The effects of heat treatment and deformation parameters on the properties of 6013 aluminum alloy

Aluminum and its alloys are among the most widely used materials, especially in the automotive and aerospace industries due to their low density, high specific strength and corrosion resistance. 6013, one of the 6XXX series aluminum alloys, which was first developed for the aerospace industry, has recently been used as an alternative to 6061 alloy in the automotive industry. The effect of deformation on aging kinetics in precipitation hardenable aluminum alloys, such as 6013, is one of the most widely studied subjects. Recently, studies on cryogenic deformation have gained momentum in the literature. High strength and ductility can be obtained together due to the combined effect of ultra-fine grain structure, due to the suppression of dynamic recovery at cryogenic temperature, and precipitates that formed by aging heat treatment. In this study, the effect of rolling at both room temperature and cryogenic temperature (-196 °C) on aging behavior and mechanical properties of 6013 alloy, which has not been studied in literature before, was investigated. With this aim, the plates, which solutionized for 1 hour at 480 °C, were artificially aged for varying times at 190°C after rolling with deformation amounts ranging from 25% to 75%. Microstructural and mechanical properties were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses, hardness and tensile tests. As a result of the analyses, it was observed that peak aging time was shortened with increasing deformation amount and decrease in deformation temperature, and the highest strength was obtained after 75% cryogenic deformation. Keywords: Cryogenic, Rolling, Aging, Thermomechanical process, Precipitation hardening