Atomistic behavior of microalloying elements in phase decomposition of Al based alloys

The fundamental role of microalloying elements in several aluminum alloys such as Al-Cu, Al-Li, Al-Li-Cu and Al-Cu-Mg has been investigated using a Monte Carlo computer simulation. The utilized simulation parameters derived from known thermodynamic quantities reproduce the phase decomposition of these alloy systems, in which clustering and/or ordering processes are involved. The spatial and temporal evolution of simulation microstructures is significantly affected by the addition of some microalloying elements in good agreement with the experimentally reported results. Such an atomistic behavior of microalloying elements is well classified in terms of the characteristic features of individual elements.