Abstract
A facile method for aging treatment of ZL114A alloy by using electric pulse, namely electric pulse aging treatment is explored in this study. When the pulse current, pulse frequency, and duty ratio are certain, aging time is changed. By analyzing the microstructure and properties, the aging treatment time of ZL114A alloy is significantly reduced by using electric pulse. The results show that the fine eutectics become coarse in the matrix with the increasing of aging time. Compared with the as-cast alloy, the hardness and conductivity values of ZL114A alloy increase significantly by using 4–7 h electric pulse aging treatment. The elongation of the alloy is tested to be 3.15 % after aging treatment for 5 h, which is higher than that of conventional heat treatment (3 %). Compared with the conventional heat treatment, aging time is reduced by 3 h so that energy is conserved. Based on the analysis of microstructure and mechanical properties obtained, the optimal electric pulse aging treatment parameters for ZL114A alloy were determined: pulse current (8 A), pulse frequency (700 Hz), duty cycle (± 0.5), aging temperature (160 °C), and the aging time (5 h).

Key words
electric pulse, aging treatment, ZL114A alloy, microstructure, properties

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