3D atom probe study of solute atoms clustering during natural ageing and pre-ageing of an Al-Mg-Si alloy

The pair-correlation function applied to 3D Atom Probe reconstructed volumes has been used to study the influence of a pre-ageing treatment (363K) on the early stages of precipitation at 458K in an Al-Mg-Si 6016 alloy. Mg-Si short-range positive pair correlation (clustering) is shown to form after a pre-ageing treatment. The hetero-atomic clusters are thought to act as preferential nucleation sites and lead to a finer dispersion of precipitates after ageing. ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 232 95 51 53; Fax.: +33 232 95 50 32; Email address: [email protected] (Frédéric De Geuser). Preprint submitted to Phil. Mag. Lett. 29 July 2009