Mechanism of microstructure and texture evolution during shear loading of AA6063 alloys

The cyclic shear test of 6063 aluminum alloys under T4 and T6 conditions was carried out at room temperature. The microstructure and texture evolution were investigated using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) at several instances during cyclic shear deformation. Hardly any change in grain size was observed during the cyclic shear test of T4 and T6 samples. The local residual strain distribution measured in the form of average kernel misorientations (KAM) values increases continuously with an increase in shear strain for both samples. The increase in KAM value was higher for the T6 sample compared to the T4 sample during forward (F) shearing. On reversing the loading path, the increase in KAM value was higher for forward + reverse (FR) and forward + reverse + forward (FRF) straining of the T4 sample compared to the T6 sample. The cube texture was found to be unstable during shear deformation. A significant rotation of texture was observed in both T4 and T6 samples. However, the extent of rotation was slightly greater for the T6 sample as compared to the T4 sample. It was observed that the latent hardening of ( 1 - 11)<101>was more than (111)< 1 - 01>in the T4 sample. Similarly, the latent hardening of ( 1 - 1 - 1)<011>was more than the (111)< 1 - 01>in the T6 sample. The origin of latent hardening was attributed to the formation of sessile jogs during dislocation-dislocation interactions on different planes of T4 samples and the difference in volume fraction of precipitates on different planes of T6 samples. The mechanical properties show that the 0.2% YS increases with subsequent reverse and forward shearing for the T4 sample. However, the 0.2% YS during subsequent reverse shearing is lower than the initial forward shearing for the T6 sample. This decrease in yield stress upon loading reversal is attributed to the presence of deformation-induced intragranular back stresses within the T6 material. It is observed that the rate of cross slip of dislocations depends on the athermal dislocation content, presence of dislocation debris in the unfavorable grains, and the difference in the latent hardening values of different slip systems for the T4 and T6 materials.