Effect of cold working on hydrogen embrittlement resistance of high strength Al - Zn - Mg base alloy

Abstract

Light weight and high-strength, aluminum alloys are widely used as structural components of transportation equipment such as aircraft, railway cars and automobiles. Recently, weight reduction and improvement of driving performance is required and increasing strength of light metallic materials has been expected in the near future. The 7000 series aluminum has the highest strength among practical aluminum alloys, which have been originally designed as precipitation-hardness alloys. However, environmental embrittlement of these high-strength alloys is a practical problem which is often related to their precipitated structure. In this study, we investigated the effect of cold rolling on mechanical properties and hydrogen embrittlement behavior in an Al-10%Zn-2.6%Mg-1.6%Cu-0.2%Cr alloy by Vickers hardness test and SSRT tensile test. As a result, the cold rolled specimen was stronger than the specimen generally heat-treated to T6 condition.