Evaluating tensile properties and fracture toughness of Al 2014 alloy processed by different rolling methods

Abstract

Influence of different rolling methods on the mechanical properties and microstructure were studied in current investigation. The solution-treated (ST) Al 2014 alloy were deformed through room temperature rolling (RTR), cryorolling (CR) and cryo grove rolling (CGR) at different thickness reduction values such as 50%, 75% and 90%. The mechanical properties of ST and deformed samples were investigated through tensile/3-point bend test and correlated with microstructural features by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Study revealed the formation of ultrafine grains (UFG) for all rolling methods (RTR/CR/CGR) after 50, 75 and 90% thickness reduction of ST Al 2014 alloy. The remarkable improvement in the tensile properties and fracture toughness of CGR sample were observed for all thickness reductions as compared to all processing methods such as RTR and CR. The enhancement in the mechanical properties of CGR samples can be attributed to the dislocation strengthening, grain boundary strengthening and formation of much finer UFG grains with respect to the other rolling methods as observed from EBSD, TEM and SEM micrographs.