Abstract
Hot deformation is a critical step in the production of high quality aluminium alloys, because it frequently controls the grain sizes, orientations, and substructures. These microstructural parameters are particularly amenable to quantitative analysis by electron backscattered diffraction, so that systematic studies of the influence of processing conditions on microstructural evolution are now possible. To understand the effects of temperature, strain, strain rate, and crystallographic orientation on microstructural evolution within the grains during hot rolling, single crystals of aluminium, Al–Mn, and Al–Mg have been hot compressed in a channel die and their substructure characterised using scanning electron microscopy and electron backscattered diffraction. This continuing work has demonstrated the following features: (i) the cube orientation undergoes a transition between unstable and stable deformation at a temperature that is a function of the strain rate and composition; (ii) the dislocation substructure in the crystal orientations corresponding to the typical fcc rolling texture components (Cu, S, and Bs) depends strongly not only on temperature but also on grain orientation. The results are compared with previous and current studies of hot worked aluminium polycrystals and discussed in terms of the influence of grain substructure on recrystallisation texture development.
MST/3674
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