Objective The first stage of this research work was focused on the choice of the main precipitation system in regard to elevated temperature properties. In this objective, tensile and creep properties at 150 C as well as fracture toughness and corrosion behaviour on rolled plates and sheets in 33 different chemical compositions/semi-products, belonging to the main precipitation systems were assessed. The stability for long exposures at 150 C of most of these alloys has been demonstrated on the basis of fine microstructural investigations and mechanical tests. From these results, it has been clearly established that the A1-2Cu-Mg-Ni system, especially the 2650 alloy, was presenting the best compromise in terms of strength, creep resistance and fracture toughness. In a second step, attempts have been made to optimise the 2 best nominal compositions (2650 & 6056), selected from task 1 on the basis of creep results, and the corresponding ageing treatment in regard to the other properties of use (fatigue, fracture toughness & corrosion). The influence of nickel, iron & manganese contents has been particularly studied on the 2650 alloy. The effort was mainly focused on fatigue, toughness and crack propagation properties but limited creep tests were also carried out to make sure that the creep behaviour was not affected by the by the alloy modifications. Lastly, the achievement of the original technical and economical objectives has been assessed through a comparison of the properties obtained on the optimised alloys with the target properties defined in the initial work programme. From this comparison, it can be clearly stated that all the original objectives of the programme are met, with the development of 2 alloys which present elevated temperature properties much improved over the best existing alloys, i.e. 2618 and 2219, together with damage tolerance properties comparable to the 2024 alloy, known as a reference in this regard. These 2 alloys are fabricated with conventional tools and do not contain any expensive constituent. This garantees that the cost objective is also attained. Besides, the 2 alloys developed do not contain any toxic element, such as nickel, which is present in the 2618 alloy. This is a very positive argument in regard to environment and recyclabilty.Multilayers (ML) are prepared by different techniques such as, evaporation under UHV conditions and sputtering. Extensive X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy studies are made in order to correlate the properties to the structure. Magnetic and magneto-optical and transport properties are also studied Fields of science natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrytransition metalsnatural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsmicroscopyelectron microscopy Programme(s) FP2-BRITE/EURAM 1 - Specific research and technological development programme (EEC) in the fields of industrial manufacturing technologies and advanced materials applications (BRITE/EURAM), 1989-1992 Topic(s) Data not available Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme Data not available Coordinator Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) EU contribution No data Address 1 place Aristide Briand 92195 Meudon France See on map Total cost No data Participants (4) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki Greece EU contribution No data Address 54006 Thessaloniki See on map Total cost No data National Center for Scientific Research "Demokritos" Greece EU contribution No data Address Aghia Paraskevia Attikis 60228 15310 ATHINAI See on map Total cost No data Universidade do Porto Portugal EU contribution No data Address S/N,Rua Dr. Roberto Frias 4200 Porto See on map Total cost No data University of Bristol United Kingdom EU contribution No data Address Senate House Tyndall Avenue BS8 1TH Bristol See on map Links Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
