Formability of Ultrafine-Grained AA6016 Sheets Processed by Accumulative Roll Bonding

Abstract

Aluminium alloy AA6016 was accumulative roll bonded up to eight cycles in order to produce an ultrafine-grained microstructure. The formability of these sheets was investigated by means of bending tests. Furthermore the influence of a local laser heat treatment at the bending edge is observed. The strength of the UFG samples is increased by a factor of around two compared to the conventionally grained T4 condition which also results in up to 50 % higher punch forces needed for bending of ARB processed samples. An anisotropic bending behaviour is observed. By applying a tailored laser heat treatment along the bending edge prior to the bending tests a local recrystallization and recovery at the deformation zone of the samples is achieved. Thus, ductility is increased locally whereby bending to an angle of 80° is possible with lower forming forces compared to the non-heat treated specimens. The results are compared to previous studies on mechanical properties and formability investigations of ARB processed AA6016.