Materials Science & Engineering A 578 (2013) 9095

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Materials Science & Engineering A

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/msea

The effects of rolling parameters on the mechanical behavior of 6061

aluminum alloy
F. Rajabi a, A. Zarei-Hanzaki a,n, M. Eskandari a, S. Khoddam b
a
School of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
b
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Australia

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The present work has been conducted to study the effect of rolling parameters (strain rate and
Received 18 February 2013 temperature) on the microstructural evolutions and mechanical properties of 6061 aluminum alloy.
Received in revised form The results indicate that the predominant restoration process during rolling at 250 1C is dynamic
1 April 2013
recovery, and the driving force is not high enough to trigger dynamic recrystallization. However, primary
Accepted 5 April 2013
recrystallized grains were clearly evident in the microstructure of the specimen rolled at 350 1C.
Available online 25 April 2013
Moreover, at 450 1C not only the volume fraction of dynamically recrystallized grains is increased but the
Keywords: formation of some new precipitates is recognized. The tensile test results show that the room
Non-ferrous metals and alloys temperature strength and ductility are increased by increasing the rolling temperature in the range of
Mechanical properties
250450 1C. Moreover, at a given rolling temperature the yield strength is decreased with increasing
Microstructure
strain rate. The observed trends are explained through microstructural evolutions upon hot rolling as
well as dynamic precipitation of Mg2Si and the Fe or Cu rich particles.
& 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction temperature dependence of ow stress. Nageswara Rao and

Aluminum alloys especially the 6xxx series (AlMgSiFe alloy
system), are well known for their outstanding properties such as
high specic strength [16], good corrosion resistance [6,7] and
weldability [7]. Such alloys possess a great potential to be used in
aerospace and automotive applications to reduce the weight and
thereby fuel consumption [811]. However, its low formability at
room temperature is considered as an important shortcoming of
this material. Thus, expanding the knowledge on the plastic
deformation behavior of the 6xxx series Al alloy would be useful
to improve its workability which plays an essential role in the
industrialization of the alloy.
In this regard a number of previous investigations have been
devoted to assess the high temperature formability of the 6061
alloy, as the most common 6xxx aluminum alloys, in the pre-
determined deformation conditions [1216].
Neil et al. [12] examined the effects of processing parameters
such as deformation temperature during hot deformation of 6061
alloy using physical simulations. The kinetics of recrystallization
followed the traditional trends predicted by JMAK kinetics. Kim
et al. [13] investigated forging processes of 6061 aluminumalloy at
elevated temperatures using a nite element method. They dealt
with the effects of strain rate on the material properties and the
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 21 82084116; fax: +98 21 88006076.
E-mail address: zareih@ut.ac.ir (A. Zarei-Hanzaki).
Jayaganthan. [14] studied the mechanical properties and micro-
structural evolution of 6061 alloy subjected to cold cryorolling and
warm rolling. These techniques resulted in a signicant improve-
ment in tensile strength (376 MPa) and partial improvement in
ductility (5%) during tensile testing. In addition, Abolhasani et al.
[15] studied the forming characteristics of 6061 alloy in semisolid
region. Their results showed that a ne and globular microstruc-
ture would be achieved using semisolid formation. Zarei et al. [17]
worked on the effect of rolling parameters on microstructural
evolutions of 7075 aluminum alloy during hot rolling. The results
of tensile testing indicated that the room temperature strength
and ductility of 7075 alloy were decreased by increasing the
rolling temperature in the temperature range of 250350 1C.
According to all previous studies, the 6061 aluminum alloy is
one of the AlMgSi system alloys that can be signicantly
strengthened by a proper thermo-mechanical treatment. This alloy
may possess a microstructure with ne grain size due to the
occurrence of restoration processes (dynamic recrystallization and
dynamic recovery) during thermo-mechanical treatments. This
would enhance the mechanical properties of the alloy. However,
there has been a lack of organized study on the hot deformation
behavior of Al-6061 alloy under the conditions encountered in the
processing operation such as rolling and the inuence of thermo-
mechanical parameters on microstructural evolution and subse-
quent mechanical properties.
It should be noted that the nal mechanical properties are
directly dependent on the nal microstructure, and this in turn is

