Mechanical behaviour of an AA6082 aluminium alloy at low temperatures

Aluminium alloys are known to have good cryogenic properties. However, little work is reported on aluminium alloys in the temperature range from room temperature and down to-100°C, which are likely operating temperatures in arctic regions. This work is an experimental study of the low temperature mechanical properties of an extruded AA6082 aluminium alloy in the T6 condition approved for marine applications. Quasi-static and dynamic tensile testing has been carried out at different temperatures from room temperature and down to-70°C. This decrease in temperature leads to a 10 % increase in yield strength. No significant influence of temperature was found on the area reduction to fracture. The work-hardening behaviour has been analysed for different temperatures and strain rates by fitting a generalized Voce rule to the tensile data. The initial work-hardening rate is found to depend weakly on the temperature and strain rate.