Study of deformation and fracture of submicrocrystalline aluminum alloys by acoustic emission method

The deformation and fracture of submicrocrystalline aluminum Al-6%Mg and Al-6.1%Mg-0.3%Sc-0.1%Zr alloys after severe plastic deformation (SPD) by equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) as well as the same convenient alloys were investigated by acoustic emission (AE) method. ECAP resulted in predominantly submicrocrystalline structure with high angle grain boundaries and a-rain sizes similar to 100-400 nm in Al-6.1%Mg-0.3%Sc-0.1%Zr alloy and similar to 300-700 nm in Al-6%Mg alloy. The AE measurements carried out during material tension tests give new information regarding the processes deformation and fracture in materials and, together with the methods of microstructure, phase and fractography analysis.