Stress relaxation behavior of an Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy in simulated age-forming process

•Stress relaxation behavior in the simulated age-forming process of the Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy can be divided into three stages.•Activation energies are 132 kJ/mol, 119 kJ/mol and 91 kJ/mol, respectively, in different stages of the simulated aging-forming process.•Stress relaxation behavior in the simulated age-forming process is controlled by dislocation creep and Coble creep.•A threshold stress presents in the stress relaxation process of the Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy.

The stress relaxation behavior of age-forming for an Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy was studied using a designed device that can simulate the age forming process. The mechanism of stress relaxation was also revealed through calculating thermal activation parameters and analyzing the microstructures. The results suggested that the stress relaxation behavior of the Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy in the simulated age-forming process can be divided into three stages according to the stress level. The three stages of stress relaxation are: (i) the initial high stress stage, (ii) the subsequent middle stress transition stage and (iii) the last low stress equilibrium stage, respectively. The deformation activation energies are 132 kJ/mol in the initial high stress stage, 119 kJ/mol in the subsequent middle stress transition stage and 91 kJ/mol in the last low stress equilibrium stage, respectively. The analysis of the thermal activation parameters and microstructures revealed that dislocation creep was the dominant deformation mechanism in the initial and subsequent stages of the stress relaxation; whereas diffusion creep is the mechanism in the last stage of the stress relaxation. Additionally, a special threshold stress phenomena was present in the stress relaxation of the age-forming process, which was scribed to the interaction between precipitation and dislocation in the Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy