Impact of high strain rate deformation on the mechanical behavior, fracture mechanisms and anisotropic response of 2060 Al-Cu-Li alloy

Since AA2060-T8 was introduced in the past few years, investigating the mechanical response, fracture mechanisms, and anisotropic behaviour of AA2060-T8 sheets under high strain rate deformation has been crucial. Thus, uniaxial tensile tests were performed under quasi-static, intermediate, and high strain rate conditions using universal testing machines as well as split Hopkinson tensile bars. The experimental results showed that the ductility of AA2060-T8 sheets was improved during high strain rate deformation because of the adiabatic softening and the inertia effect which contribute to slow down the necking development, and these results were verified by the fracture morphologies of high strain rate tensile samples. Furthermore, the strain rate hardening influence of AA2060-T8 was significant. Therefore, the Johnson–Cook constitutive model was modified to consider the effects of both strain and strain rates on the strain hardening coefficient. The results obtained from the improved Johnson–Cook constitutive model are in remarkable accordance with those obtained from experimental work. Thus, the improved Johnson–Cook model can predict the flow behavior of AA2060-T8 sheets at room temperature over a wide range of strain rates. The results of the present study can efficiently be used to develop a new manufacturing route based on impact hydroforming technology (IHF) to manufacture sound thin-walled-complex shape components from AA2060-T8 sheets at room temperature.