Development of alloys with high strength at elevated temperatures by tuning the bimodal microstructure in the Al–Cu–Ni eutectic system

The development of high-strength aluminum alloys that can operate at 250 °C and beyond remains a challenge to the materials community. In this paper we report preliminary development of nanostructural Al–Cu–Ni ternary alloys containing α-Al, binary Al2Cu and ternary Al7Cu4Ni intermetallics. The alloys exhibits fracture strength of ∼1 GPa with ∼9% fracture strain at room temperature. At 300 °C, the alloy retains the high strength. The reasons for such significant mechanical properties are rationalized by unraveling the roles and response of various microstructural features.