Comparative analysis of tensile properties and fracture toughness of Al 2014 alloy processed by warm rolling and cryo-groove rolling

Abstract

Abstract The comparative analysis of mechanical characteristics, microstructural evolution and fracture measuring parameters of Al 2014 alloy processed by combination of cryorolling process with warm rolling process and cryo-groove rolling process is done in present investigation. In combination of cryorolling process with warm rolling process, the solution treated Al 2014 alloy is cryorolled upto 70% thickness reduction and then upto 90% thickness reduction was done by warm rolling process at 170 °C temperature and in cryo-groove rolling (CGR) process, the ST Al 2014 alloy is deformed to achieve the dissimilar thickness reduction values i.e. 75% and 90%. The mechanical characteristics was investigated by tensile, hardness and 3-point bend testing and the same was correlated with microstructural features obtained through Scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Among all the processed sample conditions, the samples processed by CGR upto 90% thickness reduction represents the remarkable enhancement in tensile as well as the fracture properties. This enhancement can be attributed to dislocation strengthening and grain boundary strengthening during the development of ultra-fine grains.