Effect of Severe Plastic Deformation by 120 deg ECAP or Shock Impact on 6061 Aluminum Alloy at High Strain Rates

The aim of this paper is to analyze the macroscopic behavior of an aluminum alloy after severe plastic deformations (SPD). Samples of 6061 aluminum alloy are processed at room temperature by two techniques of SPD: equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) under quasi-static loading and impact under dynamic loading, using Taylor's test setup. In addition to the mechanical properties, the microstructure evolution of the material is investigated. Half of the samples are aged at 400 °C for 2 h, to remove internal stress in a commercial alloy in order to increase workability of the material. The evolution of the properties and the material behavior after 2, 4, 6, and 8 passes of the 120 deg ECAP process is investigated.