Flow Stress Behavior and Microstructure Evolution Anisotropy of Extruded 7075 Aluminum Alloy Bar at Elevated Temperatures

Hot compression tests of 7075 extruded bar were carried out on the Gleeble-1500 thermal simulation machine at strain rates of 0.1 s-1 and 1s-1 and at temperatures of 320°C. The compression direction are aligned at 0°, 45°and 90°to the axis direction of the extruded bar. Microstructure and texture was characterized using Optical Microscopy and x ray diffraction analysis. The results show that the true stress of all specimen increases with decreasing temperature and increasing strain rates. Both the yield strength and the stable flow stress of the 0° specimens is the highest among all three specimens, while that of 45° specimen is the lowest. This could be attributed to the lamellar grain structures and the texture of the extruded bar. The microstructure of 0°specimen are of equiaxed grain due to dynamic recrystallization after compression, while the grain shape of 45°and 90°specimens are still of lamellar grain structure.