Subsurface analysis of 6082-T6 Aluminium alloy's mechanical properties subjected to small particles erosion

Abstract

6082-T6 aluminium alloy is a ductile metal. When subjected to small particles erosion, sub-surface deformations are expected due to the particle impact. Plasticity is one of the properties which might reveal the rate of the deformations. As a result of plastic deformation, mechanical properties of the samples are expected to change with distance from the surface. Typically, the depth of the plastically deformed region could be between 5 and 200 μm. In order to understand the plasticity of the materials, nanoindentation researches were conducted. Aluminium alloy samples were previously subjected to hard material particles jets (Al2O3) under different values of incident angle, between 15 and 90 degrees. After a 3D scan of the resulted surfaces, the samples were cut in such a manner that the middle section remained visible and prepared for nanoindentation analysis. The paper presents the experiments conducted as well as some of the achieved results.