Microstructural Evolution During Homogenization Heat Treatment of AA 6063 Alloy in Batch and Continuous Furnaces

Homogenization heat treatmentHeat treatments after casting is performed to eliminate the dendritic segregationSegregation and coarse eutectic intermetallic phases since they reduce the fracture toughnessFracture toughness of aluminium alloys. By the homogenization treatment, β-AlFeSi can be converted to more spherical α-AlFeSi particles. The β → α transition is crucial because the β-AlFeSi particles cause a number of surface defectsDefects and limit the extrudability. Also, the rate of cooling in the homogenization furnace is one of the critical influencing factors on the size of the Mg2Si precipitates which affect the mechanical propertiesMechanical properties positively. In this study, billetsBillet of AA 6063 from the same cast were put through homogenization heat treatmentHeat treatments by using batch-type and continuous furnaces. The solution, quenching, and aging heat treatmentHeat treatments were applied to each sample. Microstructural characterizationCharacterization by SEM and the hardnessHardness test were conducted to understand the effects of the furnace type on the mechanical propertiesMechanical properties of aged AA 6063 aluminium.