0921-5093/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2013.04.023
 F. Rajabi et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 578 (2013) 9095 91

dictated by the processing history. Consequently, through a proper

control of the processing conditions, it may be possible to produce
good combinations of mechanical properties. The presence of
second phase particles is also one of the most important issues
on the hot deformation behavior of 6xxx series Al alloys. The
mechanical properties of these age hardenable alloys are mainly
controlled by the particle precipitation in their microstructures.
According to the literature [26] the T6 temper of the 6xxx alloys
renders formation of thin precipitates such as Mg2Si. The general
precipitation sequence of Mg2Si phase in AlMgSi system is well
known as supersaturated solid solution-GP zone (Mg1Si1) --
- (Mg2Si), of which (Mg5Si6) needles, with diameter of several
nano-meters and length of tens to hundreds of nano-meters, are
the most effective strengthening meta-stable phases of (Mg2Si),
following a little coarser (Mg9Si5) particles [3,812]. As is well
Fig. 1. The typical microstructure of the as-received experimental alloy.
reported the existence of these particles may induce a signicant
effect on the hot workability as well as room temperature
mechanical properties of the alloy [15,18]. Thus, the effective
control of microstructure during thermo-mechanical processing
is highly dependent on the complete understanding of the
characteristics of these precipitates.
Taking these into consideration, the present work aims to
investigate the effect of the rolling temperature and rolling strain
rate on the room temperature mechanical properties of the heat
treated Al-6061 alloy with emphasis on microstructural evolution
during hot rolling such as dynamic restoration processes and
dynamic precipitation.

