Investigations on Superplastic Forming of Friction Stir-Processed AA6063-T6 Aluminum Alloy

摘要

The need to produce grain-coarsening resistant, micron-grained (< ～ 10-20μm) material, which is also not prone to cavitation, for super-plastic forming increases the cost of the starting material. Friction stir processing is an evolving technique, which refines the microstructure of materials and thereby improves their mechanical properties and formability characteristics.In this article, aluminum alloy AA6063-T6 temper was subjected to multiple-single-stir friction stir processing (5 passes) and was subjected to different gas pressures and forming temperatures to form a hemispherical dome. The friction stir-processed sheets could be formed successfully whereas the parent material could not be. Theoretical modeling using Matlab v 7.0 and finite element modeling using Abaqus v 6.4.8 led to results which were in good agreement with the experimental findings.