Anisotropic Mechanical Properties of Commercially Pure Aluminum Processed by Equal Channel Angular Extrusion

Commercially pure aluminum AA1050 was subjected to equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) to a total strain of ~8 at room temperature. Post-ECAE annealing was then conducted on the samples. Compression tests were performed on the ECAEed and annealed samples along different loading directions at room temperature. Both the as-ECAEed and annealed samples show anisotropic mechanical properties, in which the highest compressive stress appears to be along the transverse direction of ECAE. This is attributed to the strain path change effect. Shear bands were observed on the annealed sample surface after compression tests. The presence of shear bands on the annealed sample surface may be attributed to the lower dislocation density after annealing treatment. When the annealed samples were compressively tested, inhomogeneous deformation occurred by the form of shear band deformation.