I have already tried common etchants such as kellers etch, kroll's and wecks reagent but they didn't work...
Well there are well known etchant for All alloys generally, however I will advise you get literature works in AA2024 and see the etchants applied you can then compare their efficacy and go for the one suitable to you
You can use ASTM E407. This standard recommends the following etchants for general structure and phase identification of Al 2000 series:
3: 2 mL HF; 3 mL HCl; 5 mL HNO3; 190 mL water
2: 3 mL HF; 100 mL water
1a: 1mL HF; 200 mL water (swab with cotton for 15 s)
8a: 10 mL H3PO4; 90 mL water (immerse 1-3 min at 50 °C)
6: 25 mL HNO3; 75 mL water (immerse 40 s at 70 °C. Rinse in cold water)
7: 10-20 mL H2SO4; 80 mL water (immerse 30 s at 70 °C. Rinse in cold water)
The enchant which is good for the other age hardenable Aluminum alloy series should be suitable for the AA2XXX series also. Many researchers reported use of hydroflouric acid. However the microstructure of aluminum alloys are difficult to be observed using Microscope of lower magnification can be seen clearly in higher magnification.
Please see my etching experiment in the attached pdf file. Barker's or Weck's color etchant are the most likely reagents to bring up the grain boundaries. I have not tried these on 2024, but you will see a number of Al grades, in including 2011 annealed or age hardened in the examples.
Seun Owoeye Many thanks for your attention. I read some references about this alloy but I didn't succeed.
Ahmad Zafari
Thanks for the good reference you suggested. I examined some of them for different immersion time. I will certainly try the rest of them as well.
George Frederic Vander Voort
Dear Mr. Vander,
I previously tried Wecks reagent, but the grain boundaries wasn't very clear. Many thanks for this helpful document.
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