Strength properties and structure of a submicrocrystalline Al–Mg–Mn alloy under shock compression

Abstract

The results of studying the strength of a submicrocrystalline aluminum A5083 alloy (chemical composition was 4.4Mg–0.6Mn–0.11Si–0.23Fe–0.03Cr–0.02Cu–0.06Ti wt % and Al base) under shockwave compression are presented. The submicrocrystalline structure of the alloy was produced in the process of dynamic channel-angular pressing at a strain rate of 104 s–1. The average size of crystallites in the alloy was 180–460 nm. Hugoniot elastic limit σHEL, dynamic yield stress σy, and the spall strength σSP of the submicrocrystalline alloy were determined based on the free-surface velocity profiles of samples during shock compression. It has been established that upon shock compression, the σHEL and σy of the submicrocrystalline alloy are higher than those of the coarse-grained alloy and σsp does not depend on the grain size. The maximum value of σHEL reached for the submicrocrystalline alloy is 0.66 GPa, which is greater than that in the coarse-crystalline alloy by 78%. The dynamic yield stress is σy = 0.31 GPa, which is higher than that of the coarse-crystalline alloy by 63%. The spall strength is σsp = 1.49 GPa. The evolution of the submicrocrystalline structure of the alloy during shock compression was studied. It has been established that a mixed nonequilibrium grain-subgrain structure with a fragment size of about 400 nm is retained after shock compression, and the dislocation density and the hardness of the alloy are increased.