It was noted that the constitutive response of Al alloys was controlled by the evolution of dislocation sub-structures; including mobile and forest dislocation densities, cell-size distribution and morphology, and misorientation angle between neighboring cells. The present study focused upon the low-strain regime and compared the measured microstructural evolution of AA3003, AA5005 and AA6022 alloys during deformation. Room-temperature tensile deformation experiments were carried out on industrial specimens of each alloy, and the evolving microstructure was compared with the mechanical response. Dislocation structure evolution was characterized by using transmission electron microscopy and orientation imaging of deformed specimens. It was observed that structural evolution was a function of the lattice orientation and of the nature of the neighboring grains. It was found that, in general, the dislocation cell-size and misorientation angle between dislocation cells evolved systematically during deformation at relatively low strain levels.

Alloying Effects on Dislocation Sub-Structure Evolution of Aluminum Alloys. P.Trivedi, D.P.Field, H.Weiland: International Journal of Plasticity, 2004, 20[3], 459-76