High Strain Rate Behaviour of AA7075 Aluminum Alloy at Different Initial Temper States

The aim of this work is to study the mechanical properties of alloy AA7075 in both T6 and O temper states, in terms of visco-plastic and fracture behavior. Tension and compression tests were carried out starting from the quasi-static loading condition 10-3 up to strain rates as high as 2 x 103 s-1. The high strain rate tests were performed using a Split Hopkinson Tension-Compression Bar (SHTCB) apparatus. The tensile specimens were also subjected to micro-fractography analysis by Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM) to evaluate the characteristics of the fracture. The results show a different behavior for the two temper states: AA7075-O showed a significant sensitivity to strain rate, with a ductile behavior and a fracture morphology characterized by coalescence of microvoids, whilst AA7075-T6 is generally characterized by a less ductile behaviour, both as elongation at break and as fracture morphology. Brittle cleavage is accentuated with increasing strain rate. The Johnson-Cook viscoplastic model wad also used to fit the experimental data with an optimum matching.