In-situ investigation of the anisotropic mechanical behavior of rolled AA 7020-T6 alloy through lattice strain evolution during uniaxial tension

Abstract The texture-induced anisotropic mechanical behavior of a highly textured AA 7020-T6 (maximum orientation density of 29.7 multiple random distribution), was characterized by the lattice strain evolution along rolling direction (RD), 45° to RD and 90° to RD, respectively, under uniaxial tension using high energy X-ray diffraction. The uniaxial tensile tests were done till ultimate tensile strength (UTS), which show different yield strengths (YS), UTS and elongations along the three directions on a macroscopic level. On micromechanical level, the lattice strain evolution explains the correlation between crystallite orientation and different mechanical behavior, leading to the macroscopic anisotropy. In the elastic region, the sample 45° to RD has the lowest lattice plane dependent Young's modulus compared to the other two directions. In the elastic plastic transition region, lattice strain differences among different {hkl} lattice planes are highest for sample 45° to RD and lowest for sample 0° to RD. Moreover, the 45° to RD sample has the lowest lattice dependent YS. In the plastic region, the work hardening behavior of different {hkl} lattice planes in all three directions can be divided into two groups, corresponding to two types of dislocation combinations. However, {200} planes of samples 45° and 90° to RD behave abnormally due to the stress along of the {200} planes and the orientation density of {200} planes parallel and perpendicular to the loading direction (LD).