Effect of dislocation structure evolution on low-angle grain boundary formation in 7050 aluminum alloy during aging

The effect of dislocation structure evolution on low-angle grain boundary formation in 7050 aluminum alloy during aging was studied by using optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and electron backscatter diffraction analysis of misorientation angle distribution, cumulative misorientation and geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density. Experimental results indicate that coarse spindle-shaped grains with the dimension of 200 µm×80 µm separate into fine equiaxed grains of 20 µm in size as a result of newborn low-angle grain boundaries formed during the aging process. More specifically, the dislocation arrays, which are rearranged and formed due to scattered dislocations during earlier quenching, transform into low-angle grain boundaries with aging time. The relative frequency of 3°-5° low-angle grain boundaries increases to over 30%. The GND density, which describes low-angle grain boundaries with the misorientation angle under 3°, tends to decrease during initial aging. The inhomogeneous distribution of GNDs is affected by grain orientation. A decrease in GND density mainly occurs from 1.83×10¹³ to 4.40×10¹¹ m^-2 in grains with 〈111〉 fiber texture. This is consistent with a decrease of unit cumulative misorientation. Precipitation on grain boundaries and the formation of a precipitation free zone (PFZ) are facilitated due to the eroding activity of the Graff etchant. Consequently, low-angle grain boundaries could be readily viewed by optical microscopy due to an increase in their electric potential difference.