Texture control and grain refinement of AA1050 Al alloy sheets by asymmetric rolling

Asymmetric rolling, in which the circumferential velocities of the upper and lower rolls are different, can give rise to intense plastic shear strains and in turn shear deformation textures through the sheet thickness. The ideal shear deformation texture of fee metals can be approximated by the {001} < 110 > plus < 111 >vertical bar vertical bar ND orientations, among which the latter improves the Lankford values or the deep drawability. The intense shear strains can result in the grain refinement and hence improve mechanical properties. In this paper, a study has been made of effects of asymmetric rolling variables such as reductions per pass, changes in shear direction each pass, reductions in the last pass, roll rotation rate ratios, changes in shear direction in the last pass, and different frictions on the upper and lower surfaces of AA1050 Al alloy sheets on the evolution of their deformation and annealing textures and grain refinement. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.