The effect of adding Copper on the structural and Creep Characteristics of Zn-0.5wt.%Al alloy

Abstract

The creep tests for the Zn−0.5wt.% Al and Zn−0.5wt.%Al−0.3wt.% Cu alloys were carried out at different applied stresses rang-ing from 15.6 MPa to 23.4 MPa and temperatures ranging from 433K to 553K. The values of the transient creep parameters β and 𝑛 and the steady state creep parameters m and 𝜖̇𝑠𝑡 exhibited two peak values at 473𝐾 and 523𝐾 for the two test alloys. The activation energies of the steady state creep were found to be 43.7 KJ/mole, 90.6 KJ/mole, 94.9 KJ/mole for the first alloy, and , 39.3KJ/mole, 52.8 KJ/mole, 71.2 KJ/mole for the second alloy in the low, intermediate and high temperature regions respectively. The microstructures of the two alloys have been investigated using the X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and the optical microscope