Abstract:
Beryllium-aluminum (Be–Al) alloys are promising lightweight structural materials but suffer from intrinsic brittleness, coarse microstructures, and weak interfaces that limit their applicability. This study designs a tailored solutionizing and aging treatment for Ag–Co–Ge co‑alloyed Be–Al (BA‑A) alloy, enabling control over grain size, precipitate nucleation, morphology, and spatial distribution. The resulting multi-component structure has a bimodal Be phase with both refined and coarse rosette-like micro-scale grains, embedded in Al matrix containing high density of nanoscale precipitates, including spherical AgAl₁₉, acicular Ag₃Al₇, and rod-shaped Al₆Ge₅. This precipitation hierarchy yields a 12.3% increase in ultimate tensile strength (to 291.5 MPa) and a remarkable 76.8% enhancement in elongation (to 3.75%). Strengthening arises dominantly from Orowan bypassing (σOR ≈ 65 MPa), geometrically necessary dislocations from refined Be particles, and interfacial cohesion. Strain partitioning, heterogeneous precipitate induced dislocation interactions, and stabilized slip bands collectively delay necking and promote energy dissipation. This work establishes a precipitation strategy for designing Be–Al alloys with balanced strength-ductility synergy.