Korean Journal of Materials Research ISSN:1225-0562(Print) 2287-7258(Online) 한국재료학회지

The relationship between the precipitation of secondary phase and the thermal properties of Al-4.5%Cu alloy (in wt.%) after various heat treatments has been studied. Solid solution treatment of alloy was performed at 808 K for 6 hours, followed by warm water quenching; then, the samples were aged in air at 473 K for different times. The thermal diffusivity of the Al-4.5%Cu alloy changed with the heat treatment conditions of the alloy at temperatures below 523 K. The as-quenched specimen had the lowest thermal diffusivity, and as the artificial aging time increased, the thermal diffusivity of the specimen increased in the temperature range between 298 and 523 K. For the specimen aged for five hours, the thermal conductivity was 12% higher than that of the as-quenched specimens at 298 K. It is confirmed that the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity of the Al-4.5%Cu alloy significantly depend on their thermal history at temperatures below 523 K. The precipitation and dissolution of the Al₂Cu phase were confirmed via DSC for the alloys, and the formation of coefficient of thermal expansion peaks in TMA was caused by precipitation. The precipitation of supersaturated solid solution of Al-4.5%Cu alloys had an additional linear expansion of ≈ 0.05% at 643 K during thermal expansion measurement.