The Portevin–Le Châtelier (PLC) effect often results in serrated plastic flow during tensile testing of aluminum alloys. Its magnitude and characteristics are often sensitive to a material’s heat treatment condition and to the applied strain rate and deformation temperature. In this study, we analyze the plastic deformation behavior of an age-hardenable Al-Cu alloy (AA2017) and of a particle reinforced AA2017 alloy (10 vol. % SiC) in two different conditions: solid solution annealed (W) and naturally aged (T4). For the W-condition of both materials, pronounced serrated flow is observed, while both T4-conditions do not show distinct serrations. It is also found that a reduction of the testing temperature (−60 °C, −196 °C) shifts the onset of serrations to larger plastic strains and additionally reduces their amplitude. Furthermore, compressive jump tests (with alternating strain rates) at room temperature confirm a negative strain rate sensitivity for the W-condition. The occurring PLC effect, as well as the propagation of the corresponding PLC bands in the W-condition, is finally characterized by digital image correlation (DIC) and by acoustic emission measurements during tensile testing. The formation of PLC bands in the reinforced material is accompanied by distinct stress drops as well as by perceptible acoustic emission, and the experimental results clearly show that only type A PLC bands occur during testing at room temperature (RT).

The corrosion susceptibility of an age-hardened aluminum alloy in different processing conditions, especially after a single pass of equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP), is examined. The main question addressed is how corrosive attack is changed by strain localization. For that purpose, an AlMgSi0.5 alloy with a strain localized microstructure containing alternating shear bands was subjected to potentiodynamic polarization on a macro-scale and micro-scale using the micro-capillary technique. Pitting potentials and the corrosion appearance (pit depth, corroded area fractions and volumes) are discussed with respect to microstructural evolution due to casting, extrusion and ECAP. Size, shape and orientation of grains, constituent particle fragmentation, cell size and microstrain were analyzed. Stable pitting of shear bands results in less positive potentials compared to adjacent microstructure. More pits emerge in the shear bands, but the pit depth is reduced significantly. This is attributed to higher microstrains influencing the stability of the passivation layer and the reduced size of grains and constituent particles. The size of the crystallographic pits is associated with the deformation-induced cell size of the aluminum alloy.