Effect of heat treatment conditions on mechanical properties and springback of 6061 Aluminum alloy sheets

The mechanical properties and bending deformation behaviors of homogenization treated (HT), solution treated (ST), natural aging (NA) treated and T6 6061 aluminum alloy sheets were investigated by tensile tests and three-point bending tests, respectively. The results showed that the heat treatment conditions have a significant impact on mechanical properties and bending characteristic. Bending radius and thickness of the HT alloy is the highest, and its springback angle is the lowest. However, the deformation mechanism of T6-8h alloy is just the opposite. The bending characteristics are attributed to the combined effects of yield strength, strain-hardening exponent and coefficient of the neutral layer. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experiment.