Identification of thermo-viscoplastic behavior for AA6061 under in-plane biaxial loadings

Abstract

This work aims to investigate the thermo-visco-plastic behavior of an aluminum alloy (AA6061) sheet metal submitted to in-plane biaxial loadings under warm conditions. Biaxial tensile tests are performed in a temperature range from room temperature to 160 °C, and in a strain rate range from quasi-static to the so-called “intermediate” strain rate (up to few s−1). The specimen shape used in this study has been previously defined and validated by the authors to identify the viscoplastic hardening models of metallic alloys at large strains. A specific device leading to a uniform temperature in the sample is associated with a dynamic biaxial traction bench to carry out the temperature and strain rate dependent characterizations. From these experiments, both the experimental forces measured on each axis of the in-plane biaxial specimen and the principal strains at the center of the specimen are obtained. These experimental data are then used in an inverse analysis loop, based on a finite element model of the biaxial test, to calibrate the parameters of a thermo-viscoplastic strain hardening model by minimizing the difference between the experimental and numerical principal strains at the center point of the specimen. Finally, it is shown that the identified hardening model well predicts the flow stress of AA6061 under different temperatures and strain rates for a strain level of up to 40%.