On the deformation and failure of Al 6061-T6 at low triaxiality evaluated through in situ microscopy

We investigate deformation and failure of Al 6061-T6 at low triaxiality conditions through in situ scanning electron microscopy. The global behavior of the specimen, as well as the local deformations of the matrix material, second phase particles, and preexisting voids, are observed with a combination of high temporal/low spatial resolution images and low temporal/high spatial resolution images. It is found that the matrix dominates the deformation response, with the second phase particles and voids imparting little influence on the deformation. Tracking of second phase particles is used to determine the local strain fields averaged over a suitable gage length and to correlate to the macroscopic behavior.