Constitutive behaviour of an as-cast AA7050 alloy in the sub-solidus temperature range

Aluminum alloy 7050 is of interest for aerospace industries due to its superior mechanical properties. However, its inherent solidification behaviour may augment the accumulation of residual stresses due to uneven cooling conditions upon direct-chill (DC) casting. This can increase the propensity of cold cracking (CC), which is a potentially catastrophic phenomenon in casting ingots. To predict the outcome of the aluminum casting process, ALSIM software is utilised. This software has the capability to predict CC susceptibility during the casting process. However, at the moment, ALSIM lacks the information regarding material constitutive behaviour in the sub-solidus temperature range, which is considered important for studying CC phenomenon. At the moment, ALSIM only has a partial constitutive database for AA7050 and misses data, especially in the vicinity of non-equilibrium solidus (NES) point. The present work presents measurements of tensile constitutive parameters in the temperature range between 400 °C and NES, which is for this alloy defined as 465 °C. The mechanical behaviour is tested in a Gleeble 3800 thermo-mechanical simulator. Constitutive parameters such as stress-strain curves, strain-rate sensitivity and ductility of the alloy have been measured at different test temperatures. With these constitutive data, we expect to improve the accuracy of ALSIM simulations in terms of CC prediction, and gain more insight into the evolution of mechanical properties of AA7050 in the temperature nearby the NES.