Cavitation During Creep Deformation in AA7075-T76: Cellular Automata Simulation and Experiments

In this work, cavitation during creep in AA7075-T76 was simulated employing a probabilistic cellular automata scheme. Two-dimensional cellular automata coupled with the governing equations for cavity growth were utilized to define the size and distribution of cavities during creep. Both diffusion and strain-controlled mechanisms were taken into account while the first and second neighboring cells were considered for determination of the cavity growth as well as to generate the initial microstructure. Moreover, uni-axial creep experiments on AA7075-T76 were carried out under different temperatures and applied stresses including 170 MPa at 150 degrees C and 150 MPa at 160 degrees C. The microstructural changes during creep were detected, and formation and growth of cavities were evaluated after different creep durations. Accordingly, microstructural evolution including optical metallography and scanning electron microscopy were performed to characterize the microstructural changes and the size of the cavities. The achieved results were then employed to determine the material constants as well as to validate the simulation results. A reasonable agreement was found between the simulation and the experimental data, which shows that the proposed model can be used under real conditions while the impact of significant aspects including the coalescence of the cavities can be properly considered by the model.

Automated summary

The study simulated cavitation during creep in AA7075-T76 using a probabilistic cellular automata scheme, which utilized governing equations for cavity growth and two-dimensional cellular automata. Uni-axial creep experiments were conducted under different temperatures and stresses, with microstructural changes and cavity formation evaluated. The results showed a reasonable agreement between simulation and experimental data, indicating the proposed model's validity under real conditions.