Effect of electric current pulse type on springback, microstructure, texture, and mechanical properties during V-bending of AA2024 aluminum alloy

The present work focused on the effect of the electric current pulse type on the springback, microstructure, texture, and mechanical properties during the V-bending process of AA2024 aluminum alloy. In order to investigate this effect, three different forming conditions including conventional V-bending and electrically assisted V-bending with square and sinusoidal pulses were considered. The results indicated that the amount of springback significantly decreased from 45.5° (for the sample formed via conventional V-bending) to 24° by applying the sinusoidal pulse. Microstructural observations revealed lower stored energy in the samples formed by electric current pulses which resulted in larger grain size compared to the samples formed without electric pulses. In addition, the result showed that the intensity of the (111)||BLD (bend line direction) fiber texture reduced after applying electric current pulses whereas it was very strong in the sample formed without electric pulses. It was suggested that the electric current pulses led to change the slip plane of the dislocations from {111} to {110} through cross slip. The applying electric current pulses decrease the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) from 471.1 MPa (for the conventional tensile test) to 448.0 and 426.7 MPa for the square and sinusoidal pulses, respectively. On the other hand, the electric pulses improved the formability of the AA2024 alloy owing to the activation of more slip systems, inhibition of dislocation pinning, the promotion of dislocation movement, and the acceleration of restoration mechanisms.