Processing Map and Microstructural Evolution of Isothermal Compressed an Al-Mg-Si-Cu-Zn Alloy

The hot deformation behavior of an Al-0.92Mg-0.78Si-0.20Cu-0.60Zn alloy was studied by isothermal compression in the temperature range from 350 to 500 oC with strain rates of 0.01-10s-1 on Gleeble-1500 thermo-mechanical simulator. The microstructural evolution during hot deformation was investigated by electron back-scatter diffraction (EBSD). The results show that the strain rate and deformation temperature have significant influence on flow behavior, and the flow stress increases with increasing strain rate and decreasing deformation temperature. Processing map at the strain of 0.7 is obtained and exhibits three peak efficiency domains (380-420 oC at 0.01s-1, 480-500 oC at 0.01s-1 and 450-500 oC at 0.1-0.32s-1). According to the processing map and microstructure observation, the optimized processing condition of hot deformation for the alloy is at 450-500 oC and strain rate of 0.1-0.32s-1. The homogenized ingot is hot rolled at 480 oC with a strain rate of 0.1s-1 based on optimized deformation parameters. The fraction of high-angle grain boundary is 35.2%, which is in accord with microstructure after hot deformed at 500 oC with a strain rate of 0.1s-1.