Tensile ductility of an aluminium alloy: Experiments and simulations with a porous plasticity model

In this study, we investigate the modelling of ductile failure in an aluminium alloy in different temper conditions. We propose using a porous plasticity model with a stress-enhanced nucleation rule to describe the ductile failure process that is assumed to be closely related to the presence of particles. The primary objective is to determine if a single set of failure parameters can be used to describe the ductility of the aluminium alloy in several temper conditions. To support this investigation, tension tests are carried out on smooth and notched samples made from an extruded plate of aluminium alloy AA6110. By varying the heat treatment of the alloy, four materials are considered with different strength, work hardening, and ductility, while the grain structure and the distribution of the constituent particles are unchanged. A secondary objective is to evaluate a cost-efficient calibration procedure for the porous plasticity model. Finite element simulations of the tension tests show that the calibration procedure is accurate and that the same set of failure parameters can be used for all four temper conditions with acceptable accuracy when using the stress-enhanced nucleation rule.