Effect of aging treatment on the microstructure and flow behavior of 6063 aluminum alloy compressed over a wide range of strain rate

•The cast 6063 alloy under solution treated (ST) and artificial aged (AA) were impacted at strain rates in the range of 1 × 10−3 to 3.5 × 103 s−1.•The AA alloy exhibits an obvious positive strain rate sensitivity under dynamic compression. For the ST alloy, slight strain rate sensitivity is detected.•The microstructure evolution during impact deformation resulted in different flow behaviors has been discussed in detail.•The modified constitutive equation seems to be consistent with the experimental results.