Modeling the Hot Deformation Behaviors of As-Extruded 7075 Aluminum Alloy by an Artificial Neural Network with Back-Propagation Algorithm

In order to investigate the hot deformation behaviors of as-extruded 7075 aluminum alloy, the isothermal compressive tests were conducted at the temperatures of 573, 623, 673 and 723 K and the strain rates of 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10 s(-1) on a Gleeble 1500 thermo-mechanical simulator. The flow behaviors showing complex characteristics are sensitive to strain, strain rate and temperature. The effects of strain, temperature and strain rate on flow stress were analyzed and dynamic recrystallization (DRX)-type softening characteristics of the flow behaviors with single peak were identified. An artificial neural network (ANN) with back-propagation (BP) algorithm was developed to deal with the complex deformation behavior characteristics based on the experimental data. The performance of ANN model has been evaluated in terms of correlation coefficient (R) and average absolute relative error (AARE). A comparative study on Arrhenius-type constitutive equation and ANN model for as-extruded 7075 aluminum alloy was conducted. Finally, the ANN model was successfully applied to the development of processing map and implanted into finite element simulation. The results have sufficiently articulated that the well-trained ANN model with BP algorithm has excellent capability to deal with the complex flow behaviors of as-extruded 7075 aluminum alloy and has great application potentiality in hot deformation processes.