Scripta mater.

42 (2000) 163–168
www.elsevier.com/locate/scriptamat

HIGH STRAIN RATE SUPERPLASTICITY IN A FRICTION

STIR PROCESSED 7075 Al ALLOY
R.S. Mishra1*, M.W. Mahoney2, S.X. McFadden3, N.A. Mara3 and A.K. Mukherjee3
1
Department of Metallurgical Engineering, University of Missouri, Rolla, MO 65401, USA
2
Rockwell Science Center, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360, USA 3Division of Materials Science,
University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
(Received June 20, 1999)
(Accepted in revised form October 11, 1999)

Keywords: Friction stir processing; Aluminum alloy; High temperature mechanical properties

Introduction

The widespread use of superplastic forming of aluminum alloys is hampered by the slow optimum strain
rate for superplasticity, particularly in commercial aluminum alloys. In addition, elaborate thermo-
mechanical processing is needed to obtain a microstructure conducive to superplastic deformation. For
example, Paton et al. (1) developed a four-step thermo-mechanical processing treatment to obtain grain
sizes in the range of 8 –14 ␮m in commercial 7075 and 7475 aluminum alloys. The 7075 Al alloy
exhibited optimum superplastic behavior at a temperature of 516 °C and a strain rate of 2 ⫻ 10⫺4 s⫺1.
More recently, Xinggang et al. (2,3) have refined the thermo-mechanical processing of 7075 Al alloy
to increase the optimum strain rate to 8.3 ⫻ 10⫺4 s⫺1 at 510 °C. The improved thermo-mechanical
processing involved solution treatment, overaging, multiple warm rolling passes (200 –220 °C) with
intermittent re-heating and a final recrystallization treatment. Clearly, the thermo-mechanical process-
ing is complex and still the optimum superplastic strain rate is an order of magnitude slower than
desirable for widespread use of superplastic forging/forming of components in automotive industries
(4). There is an obvious need for developing processing techniques that will shift the optimum
superplastic strain rate to at least 10⫺2 s⫺1 in commercial aluminum alloys produced by casting route.
High strain rate superplasticity is defined as the minimum strain rate of 10⫺2 s⫺1 (5).
This has led to the use of severe plastic deformation (SePD) processing approaches such as equal
channel angular extrusion (ECAE). Berbon et al. (6) have used ECAE to obtain high strain rate
superplasticity in a commercial 1420 Al alloy at significantly lower temperature. A typical grain
refinement schedule by ECAE consists of 8 –10 passes at intermediate temperatures. An even higher
shift in optimum superplastic strain rate and decrease to lower temperature were demonstrated by
Mishra et al. (7) in a 1420 Al alloy processed by torsional strain (TS)-SePD. TS-SePD produces a
nanocrystalline microstructure but the process is limited to a very small specimen size, typically 20 mm
in diameter and 0.5–1 mm thick.
In this paper, we report the first results using friction stir processing (FSP). In the last ten years, a
new technique of Friction Stir Welding (FSW) has emerged as an exciting solid state joining technique
for aluminum alloys. This technique, developed by The Welding Institute (TWI), involves traversing a

*To whom all correspondence should be addressed.

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164 STRAIN RATE SUPERPLASTICITY IN 7075 Al ALLOY Vol. 42, No. 2

Figure 1. (a) A montage of optical micrographs showing the ‘nugget’ region of very fine grain size produced by friction stir
processing. The geometry of miniature tensile specimens used in this study to evaluate superplasticity is superimposed. (b) A
bright field transmission electron micrograph from the center of the ‘nugget’, representing the microstructure in the gage of tensile
specimen.

rotating tool that produces intense plastic deformation through a ‘stirring’ action (8). The localized
heating is produced by friction between the tool shoulder and the sheet top surface, as well as plastic
deformation of the material in contact with the tool. This results in a stirred zone with a very fine grain
size in a single pass. Mahoney et al. (9) observed a grain size of 3 ␮m in a 7075 Al alloy. This process
can be easily adopted as a processing technique to obtain fine grain size. FSP of a commercial 7075 Al
alloy resulted in significant enhancement of superplastic properties. The optimum superplastic strain
rate was 10⫺2 s⫺1 at 490 °C in the FSP 7075 Al alloy, an improvement of more than an order of
magnitude in strain rate. The present results suggest an exciting possibility to use a simple FSP
technique to enhance grain size dependent properties.

