Application of the Constitutive Model in Finite Element Simulation: Predicting the Flow Behavior for 5754 Aluminum Alloy during Hot Working

The flow behavior of 5754 aluminum alloy was researched using the plane strain compression test for the range of 300–500 °C and 0.1–10 s−1. The experimental flow curves acquired directly from Gleeble-3500 show that deformation parameters have a significant effect on the flow curves. All curves show a broad peak due to the dynamic softening after the work hardening. In addition, the flow curves display a slight downward trend after reaching the peak stress at low and medium strain rates. This softening mechanism has been further investigated by the work hardening rate and the results show that the flow characteristics of 5754 aluminum alloy are mainly controlled by the mechanism of competition between hardening, dynamic recovery and continuous dynamic recrystallization. Based on the corrected true strain-stress curves, the constitutive model of the corresponding softening mechanism has been established by a linear regression method. Then, the developed model was embedded in the finite element (FE) analysis software (ABAQUS) by encoding the UHARD subroutine and the hot compression process of the alloy was simulated and analyzed. The simulation results show that the sample has an uneven flow in the deformation zone, which is consistent with the grain morphology of the corresponding region of the test sample. In addition, the simulated load-stroke values were well fitted to the experimental data. The predictive ability of the model was quantified by statistical indicators. It emerged that the FE of the embedded constitutive model effectively simulates the hot working process of 5754 aluminum alloy, which has reference value for actual processing.