Stress–strain behaviour of aluminium alloys at a wide range of strain rates

The stress–strain behaviour of extruded AA6xxx and AA7xxx aluminium alloys in T6 temper was studied at a wide range of strain rates. Tensile tests at low to medium strain rates were performed in a standard tensile test machine, while a split-Hopkinson tension bar was used to carry out tests at high rates of strain. Extruded aluminium alloys have anisotropic mechanical properties, and tests were therefore done in three directions with respect to the extrusion direction. It is found that the AA6xxx alloys exhibit no significant rate sensitivity in the stress–strain behaviour, while moderate rate sensitivity was found for the AA7xxx alloys. There seems to be no significant difference between the rate sensitivity in the three tensile directions. The experimental data were used to identify the parameters of a thermo-viscoplastic constitutive relation for the extruded alloys, which includes the effects of strain hardening, strain-rate hardening, thermal softening and plastic anisotropy.