2. Experimental procedure

The experimental material was 6061 aluminum alloy (Mg: 1.1%,

Si: 0.8%, Fe: 0.6%, Cu: 0.3%, Al-balance,wt%) which was received as
a hot-rolled plate with thickness of 8 mm. The as-received alloy
was hot-rolled at 250, 350 and 450 1C under equivalent strain rates
of 7, 15 and 23 s1 respectively, with total strain of 1.8. The rolls
were neither lubricated nor heated. The room temperature tensile
tests were conducted according to ASTM B557 standard using
plate specimens with a transverse section of 1
5 mm2 and a gage
length of 25 mm. In all specimens, the deformation axis was
selected to be parallel to the rolling direction. The tensile tests
were performed using an Instron 4208 universal testing machine
at an initial strain rate of 2
103 s1. Three tensile tests were
carried out on each condition and the elongation-to-failure was
measured from the gage length of the fractured specimen. It
should be noted that to avoid any uneven microstructure during
further characterization, a thin layer workpiece outer surface was
rst taken away by wire cutting.
Optical and scanning electron microscopies (SEM, Cam Scan,
MV2300, and England) were used to examine the hot-rolled
microstructures. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was also exe-
cuted on the selected specimens to identify the constitutive phases
in the related microstructures. For these tests, a high-resolution
X-ray diffractometer (model Philips-X'pert, Netherlands) with
rotating copper anode (Cu K1) radiation (wavelength,
1.5406 A1) was employed. Scans were collected over a range of
201 to 1201 in 2 with an accelerating voltage of 40 kV and a
scanning speed of 21 min1. The XRD scans were carried out on the
mid-thickness planes of all specimens parallel to the rolling plane.
3. Results and discussion
Optical micrographs of the initial microstructure and the related
XRD pattern are shown in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively. The presence of
precipitates such as Mg2Si, Al8Fe2Si and Al2CuMg phases is conrmed
Fig. 2. The XRD pattern of the as-received experimental alloy.
by energy dispersive spectroscopy. Figs. 3 and 4 show the room
temperature yield and ultimate tensile stress of the hot-rolled
specimens under different deformation conditions. As is clearly seen,
the room temperature mechanical properties of the alloy are
signicantly inuenced by the rolling temperature and strain rate.
As is seen in Fig. 3, increasing the rolling temperature from
250 to 450 1C is associated with an enhancement in yield and
ultimate tensile strengths. Accordingly, the ultimate tensile
strength of the hot-rolled specimens varies between 270 and
530 MPa. Surprisingly, a signicant increase is observed at 450 1C
in comparison to other temperatures. This trend is seen at all three
different constant strain rates (Fig. 3a c). The as-received
material exhibited a yield stress of: 241 MPa and ultimate tensile
stress of 290 MPa. As is shown in Fig. 4, at constant rolling
temperature, increasing the strain rate resulted in lower yield
strength. Therefore, the rate of increase of the strengths versus
increase of the rolling temperature (Fig. 3) is decreased with
increasing strain rate. The precipitates would be relatively soft at
450 1C (as this temperature is close to the solutionizing tempera-
ture range of the experimental alloy) and might be easier to be cut
through by dislocations during the deformation under higher
strain rate [18,19]. Consequently, the barrier to dislocation motion
is less strong with increasing strain rate thereby the yield stress
would be reduced.
The variations of ductility (elongation-to-fracture) against roll-
ing temperatures are plotted in Fig. 5. As is observed, the
elongation-to-fracture is increased with increasing rolling tem-
perature from 250 to 450 1C. Fig. 6 shows the obtained micro-
structures after hot rolling at different conditions. According to
Fig. 6a and c, the obtained microstructures after hot rolling at
92 F. Rajabi et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 578 (2013) 9095
Fig. 3. The room temperature strengths of hot-rolled specimens at different
temperatures with strain rate of (a) 7, (b) 15 and (c) 23 s1.
250 1C consisted of elongated grains. As is seen, the preferred
recovery at the vicinity of grain boundaries has led to the
formation of serrated boundaries (indicated by arrows in Fig. 6a
and c). As is well established [20] the presence of serrated
boundaries is a reliable indication of the occurrence of extended
dynamic recovery during hot rolling. Accordingly, it can be con-
cluded that under this condition the predominant restoration
process is dynamic recovery. Therefore, the driving force is not
high enough to trigger the dynamic recrystallization.
The obtained microstructures after hot rolling at 350 1C (Fig. 6d
to f) consisted of elongated grains along with nucleation of new
ne grains. Recrystallized grains with higher fraction area are
evident in the microstructure of the specimen after hot rolling at
Fig. 4. The variations of room temperature ultimate tensile strength and yield
stress after hot rolling under different strain rates at (a) 250, (b) 350 and (c) 450 1C.
450 1C (Fig. 6g to i). The grains at this temperature are almost
equiaxed along with formation of new dynamically recrystallized
grains. This is rationalized as effect of deformation temperature on
the restoration processes.
The SEM micrographs of the specimens rolled at temperatures
of 250, 350 and 450 1C under stain rate of 23/s are depicted in
Fig. 7. As is seen in Fig. 7a, there are some white second phases
