Engineered aluminum alloy and method of fabricating the same

Abstract

Provided are an aluminum alloy having an adjusted microstructure in an aluminum matrix or an aluminum alloy matrix for high elongation percentage or high strength and a method of fabricating the same. The aluminum alloy includes an aluminum-based matrix; and a nonmetal element solidified in the aluminum-based matrix, wherein stacking fault energy of the aluminum alloy is decreased compared to that of pure aluminum.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An aluminum alloy comprising:
 an aluminum-based matrix; and   a nonmetal element solidified in the aluminum-based matrix,   wherein stacking fault energy of the aluminum alloy is decreased compared to that of pure aluminum.   
     
     
         2 . The aluminum alloy of  claim 1 , wherein the nonmetal element comprises at least one of oxygen and nitrogen. 
     
     
         3 . The aluminum alloy of  claim 1 , wherein the nonmetal element is solidified to less than or equal to 1 wt % of aluminum of the aluminum-based matrix. 
     
     
         4 . The aluminum alloy of  claim 1 , wherein the stacking fault energy of the aluminum alloy is less than 100 mJ/m 2 . 
     
     
         5 . The aluminum alloy of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the aluminum-based matrix comprises a twin boundary or a partial dislocation. 
     
     
         6 . The aluminum alloy of  claim 1 , wherein the nonmetal element is solidified in the aluminum alloy by adding nanoparticles of a metal compound between the nonmetal element and a heterogeneous metal element to molten aluminum and decomposing the nanoparticles into the nonmetal element and the heterogeneous metal element. 
     
     
         7 . A method of fabricating an aluminum alloy comprising:
 providing the melt of aluminum or an aluminum alloy providing an aluminum-based matrix;   adding nanoparticles of a metal compound between a nonmetal element and a heterogeneous metal element to the melt;   uniformly dispersing the nonmetal element and the heterogeneous metal element in the melt through decomposition of the nanoparticles into the nonmetal element and the heterogeneous metal element; and   cooling the melt so as to solidify the nonmetal element in at least a portion of the aluminum-based matrix.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the stacking fault energy of the aluminum alloy is less than 100 mJ/m 2 . 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the heterogeneous metal element comprises copper, iron, zinc, titanium, magnesium, or a mixture of two or more thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the nonmetal element comprises at least one of oxygen and nitrogen. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the nonmetal element is solidified to less than or equal to 1 wt % of aluminum of the aluminum-based matrix. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the average size of the nanoparticles is from about 20 nm to about 100 nm. 
     
     
         13 . An aluminum alloy comprising:
 an aluminum-based matrix; and   a precipitation compound dispersed in the aluminum-based matrix,   wherein the precipitation compound comprises a compound containing aluminum, one or more transition metals, and one or more nonmetal elements or a compound containing the above-stated elements.   
     
     
         14 . The aluminum alloy of  claim 13 , wherein the average size of the precipitation compound is from about 10 nm to about 1 μm. 
     
     
         15 . The aluminum alloy of  claim 13 , wherein the transition metal comprises at least one of chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), and manganese (Mn). 
     
     
         16 . The aluminum alloy of  claim 13 , wherein the nonmetal element is supersaturated in the aluminum and comprises at least one of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon. 
     
     
         17 . The aluminum alloy of  claim 13 , wherein the precipitation compound is formed via a heat treatment. 
     
     
         18 . The aluminum alloy of  claim 13 , wherein the aluminum-based matrix comprising:
 an aluminum alloy; and   alloying elements of the aluminum alloy comprises at least one of silicon (Si), zinc (Zn), magnesium (Mg), and copper (Cu).   
     
     
         19 . A method of fabricating an aluminum alloy comprising:
 providing the melt of an aluminum alloy comprising aluminum and a first transition metal;   adding a nonmetal element-containing precursor comprising at least one of a first reaction compound between the first transition metal and a nonmetal element, a second reaction compound between a second transition metal different from the first transition metal and the nonmetal element, and a third reaction compound between a non-transition metal and the nonmetal element to the melt;   supersaturating the nonmetal element in the melt through decomposition of the nonmetal element-containing precursor in the melt;   forming a casted material by hardening the melt; and   forming a precipitation compound between aluminum, a transition metal, and a nonmetal element dispersed in an aluminum-based matrix by heat-treating the hardened casted material.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the first transition metal comprises at least one of chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), and manganese (Mn). 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the nonmetal element comprises at least one of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the non-transition metal of the third reaction compound comprises at least one of aluminum (Al), silicon (Si), magnesium (Mg), and tungsten (W). 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the nonmetal element-containing precursor is added to the melt in the form of power having the average diameter within a range from about 5 nm to about 50 nm. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the nonmetal element-containing precursor is added in the range from 0.01 wt % to 5.0 wt % of the total weight of the melt. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising plastic working and hardening the hardened casted material before the hardened casted material is heat treated. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the heat treatment is performed at a temperature within a range from 120° C. to 600° C.