Stability on the damping capacity and microstructure of the high strength damping aluminum alloy

The stability on the damping capacity and microstructure of the X7093/5(Zn-30Al) high strength aluminum alloy prepared by rapid solidification and powder metallurgy process was investigated with aging treatment. The alloy was aged at 50°C, 100°C, 120°C for 10 h, 50 h, 100 h separately and then air cooled. The damping capacity and microstructure variation were tested with dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The result shows that the microstructure of the alloy changed from fine crystals to large crystals with regular and sharp grain boundaries, the effect of grain boundaries on the damping capacity increased. From room temperature to 250°C, the damping capacity increased from 4 × 10^-3 to 3.0 × 10^-2. Aging time and temperature do not have significant effect on the damping capacity below 120°C and 100 h and the alloy kept excellent stability.