Warm Forming Characteristics of AA7050-T6

The formability of AA7050 aluminum alloy sheet is characterized under isothermal forming conditions at room temperature and 150 °C. The material was tested in the T6 condition. Nakazima limiting dome height (LDH) tests in conjunction with stereoscopic digital image correlation (DIC) strain measurements are used for the formability assessment. Four-point forming limit curves (FLCs) were developed at the two test temperatures. AA7050-T6 is shown to respond positively to elevated temperature forming with a 0.19 major true limit strain for a 76.2 mm Nakazima specimen, for example, compared to 0.13 at room temperature. The current results for AA7050-T6 are compared to the formability of AA7075-T6 sheet tested under similar conditions; a slightly higher formability was observed for the AA7075-T6 alloy at the elevated temperature. (paper)