Research on the effect of temperature increase during flow forming without cooling on 6060 aluminum alloy

This paper presents the results of flow forming tests for the 6060 aluminum alloy in the T5 heat treatment condition. The tests were conducted on a cylindrical mandrel using two forming rollers without the use of a cooling agent. The purpose of the study was to conduct two experiments. In both experiments, the final gap between the roller and the mandrel was designed to be the same. The impact of the deformation value on the change in the mechanical properties of the material with the simultaneous impact of the number of forming passes was determined. In addition, the effect of the elimination of a coolant on the process was analyzed. The material temperature rise caused by friction between a pair of working parts: the roller—and the workpiece—were examined with a thermal imaging camera. This paper presents the results of microhardness tests and analyzes the impact of the forming parameters on the strength properties of the alloy. Because the forming process was done without cooling, the impact of the temperature prevailing during the deformation process on the change in the strength of the alloy was studied and analyzed. The deformation zone in which intensive grain deformation took place was determined.