Behavioral Analysis of Aluminum Alloy under Cyclic Channel Die Compression for Automotive Application

In recent days, the severe plastic deformation process has played an important role in enhancing the mechanical properties of the material. This work involves the usage of the above method called the cyclic channel die compression method. Applications of this material include lightweight structures for automotive and aerospace industries, sports goods having a high strength-to-weight ratio, and medical implants, etc. A die was fabricated and Al6082 material was processed and its properties were characterized. Al6082 material was annealed to 445°C for 90 minutes, to solutioning the aluminum alloy's precipitates, resulting in increased ductility and yield stress of the aluminum alloy. Then alloy was filed to the required size to correctly fit into the die cavity. After that aluminum alloy was kept in the die cavity and it was compressed using the universal testing machine to the predetermined dimensions with constant cross-head travel of 0.001mm/s. At a certain point, it results in an increased load required for deforming the material because of work hardening. Materials were processed up to two passes of Cyclic Channel Compression and were characterized by ASTM E8 standard. The work proves that ultra-fine grain structure can be achieved and It was also found that a hardness increase of 36.6 % was achievable and a 30.45 % increase in tensile strength was observed during the above process. Investigation into the above process is very limited and this study is useful to understand the behavior of the alloy when subjected to cyclic channel die compression, particularly for materials where hardness and strength are of prime importance based on the application.