In-situ study of planar slip in a commercial aluminum-lithium alloy using high energy X-ray diffraction microscopy

Aluminum-lithium alloys offer high specific-strength and -stiffness which makes them attractive for aerospace applications. However, several material related challenges have limited the use of these alloys including a tendency for grain boundary cracking due to localized damage known as delamination. Prior studies of these alloys have found evidence of a relationship between delamination and the occurrence of intense planar slip due to the shearing of the. delta' (Al3Li) precipitate phase. In this study, far -field highenergy X-ray diffraction microscopy is used to quantify the effects of slip activity and subsequent stress response of the Al-Cu-Li alloy (AA2099) in both individual grains and various grain populations. Results show that grains with high Schmid factors, interpreted as an indicator of propensity for single slip at the elastic-plastic transition, are most likely to undergo grain softening consistent with precipitate -shear-driven planar slip. Conversely, grains with low Schmid factors are less prone to this deformation mode. A corresponding rise in triaxiality is found in grains which soften. The implications of pairings of grains exhibiting dissimilar micromechanical behaviors for delamination are discussed. (C) 2019 United States Government as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Published by Elsevier Ltd. on behalf of Acta Materialia Inc. All rights reserved.