Data analysis and other considerations concerning the study of precipitation in Al–Mg–Si alloys by Atom Probe Tomography

Atom Probe Tomography (APT) analysis and hardness measurements were used to characterize the early stages of precipitation in an Al-0.51 at%Mg-0.94 at%Si alloy as reported in the accompanying Acta Materialia paper [1]. The changes in microstructure were investigated after single-stage or multi-stage heat treatments including natural ageing at 298 K (NA), pre-ageing at 353 K (PA), and automotive paint-bake ageing conditions at 453 K (PB). This article provides and a detailed report on the experimental conditions and the data analysis methods used for this investigation. Careful design of experimental conditions and analysis methods was carried out to obtain consistent and reliable results. Detailed data on clustering for prolonged NA and PA treatments have been reported.