Some aspects of anelastic and microplastic creep of pure Al and two Al-alloys

Abstract
Anelastic creep of pure Al, commercial Al-Cu and a binary Al-Cu alloy has been measured at room temperature by means of a high resolution laser interferometer. The irreversible component of the deformation was also quantified from measurements of the anelastic creep recovery. The dependence of the deformation-time curves on thermal treatment and cold work is analyzed. The mechanisms responsible for the room temperature anelastic creep are discussed. Materials loaded below their elastic limit can present either a pure anelastic behavior (commercial Al-Cu) or additional viscoelastic creep (pure Al, high purity Al-Cu). For commercial Al-Cu, the presence of an irreversible deformation appears to be mainly related to the state of the surface. A viscoelastic after effect has been measured for this alloy after a Cu-electroplating treatment. As a typical result for room temperature creep, the irreversible deformation depends logarithmically on load time.