The Precise Determination of the Johnson–Cook Material and Damage Model Parameters and Mechanical Properties of an Aluminum 7068-T651 Alloy

Abstract

Al 7068-T651 alloy is one of the recently developed materials used mostly in the defense industry due to its high strength, toughness, and low weight compared to steels. The aim of this study is to identify the Johnson–Cook (J–C) material model parameters, the accurate Johnson–Cook (J–C) damage parameters, D1, D2, and D3 of the Al 7068-T651 alloy for finite element analysis-based simulation techniques, together with other damage parameters, D4 and D5. In order to determine D1, D2, and D3, tensile tests were conducted on notched and smooth specimens at medium strain rate, 100 s−1, and tests were repeated seven times to ensure the consistency of the results both in the rolling direction and perpendicular to the rolling direction. To determine D4 and D5 further, tensile tests were conducted on specimens at high strain rate (102 s−1) and temperature (300 °C) by means of the Gleeble thermal–mechanical physical simulation system. The final areas of fractured specimens were calculated through optical microscopy. The effects of stress triaxiality factor, rolling direction, strain rate, and temperature on the mechanical properties of the Al 7068-T651 alloy were also investigated. Damage parameters were calculated via the Levenberg–Marquardt optimization method. From all the aforementioned experimental work, J–C material model parameters were determined. In this article, J–C damage model constants, based on maximum and minimum equivalent strain values, were also reported which can be utilized for the simulation of different applications.