LARGE DEFORMATION BEHAVIOR OF CAST A356 ALUMINUM ALLOY UNDER UNIAXIAL TENSION, COMPRESSION AND V-BENDING

Abstract

<p>This work is an experimental approach to understand the effect of the microstructure on large strain deformation behavior of A356 alloy (with various additions of titanium and strontium) under uniaxial tensile, compressive and V-bend loading conditions. The studies were carried out on unmodified and Sr-modified A356 Al alloy, where Sr was added to refine the morphology of the eutectic Si phase particles. The two variants were then used to study the effect of size and shape distributions of Si eutectic phase particles within the material on the deformation behavior under uniaxial tension, compression and V-bending conditions. The alloy with a modified and refined eutectic Si phase particles showed significant improvement in ductility and bendability, whereas the differences in compression were not appreciable. In addition to Sr addition, Ti was also added as a grain refiner to the alloys at three different levels to obtain microstructures with different grain sizes. The results in the form of full field strain maps show that the larger grained alloy exhibits extensive strain inhomogeneity, whereas the grain refined alloy shows a more homogenous loading pattern.</p>