MICROSCOPIC ASPECTS OF HETEROGENEOUS DEFORMATION IN ALUMINUM-MAGNESIUM ALLOY-5182

The deformation behaviour of an aluminium-magnesium alloy with potenti al use in the automotive industry has been investigated for both tensi le and compressive loading. Tensile behaviour is characterized by neck ing followed by rapid shear failure, The behaviour in compression is c haracterized by the development of shear bands at medium strains, epsi lon = 0.4 - 1.0, arising from microshear bands within certain grains a nd ultimately coalescing into sample-scale bands. Orientation and defo rmation measurements demonstrate that significant local strain heterog eneities are present even at low strains (epsilon = 0.4) and may be li nked to the S texture.