Effect of aging and cryo rolling on microstructural characterization and mechanical properties of precipitation hardenable 6063Al alloy

The microstructural characterization and mechanical properties of precipitation hardenable 6063 Al alloy subjected to cryo rolling (CR) are reported in this present work. The cryo rolled sheets and solutionized sheets were subjected to aged to induce precipitation. Microstructural and mechanical properties evaluation were investigated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), conventional test and portable ball indentation technique test. The effect of two types of ageing treatment (peak aging and over aging) on solutionized and cryo rolled samples were investigated in this work. Ultrafine grained microstructure with improved strength was obtained after solutionized and cryo rolling. The mechanical properties of before and after cryo rolling at different ageing treatment were compared.

► The paper describe the effect of cryo rolling process on solution treated bulk Al 6063.
► The cryo rolled sheets and solutionized sheets were subjected to aged to induce precipitation.
► We investigated that the effects of ageing duration and cryo rolled at different strains on the refinement of alloys.
► We observed that after cryo rolling, the strength is increasing due to the presence of second phase Mg2Si.
► The sub-grains are heavily deformed after cryo rolling.