Direct aging at high temperatures for selective laser melted Al-Cu-Mg-Sc-Zr alloys enhances mechanical properties at both room and elevated temperatures

Key Points

• Direct aging enhances mechanical properties of Al-Cu-Mg-Sc-Zr alloys at room and elevated temperatures, providing significant performance improvements.
• Notably, the ultimate tensile strength increased by 15% compared to standard processing methods, demonstrating the effectiveness of the approach.
• Selective laser melting was used to produce Al-Cu-Mg-Sc-Zr alloys, followed by high-temperature direct aging to optimize strength.
• This process may enable better lightweight materials for aerospace and automotive industries, requiring further validation in real-world applications.