Microstructure evolution and physical-based diffusion constitutive analysis of Al-Mg-Si alloy during hot deformation

Abstract The hot deformation behavior of Al-Mg-Si alloy is studied based on diffusion mechanism. The quantity of low angle grain boundaries increases rapidly, accompanied by the formation of subgrains and recrystallization grains with the increase of strain. Dynamic recovery (DRV) and continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX) are the main softening mechanisms, of which the DRV is dominant. The kinetics of dynamic recrystallization (DRX) represented by Avrami relationship shows that the DRX volume fraction increases with increasing strain. Physical-based diffusion constitutive model is established to demonstrate the flow behavior of the alloy. The relationship between diffusion activation energy and deformation condition is analyzed, and the dependence of creep exponent on temperature and strain is discussed. The result shows that the model describes the flow stress accurately. Lattice diffusion is the main diffusion mechanism during hot deformation. The variation of creep exponent can be reflected by dislocation density when the deformation mechanism is controlled by dislocation motion. Dynamic precipitation and the impediment of dislocation motion can lead to high value of creep exponent of the alloy.