Investigation on Yield Behavior of 7075-T6 Aluminum Alloy at Elevated Temperatures

Aluminum alloys have drawn considerable attention in the area of automotive lightweight. High strength aluminum alloys are usually deformed at elevated temperatures due to their poor formability at room temperature. In this work, the yield behavior of 7075 aluminum alloy in T6 temper(AA7075-T6) within the temperature ranging from 25 °C to 230 °C was investigated. Uniaxial and biaxial tensile tests with the aid of induction heating system were performed to determine the stress vs. strain curves and the yield loci of AA7075-T6 at elevated temperatures, respectively. Von Mises, Hill48 and Yld2000-2 d yield criteria were applied to predicting yield loci which were compared with experimentally measured yield loci of the AA7075-T6. Results show that yield stress corresponding to the same equivalent plastic strain decreases with increasing temperature within the investigated temperature range and the shape of yield loci evolves nearly negligibly. The experimental yield locus expands with an increase of equivalent plastic strain at the same temperature and the work hardening rate of AA7075-T6 exhibits obvious stress-state-dependency. The nonquadratic Yld2000-2 d yield criterion describes the yield surfaces of AA7075-T6 more accurately than the quadratic von Mises and Hill48 yield criteria, and an exponent of 14 in the Yld2000-2 d yield function gives the optimal predictions for the AA7075-T6 at all investigated temperatures.