Al/Niobium Diboride Nanocomposite's Effect on the Portevin-Le Chatelier Phenomenon in Al-Mg Alloys

In Al-Mg alloys, the Portevin-Le Chatelier phenomenon, or dynamic strain aging, reveals itself as serrations upon plastic tensile deformation. This research evaluates this phenomenon when Al/NbB2 nanocomposite pellets are added to a magnesium-supersaturated Al matrix. A ball-milled 90 wt % Al and 10 wt % NbB2 nanocomposite helped inoculate an Al-Mg melt to incorporate the nanoparticles effectively. The melt was cast into rods that were cold-rolled into 1 mm diameter wires. Two sets were prepared: The first group was an as-cast set of samples, for comparison purposes, whereas the second was a solution-treated set. The solution treatment consisted of annealing followed by ice-water quenching. The results corroborating that the phenomenon was observable only in the specimens bearing the solution treatment, were used as the research baseline. Said treated alloy was compared to one containing the nanoparticles, which proved that the NbB2 particles caused a reduction of the serrated signal amplitude.