageing condition for the 180 °C ageing treatment and the peak-ageing condition for the 200 °C ageing treatment.