This invention discloses a process for strengthening and
toughening aluminum alloys by controlling the atomic clusters of solutes, belonging to the technical field of aluminum
alloy strengthening and
toughening production processes. The aluminum
alloy described in this invention contains, by
mass percentage, 10%–12% Si, 1%–1.5% Mg, 3%–6% Cu, 2%–2.6% Zr, 2%–3% Ni, Al, and unavoidable impurities. The process for strengthening and
toughening aluminum alloys by controlling the atomic clusters of solutes includes
induction furnace melting of the aluminum
alloy,
laser-promoted cluster formation combined with
DC current cluster
ionization, and pulsed
magnetic field casting. The final product is an aluminum alloy
ingot with an Al-Si cluster particle size of 20 μm, clusters accounting for 20% of the primary crystals, and the primary Al and Si crystals exhibiting fine-grained spherical
equiaxed crystals. The difference between the center and edge of the
ingot is within 1.5%, achieving the goal of strengthening and toughening the aluminum alloy.