Intermetallic particle evolution during ECAP processing of a 6082 alloy

Intermetallics evolution in a commercial 6082 aluminium alloy severely deformed by Equal Channel Angular Pressing was investigated. Chemical electron probe microanalyses allowed to state that in the severely deformed alloy, Si-rich phases were progressively dissolved whereas the amount and composition of the Fe-Mn-Si containing intermetallics remained substantially unchanged. The moderate hardening effect measured on isothermal aging at 130C of the ECAP processed samples was accounted for by the reprecipitation of the phases dissolved during severe plastic deformation. Tensile tests and fractographic analyses on the broken specimens showed that the 6082 alloy featured a relatively high ductility and a substantially unaltered fracture mode even after several ECAP passes.