Work hardening characteristics of irradiated Al-5356 alloy

Abstract EN

The effect of γ-irradiation on the hardening behaviour of Al-5356 alloy has been investigated by means of stress-strain measurements.

Wires irradiated with different doses D (ranged from 500 to 2000 kGy) were strained at different deformation temperatures Tw (ranged from 303 to 523K) at constant strain rate (S.R) of 1.5 x 10-3 s-1.

The effect of γ-irradiation on the work hardening parameters (WHP) yield stress σy, fracture stress σf, total strain εT and work hardening coefficient χp ( = dσ2/dε) of Al-5356 alloy were evaluated at the applied deformation temperature range.

The obtained results showed that, increasing the deformation temperature resulted in a decrease in the WHP, while γ-irradiation exhibited a reverse effect.

The mean activation energy of the deformation process was calculated using an Arrhenius type relation, and was found to be ~ 80 kJ/mole, close to that of grain boundary diffusion in aluminum alloys.