Hot deformation behavior and processing map of 6063 aluminum alloy

Abstract

The hot compression experiment of 6063 aluminum alloy was carried out by using universal testing machine and high temperature furnace. The hot deformation behavior of the alloy was studied at the temperature of 300 °C–500 °C and the strain rate of 0.001 s−1–0.5 s−1. Based on the Arrhenius hyperbolic sine function, the constitutive equation of 6063 aluminum alloy was established. The processing map was constructed based on dynamic material model. The microstructures of the specimens after hot compression deformation were investigated by the means of optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that the flow behavior of 6063 aluminum alloy can be described by Arrhenius model, and the activation energy is about 261.85 kJ mol−1. The processing map established at the strain of 0.9 indicates that the optimum hot working domain of 6063 aluminum alloy is 380 °C–500 °C and 0.001 s−1–0.01 s−1. With the increase of hot deformation temperature or the decrease of strain rate, the grain size and deformation become more uniform. The size and number of the second phase particles decrease at higher temperature and strain rate.