Research on the 2A11 Aluminum Alloy Sheet Cyclic Tension–Compression Test and Its Application in a Mixed Hardening Model

The increasing application of aluminum alloy, in combination with the growth in the complexity of components, provides new challenges for the numerical modeling of sheet materials. The material elastic–plasticity constitutive model is the most important factor affecting the accuracy of finite element simulation. The mixed hardening constitutive model can more accurately represent the real hardening characteristics of the material plastic deformation process, and the accuracy of the material property-related parameters in the constitutive model directly affects the accuracy of finite element simulation. Based on the Hill48 anisotropic yield criterion, combined with the Voce isotropic hardening model and the Armstrong–Frederic nonlinear kinematic hardening model, a mixed hardening constitutive model that considers material anisotropy and the Bauschinger effect was established. Analysis of the tension–compression experiment on the sheet using finite element method. Using the finite element model, the optimum geometry of the tension–compression experiment sample was determined. The cyclic deformation stress–strain curve of the 2A11 aluminum alloy sheet was obtained by a cyclic tensile–compression test, and the material characteristic parameters in the mixed hardening model were accurately determined. The reliability and accuracy of the established constitutive model of anisotropic mixed hardening materials were verified by the finite element simulation and by testing the cyclic tensile–compression problem, the springback problem, and the sheet in bending, unloading, and reverse bending problems. The tensile–compression experiment is an effective method to directly and accurately obtain the characteristic parameters of constitutive model materials.