Hot ductility of severe plastic deformed AA6061 aluminum alloy

Abstract

The hot ductility of 6061 aluminum alloy, which was subjected to two different severe plastic deformations (SPD), was studied at different temperatures and strain rates. The tensile tests were carried out at the temperature range of 300-500 °C and at the strain rates of 0.0005-0.01-1. The microstructure evolution was characterized using optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction technique. The influences of the microstructure after SPD, thermomechanical parameters (temperature and strain rate) and specimen size on the hot formability of this alloy were then analyzed. The results show that a decrease in grains/subgrains exhibited significant effect on the hot ductility of SPDed samples. The constitutive equations were then developed to model the hot formability of the studied alloy. The developed model can be represented by Zener-Hollomon parameter in a hyperbolic sinusoidal equation form. Both the changes of elongation to failure and Zener-Hollomon parameter indicate that the hot ductility of the alloy is more sensitive to the temperature rather than to the strain rate. The uniform elongation is independent of the specimen size, but the postnecking elongation increases dramatically as the ratio of ℓ/A1/2 decreases.