Microstructure and mechanical properties of 2060-T8 Al-Li alloy after warm incremental forming

Abstract

This study was aimed in the mechanical properties exploration of warm incremental forming of a newly developed 2060 aluminumlithium (Al-Li) alloy. One method of oil heating was utilized in this article. Following the tensile and hardness tests of the components, it could be obtained that the tensile strength and hardness of the incremental forming component decreased with increasing the temperature and increased with increasing the feed rate. Meanwhile, the tensile strength and hardness of the component manufactured at 120 °C and 160 °C were higher than the base material, due to strain hardening. Dynamic recovery existed in the component manufactured at 200 °C and dynamic recrystallization existed in the component manufactured at 240 °C. Also, the results were in a good agreement with the optical micrograph microstructure and the tensile fracture morphology. The tensile fracture mechanism of the component manufactured at 120 °C was mainly brittle fracture. In contrast, the tensile fracture mechanism of the component manufactured at 200 °C and 240 °C was ductile fracture. In addition, the accurate prediction models of the component mechanical properties with different forming temperatures and feed rate were obtained through response surface analysis.