Effect of alloying elements and processing parameters on the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect of Al-Mg alloys

The effects of alloying elements and processing parameters on the mechanical properties and Portevin-Le Chatelier effect of Al-Mg alloys developed for inner auto body sheets were investigated in detail. Tensile testing was performed in various Zn and Mg contents under different annealing and cold-rolling conditions. In the results, the stress drop and reloading time of serrations increase with increasing plastic strain and exhibit a common linear relationship. The increase rates of stress drop and reloading time increase with increasing Mg or Zn content. The alloys with a greater intensity of serrated yielding generally exhibit a greater elongation. The stress drop and reloading time of serrations decrease with increasing grain size in the case of the annealed samples. The cold-rolled sample exhibits the most severe serration because it initially contains a large number of grain boundaries and dislocations.