Experimental

The alloy selected was 6.35 mm thick 7075-T651 Al plate with nominal composition in wt. pct.
5.6Zn-2.5Mg-1.6Cu-0.23Cr-bal Al. A single pass friction stir processed zone of 0.3 m length was made
using conventional friction stir welding practices. Weld processing parameters are proprietary, but it can
be noted that the traverse speed was 15 cm/min. The processing was similar to the FSW work of
Mahoney et al. (9), except that a monolithic plate was used for this study. Tensile specimens with 1 mm
Vol. 42, No. 2 STRAIN RATE SUPERPLASTICITY IN 7075 Al ALLOY 165

Figure 2. Stress-strain behavior of friction stir processed 7075 Al alloy as a function of (a) strain rate at 490 °C, and (b)
temperature at a strain rate of 1 ⫻ 10⫺2 s⫺1.

gage length were machined in the transverse direction, as shown in Figure 1(a) where the gage length
was centered in the fine grain FSP nugget. The specimens were ground and polished to a thickness of
⬃0.5 mm. All the tensile tests were carried out using a custom-built, computer-controlled bench-top
tensile testing machine at constant strain rate. The microstructure of friction stir processed specimens
was examined by optical and transmission electron microscopy.

Results and Discussion

Figure 1(a) presents a montage of optical micrographs showing a transverse cross section of the as
processed friction stir region. The flow lines within the nugget and the elliptical shape are typical of the
friction stir process. The friction stir nugget shows the region that experienced extensive plastic
deformation, producing a grain size much finer than the original rolled structure. Figure 1(b) shows a
166 STRAIN RATE SUPERPLASTICITY IN 7075 Al ALLOY Vol. 42, No. 2

Figure 3. Variation of elongation with (a) strain rate at 490 °C, and (b) temperature at a strain rate of 1 ⫻ 10⫺2 s⫺1. For
comparison the best previous results of Xinggang et al. is included in (a). Note an order of magnitude improvement in optimum
strain rate.

bright field transmission electron micrograph of the nugget region. The average grain size, determined
by mean linear intercept technique (grain size ⫽ 1.78 ⫻ mean linear intercept), was 3.3⫾0.4 ␮m.
The stress-strain behavior of the FSP nugget is shown in Figure 2 as a function of strain rate and
temperature. The optimum strain rate for maximum elongation at 490 °C was 1 ⫻ 10⫺2 s⫺1. However,
even at strain rates up to 1 ⫻ 10⫺1 s⫺1, a relatively high elongation was achieved. All the flow curves
showed extensive strain hardening. The level of strain beyond the peak stress was limited. At a strain
rate of 1 ⫻ 10⫺2 s⫺1, the optimum temperature for maximum elongation was 490 °C. The variation of
ductility with strain rate and temperature is illustrated in Figure 3. The ductility at 1 ⫻ 10⫺2 s⫺1 and
490 °C was ⬎1000%. For comparison, the data of Xinggang et al. (3) is included in Figure 3(a). The
increase in optimum strain rate by more than an order of magnitude is noteworthy. The ductility at 1 ⫻
10⫺1 s⫺1 and 490 °C was 318%. Considering that the required ductility for most forming operations is
less than 200%, the superplastic ductility at such a high strain rate in commercial aluminum alloys is
highly desirable. This shows the effectiveness of friction stir processing in evolving a microstructure in

Figure 4. The appearance of specimens before and after superplastic deformation at 490 °C.
Vol. 42, No. 2 STRAIN RATE SUPERPLASTICITY IN 7075 Al ALLOY 167

Figure 5. Variation of stress with strain rate producing an apparent stress exponent of ⬃2.2.

one step that is amenable to high strain rate superplasticity. The superplastically deformed specimens
at 490 °C are shown in Figure 4. The uniform elongation in the gage region is typical of superplastic
flow.
The variation of stress with strain rate is shown in Figure 5 at 430 °C and 490 °C. The apparent stress
exponent is ⬃2.2. This value is quite close to the theoretical stress exponent value of 2 predicted for
grain boundary sliding related deformation mechanisms (10). The activation energy was estimated to
be 239 kJ mol⫺1. This value is much higher than the value of activation energy for lattice or grain
boundary self-diffusion, which are 142 kJ mol⫺1 and 84 kJ mol⫺1, respectively (11). Generally, the
activation energy for superplasticity in aluminum alloys is close to that for grain boundary diffusion
(12). We note that in the temperature range used in the present study, the volume fraction of second
phase precipitates is temperature dependent. The increase in volume fraction of precipitates at lower
testing temperatures will reduce the kinetics of superplastic flow. This is likely to raise the apparent
activation energy and make difficult the interpretation of experimental values.
The overall implication of the present results is significant. It shows the possibility of using a simple
friction stir process to induce high strain rate superplasticity in commercial aluminum alloys. In fact,
superplasticity may now be achievable in thicker section aluminum sheet via friction stir processing. It
should also be possible to use this technique to achieve a very fine grain size directly from a cast
structure in commercial alloys. Based on these results, a three-step manufacturing of components can
be envisaged: Cast ⫹ Friction Stir Process ⫹ Superplastic forge or form.

Conclusions

1. The present results demonstrate the feasibility of friction stir processing to produce a microstructure
amenable to high strain rate superplasticity in a commercial aluminum alloy.
2. Optimum superplasticity was observed in a friction stir processed 7075 Al alloy at 1 ⫻ 10⫺2 s⫺1 and
490 °C.

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