Abstract: Optical microscopy,scanning electron microscopy,energy spectrum analysis and tensile testing were used to study the microstructure of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy hot-rolled plate and its tensile properties along the rolling direction in 0°,45°,90°.On these basis,the focus was on the strain hardening characteristics of the alloy.The results show that all grains are elongated along the hot-rolling direction,off the equilibrium phase (Mg2Si) and intermetallic compounds keep the characteristics of rolling state.The tensile properties and the strain hardening exponent of the tensile samples along different directions have difference in orientation,but the difference is small.The hardening curves of the tensile samples along different directions all exhibit exponentiation parabola and difference in orientation,and the strain hardening ability during uniform plastic deformation process increase with the increase of the strain.