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Deformation mechanisms of low-temperature superplasticity in 8090 Al-Li alloys

Conference ·
OSTI ID:194183
;  [1]
  1. National Sun Yat-Sen Univ., Kaohsiung (Taiwan, Province of China). Inst. of Materials Science and Engineering

The 8090 Al-Li alloys, after special thermomechanical processes, exhibited low-temperature superplasticity (LTSP) from 350 to 450 C, behaving differently from the conventional high-temperature superplasticity (HTSP). The LTSP sheets after {approximately} 700% elongation at 350 C and 8 {times} 10{sup {minus}4} s{sup {minus}1} still possessed fine (sub)grains 3.7 {micro}m in size and narrow surface Li-depletion zones 11 {micro}m in width. It results in a post-SP T6 strength of {approximately} 500 MPa, which is higher than that of the conventional superplastic 8090 alloys tested at 525 C or above. The tensile behavior and deformation mechanisms of the LTSP and HTSP sheets were investigated over the strain-rate range 10{sup {minus}5}--10{sup {minus}2} s{sup {minus}1} and strain range 0.5--1.0. At {var_epsilon} 0.5, the strain rate sensitivity (m-value) for the LTSP and HTSP materials was found to be {approximately} 0.33 and 0.50, respectively. The activation energy was extracted to be 92 kJ/mole for the LTSP sheets and to be 141 kJ/mole for the HTSP sheets. As straining to {var_epsilon} = 1.0 the m-value of the LTSP materials increased to 0.37 and the activation energy decreased slightly to 82 kJ/mole. By SEM examinations, the movement of surface grains in LTSP samples confirmed the role of grain boundary sliding (GBS). TEM observations revealed that the deformation mechanism consists of a large amount of dislocation motion resulting in the subgrain formation and rotation; and TEM observations from the transverse section might explain the anisotropic deformation behavior during the initial superplastic strain. The primary and rate-controlling deformation mechanisms for the HTSP and LTSP sheets are considered to be GBS and dislocation creep, respectively.

OSTI ID:
194183
Report Number(s):
CONF-950201--; ISBN 0-87339-300-7
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English