Texture and Lattice Distortion Study of an Al-6061-T6 Alloy Produced by ECAP

Abstract

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is a severe plastic deformation (SPD) technique that produces nanostructured materials. Based on a remarkable grain size reduction, this process has led to improve mechanical properties, such as yield strength, fatigue, UTS, etc. In this work the characterization of the microstructure of the aluminum 6061-T6 alloy; plastically deformed up to ε ≈ 6, by the ECAP process, following route Bc, is presented. For this purpose, the ECAP processed samples were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (for texture and line profile analysis) and transmission electron microscopy. The initial crystallographic texture vanished after one ECAP pass and a new, well defined, shear texture Cθ was generated. For the subsequent ECAP passes, more shear components: A1θ *, Bθ and \bar{B}θ were also developed. From the orientation distribution function analysis, a shift (generally less than 15°) between some experimental maxima and the reported ideal shear texture positions was observed. From these results, it was found that the microstructure generated with this process was stabilized after the 5th ECAP pass. Finally, the micro-strain analyses, in addition to the texture and transmission electron microscopy, contributed to the understanding of the effect of the physical and mechanical processes that were activated during the SPD-ECAP technique.