Tensile flow and work hardening behavior of hot cross-rolled AA7010 aluminum alloy sheets

The present work describes the tensile flow and work hardening behavior of a high strength 7010 aluminum alloy by constitutive relations. The alloy has been hot rolled by three different cross-rolling schedules. Room temperature tensile properties have been evaluated as a function of tensile axis orientation in the as-hot rolled as well as peak aged conditions. It is found that both the Ludwigson and a generalized Voce–Bergström relation adequately describe the tensile flow behavior of the present alloy in all conditions compared to the Hollomon relation. The variation in the Ludwigson fitting parameter could be correlated well with the microstructural features and anisotropic contribution of strengthening precipitates in the as-rolled and peak aged conditions, respectively. The hardening rate and the saturation stress of the first Voce–Bergström parameter, on the other hand, depend mainly on the crystallographic texture of the specimens. It is further shown that for the peak aged specimens the uniform elongation (εu) derived from the Ludwigson relation matches well with the measured εu irrespective of processing and loading directions. However, the Ludwigson fit overestimates the εu in case of the as-rolled specimens. The Hollomon fit, on the other hand, predicts well the measured εu of the as-rolled specimens but severely underestimates the εu for the peak aged specimens. Contrarily, both the relations significantly overestimate the UTS of the as-rolled and the peak aged specimens. The Voce-Bergström parameters define the slope of Θ–σ plots in the stage-III regime when the specimens show a classical linear decrease in hardening rate in stage-III. Further analysis of work hardening behavior throws some light on the effect of texture on the dislocation storage and dynamic recovery.