Abstract: The evolution of microstructure parameters (precipitate size and volume fraction) for two types of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys (7075 and 7055) during aging has been studied by synchrotron-radiation small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The results show that the precipitates are only a few nanometers for both alloys ageing even at higher temperature of 160℃ for 72 h (4.44 and 5.82 nm, respectively). The maximum of the precipitate volume fraction increases with in creasing Zn content and is about 0.023~0.028 and 0.052~0.054, respectively. The coarsening of precipitate is consistent with LSW (Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner) model even at the initial stage where volume fraction is still varying. The activation energy of coarsening regime has been determined to be about 1.22±0.02 eV and 1.25±0.02 eV for alloys 7075 and 7055, respectively.

Key words: Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys, Ageing, Precipitate size, Volume fraction