Residual stress in quenched 7075 aluminum alloy thick plates

The influence of quenching water temperature, pre-stretching amount and aging temperature and times on residual stress in 7075 aluminum thick plate was studied by the measurement of residual stress using drilling hole method. The results indicate that residual stress decreases by 30% with increasing quenching water temperature from 40℃ to 80℃, 20% with increasing aging temperature from 100℃ to 180℃ ,and 20% with increasing agingtimes from 5 h to 25 h. Also, residual stress decreases to zero with increasing pre-stretching amount to approximately 2%. Hence, residual stress in 7075 aluminum thick plate is reduced by the control of quenching water temperature at 80℃ and with pre-stretching amount of about 2%. An optimal aging temperature and time should be systemically investigated to obtain combination of high mechanical performances and lower residual stress for manufacturing of 7075 aluminum alloy thick plates.