Influence of static tensile testing on the deformation behavior of Al–4% Cu alloy containing micro- and nanoparticles

At present, aluminum alloys reinforced with nonmetallic particles are of great interest in various fields of science and technology due to their high specific strength, hardness, wear resistance, and other properties. At the same time there is a great interest in the study of processes occurring during plastic deformation of such materials under static tensile loading. Plastic flow of metals occurs through the creation and movement of linear defects (dislocations), in which there is a phenomenon of discontinuous yielding. An introduction of particles into aluminum alloy promotes a considerable increase of stiffness and specific strength of alloys, and the study of the deformation behavior of such alloys is of great interest. The objective of this research is to analyze mechanical properties and the deformation behavior of aluminum alloy with the identification of mechanisms of plastic deformation when introducing solid nonmetallic micro- and nanoparticles into the soft aluminum matrix. An analysis of the microstructure of the obtained alloys shows that the introduction of particles (Al2O3, TiB2, TiC) leads to a reduction of the alloy grain size from 350 to 170 µm while residual porosity does not exceed 2%. Tensile tests performed show that the change in the type and quantity of particles also changes characteristics of discontinuous yielding, thus resulting in an increase of yield strength (from 18 to 40 MPa), reduction of ductility (from 15 to 2%), and moreover a significant increase of tensile strength (from 77 to 130 MPa), as compared to the initial Al–4 wt % Cu alloy