with elliptical morphology in the microstructures. The Cu-rich
nature of these precipitates was veried using the SEM/EDS
micrographs. Increasing rolling temperature to 350 1C resulted in
the formation of new precipitations in the microstructure (Fig. 7b).
 F. Rajabi et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 578 (2013) 9095
These second phases with irregular jagged shape are Fe-rich
precipitates, mostly with the nominal composition of Al8Fe2Si
[16]. It is anticipated that these Fe-rich phases were dynamically
precipitated during hot rolling at this temperature. Rolling at
4501C resulted in higher volume fraction of Mg2Si in the micro-
structure. The considerable increase in quantity of Mg2Si precipi-
tate at 450 1C probably leads to better mechanical properties
which are obviously seen in Fig. 3.
Fig. 5. The variations of ductility (elongation-to-fracture) with rolling temperature
under strain rate of 15 s1.
Fig. 6. The microstructures obtained through hot rolling at different conditions: (a) T 250 1C, strain rate: 7 s1, (b) T 250 1C, strain rate: 16 s1, (c) T 250 1C, strain rate:
23 s1, (d) T 350 1C, strain rate: 7 s1, (e) T 350 1C, strain rate: 16 s1, (f) T 350 1C, strain rate: 23 s1,(g) T 450 1C, strain rate: 7 s1, (h) T 450 1C, strain rate: 16 s1, (i)
T 450 1C, strain rate: 23 s1.
93
For further clarication, the XRD patterns of the rolled speci-
mens at 250, 350 and 450 1C (with rolling strain rate of 23 s1) are
illustrated in Fig. 8. The XRD peaks could be identied as due to
(Al) solid solution (labeled Al) peaks. As is observed, the rolled
microstructure at 250 1C mostly consisted of Al8Fe2Si, Al13Fe4,
Mg2Si, Al2CuMg, and Al4Cu precipitates (Fig. 8a). Finely dispersed
Al2CuMg and Mg2Si precipitates may hinder the easy movement of
the grain boundaries thereby stabilizing the sub-grain structure
formed during rolling.
As is seen in Fig. 8b, increasing the temperature to 350 1C ends
formation of Cu-rich phase precipitates such as CuMgZn in the
microstructure. Moreover, the presence of Cu rich phases such as
CuMgZn was more clearly detected at 350 1C but intensity of the
peak dropped at 450 1C. Hence, as is expected the XRD results
conrm the precipitation of Cu-rich phases during hot rolling at
350 1C. At 450 1C, the majority of precipitates in the microstructure
are Mg2Si, Mg5Si6 Al2CuMg and Al4Cu. The precipitations can be
clearly seen in Fig. 7c. According to EDS results, precipitations are
composed of elements such as FeMgMn, Cr and Si.
Considering the above discussions, the variation of room
temperature mechanical properties of the experimental alloy after
deformation at different temperatures is attributed to the occur-
rence of dynamic precipitation as well as dynamic restoration
processes during hot rolling. As shown in Fig. 3, the room
temperature strength of the experimental alloy is increased with
increasing the rolling temperature up to 450 1C. The latter is
attributed to the occurrence of recovery at 250 1C and onset of
the DRX along with formation of new precipitations at 350 and
450 1C.
94 F. Rajabi et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 578 (2013) 9095
Fig. 7. The scanning electron micrographs of 6061 Al alloy after hot rolling with
strain rate of 23 s-1 at (a) T 250 1C, (b) T 350 1C, and (c) T 450 1C.
The formation of substructures during recovery at 250 1C
followed by intensication of strain rate resulted in formation of
ner sub-grains structure [2125]. This may act as barriers for
dislocation movements, thereby affecting tensile strength level. As
shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the mechanical properties of the experi-
mental alloy are improved after rolling at 350 1C. This is related to
the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization along with formation
Fig. 8. The XRD patterns corresponding to the experimental alloy after hot rolling
with strain rate of 23 s1 at (a) T 250 1C, (b) T 350 1C, and (c) T 4501C.
new ne grains. The other positive factor on improvement of the
tensile strength at 450 1C is the presence of ne Al4Cu and -Mg2Si
particles. This fact was conrmed by XRD results (Fig. 8c). This is in
good agreement with previous results. According to previous
nding, during heating up or pre-heating to 450 1C prior to rolling,
high amount of Mg2Si, CuZn precipitates is formed within the
grains [26].
4. Conclusion
In the present study, the microstructural evolutions and the
room temperature mechanical properties of the 6061 Al alloy were
investigated upon rolling at different conditions. The results
indicate that the room temperature mechanical properties of the
alloy are signicantly inuenced by the rolling temperature in
the temperature range of 250450 1C. It has been observed that
the predominant restoration processes during rolling at 250
and 350 1C are dynamic recovery and dynamic recrystallization,
respectively. However, the pronounced recrystallized grains are
 F. Rajabi et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 578 (2013) 9095
clearly seen in the microstructure of the specimens that were
rolled at 450 1C. The tensile test results show that the room
temperature strength and ductility are increased by increasing
the rolling temperature in the range of 250450 1C. Furthermore,
at constant rolling temperature, increasing the strain rate resulted
in decrease of yield strength. The observed trends are explained
through the microstructural evolutions during hot rolling and
precipitation of the second phase such as Mg2Si and Fe or Mn
rich sediments.
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