Relating microtexture and dynamic micro hardness in an extruded AA8090 alloy and AA8090-8 vol% SiCp composite

The present study involves combined measurements of microtexture and dynamic ultra micro hardness (DUH) in hot extruded AA8090 aluminum alloy and its composite reinforced with 8 vol% SiCp. Both the materials show strong crystallographic fiber textures-(111) and (001). The dynamic micro hardness shows a clear pattern of difference between these two fiber textures, (111) oriented grains being harder and stiffer. The difference in theta ld between the fibers, where theta and d are the average cell misorientation and cell size, respectively, was marginal in the alloy and thus cannot explain the observed hardness difference. The hardness difference can be explained from the difference in Taylor factors between the respective fibers. Elastic stiffness values estimated from microtexture and DUH follow a similar trend qualitatively. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.