Experimental and computational investigation of fracture toughness of cryo-rolling processed Al-6082 alloys

The fracture toughness (KIC) of cryo-rolled Al-6082 was experimentally determined and compared with the Extended Finite Element (XFEM) simulation results. In this work, the commercially available Al-6082 alloy was exposed to rolling operation-induced severe plastic deformation (SPD) to enhance strength by restricting the deformation accumulation of the strain. The experimental results of room-temperature-rolled (RTR) and cryo-rolled (CR) sheets show increased mechanical and fracture toughness properties. About 148 % and 98 % increase in yield strength and tensile strength of 90 % CR sample with marginal decrease of 1.0 % in ductility was obtained. The fracture toughness of CR and RTR specimens shows about a 39 % and 30 % increment in 90 % CR alloy and 90 % RTR Al-6082 alloy, respectively. The experimental results were compared with finite element simulation results, and found excellent agreement between the experimental and XFEM simulation results. The enhancements of the properties are discussed based on the microstructural observations.