Microstructure and mechanical properties of nanostructured Al-4Cu alloy produced by mechanical alloying and vacuum hot pressing

Bulk nanostructured Al-4 wt pct Cu alloy with high compression strength (879 MPa) was produced by mechanical alloying followed by vacuum hot pressing (VHP). The hot-pressed compacts were nanostructured with a grain size of 50 nm and were densified to more than 99 pct of the theoretical density. Contributions from different strengthening mechanisms were estimated using simplified models and were compared with the experiment. © 2009 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International.