A study on effects of a new two-step strain induced melt activation process on characteristics of Al 7075 alloy

It is well-known that the strain induced melt activation process results in a globular microstructure which improves the hardness and the ultimate tensile stress. However, its disadvantage is degrading some other properties such as elongation and formability due to the presence of continuous and brittle intermetallic compounds along with the formation of eutectic structures at grain boundaries. Hence, the aim of this research is to introduce a new process called two-step strain induced melt activation to overcome these drawbacks and to improve the microstructure and the formability of Al 7075 alloy. This new process yielded a globular structure and modified the microstructure. Also, the resultant precipitates were discontinuous with a more homogeneous distribution and the eutectic mixture was eliminated. Moreover, the alloy formability and the hardness were effectively enhanced by performing a rolling process.