The effect of infrared rapid heating on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al alloy 319

Rapid heating process using infrared heating source is able to considerably reduce heat treatment process time of AL Alloys without reducing the mechanical properties. This has been attributed to the micro structural improvement one of which is the presence of finer grains compared to those normally observed in the samples heat treated in conventional electrical furnace. In the present work the effect of applying rapid heating using infrared heating source on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AL alloy 319 during T6 process was studied. Results showed that the process period was reduced as much as 60%. in addition, not only hardness increased about 11%, but also the tensile strength considerably increased compared to that obtained from the samples heat treated in conventional electrical furnace.

Keywords:

Rapid heating , infrared heating source , T6 process , AL alloy 319