Effect of Annealing Time on the Microstructure, Mechanical and Damping Properties of an As-Rolled ZK60 Alloy

The effects of different annealing times on the microstructure, mechanical and damping properties of a rolled state ZK60 alloy were investigated. The results show that with increasing annealing time, the degree of static recrystallization gradually increases, and the grains grow gradually. The grain orientation changes from the (0001) orientation to the (01-10) and (− 12-10) orientations, and the basal texture intensity of the alloy decreases gradually. The tensile and yield strengths decrease slightly, and the elongation increases gradually. Because of the gradual reduction in dislocation entanglement, the room temperature damping properties improve with annealing time, and the damping value Q⁻¹ at ε_0.01 increases from 0.008 to 0.013. After annealing, the ZK60 alloy becomes a high-damping alloy (Q⁻¹ > 0.01). The recrystallization damping peak is more intense than the background damping peak, and recrystallization damping peak P₁ becomes increasingly obvious. The peak value of damping peak P₂ gradually decreases in the temperature range of 270 °C < T < 290 °C, and the peak width slowly increases, which is characterized by grain boundary-type relaxation. These results indicate that annealing effectively maintains the high strength of the ZK60 alloy while improving its damping properties.