Surface Micromechanics of Polymer Coated Aluminium Sheets during Plastic Deformation

The plastic deformation of coated aluminium sheets has been investigated by D. Raabe and coworkers. Grain-scale micromechanical effects at the sheet surface or metal-polymer interface are essentially determined by orange peel and ridging phenomena. This supplies information about roughness, friction conditions during forming, strain localization, optical appearance and failure of constructional materials. The heterogeneity of microstructure and microstrains in the aluminium sheets and the resulting surface roughness of the coated and uncoated materials after plastic straining were investigated in a set of Al-Mg-Si (AA6022, T4 condition) aluminium samples of identical composition but different history.