Kinetics of particle growth and particle composition of a commercial Al-Li alloy by means of small-angle scattering

Abstract Extending previous work done on a similar alloy, small-angle X-ray scattering measurements are reported for a commercial Al-Cu-Li alloy (2–68% Cu and 1–88% Li by weight). Data have been analysed by means of an ellipsoidal model of precipitate particles using a method previously proposed by some of us which, incorporating interparticle interference effects, reproduces the fuli scattering intensities of the samples studied. Particie dimensions obtained from the fit indicate that the Lifshitz-Slyozov coarsening mechanism holds for ageing at higher temperatures and longer times. The activation energy for volume diffusivity obtained is similar to that of pure binary alloys. The scatteri…