Tailoring the microstructure and mechanical properties of the final Al-Mn foils by different intermediate annealing process

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2017.03.009

Abstract

Abstract:

In this work, two different intermediate annealing processes, single-step annealing (SSA, 530℃/15 h) and two-step annealing (TSA, 450℃/5 h + 530℃/15 h), were used to tailor microstructure before cold-rolling and annealing of the final twin-roll cast Al-Mnfoils. The recrystallization behavior and mechanical properties during annealing of severely cold-rolled foils were systematically studied. Our results show that discontinuous recrystallization occurs in SSA-foils during annealing at 150-310℃, in contrast with continuous recrystallization in TSA-foils. The continuous recrystallization develops much finer grains (～1.35 μm) in the TSA-foils than those by discontinuous recrystallization in the SSA-foils (～14.7 μm). The texture components in cold-rolled TSA-foils hardly change (retained rolling-textures) after continuous recrystallization, while those in the cold-rolled SSA-foils mainly transform into a strong cube component {001} 〈100〉 after discontinuous recrystallization. Finally, a maximized elongation to fracture of ～23.9% was achieved in the TSA-foil, much higher than that of the SSA-counterparts, ～8.3%. The relationships between the microstructure and mechanical properties were discussed.

Key words: Al-Mn alloys, Foil, Annealing, Recrystallization mechanism, Size effect, Mechanical property

Huang Li, Huang Guangjie, Xin Yunchang, Cao Lingfei, Wu Xiaodong, Jia Zhihong, Li Qilei, Liu Qing. Tailoring the microstructure and mechanical properties of the final Al-Mn foils by different intermediate annealing process[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2017, 33(9): 961-970.

Figures/Tables 15

Fig. 1. Schematic diagrams illustrating two kinds of thermo-mechanical processes for Al-Mn foil production: (a) SSA + CR + Annealing [8,9]; (b) TSA + CR + Annealing [10].

Fig. 2. EBSD micrographs showing grain structures of starting materials after SSA and TSA treatments: (a) SSA and (b) TSA.

Fig. 3. Tensile stress-strain curves of (a) SSA-foils and (b) TSA-foils after cold-rolling and annealing at various temperatures for 3 h.

Fig. 4. Variation of tensile properties (UTS, YS, EL to fracture and uniform EL) as a function of the annealing temperature: (a) SSA-foils and (b) TSA-foils.

Table 1 Optimized combined mechanical properties for SSA- and TSA-foils after annealing.

Samples	Temperature (°C)	UTS (MPa)	YS (MPa)	EL to fracture (%)
SSA-foils	230	170	134	7.6
	250	146	95	8.3
	270	141	83	7.8
TSA-foils	250	158	128	21.8
	270	144	117	23.9
	290	140	112	22.2
	310	138	108	20.5

Fig. 5. BSE images showing microstructural evolution of SSA-foils after (a) cold-rolling, and annealing at (b) 170℃, (c) 190℃, (d) 230℃, (e) 250℃ and (f) 270℃ for 3 h.

Fig. 6. BSE images showing microstructural evolution of TSA-foils after (a) cold-rolling, and annealing at (b) 190℃, (c) 210℃, (d) 250℃, (e) 270℃ and (f) 290℃ for 3 h.

Fig. 7. TEM observations showing detailed microstructural changes during annealing of SSA- and TSA-foils. (a-c) SSA-foils and (d-f) TSA-foils. (a, d) 170℃, (b, e) 230℃ and (c, f) 250℃.

Fig. 8. Variation of average (sub)grain size with annealing temperature for the SSA- and TSA-foils.

Fig. 9. EBSD analysis showing the microstructure and corresponding misorientation distribution histograms for annealed samples: (a) SSA-foil, annealed at 250℃ for 3 h and (b) TSA-foil, annealed at 270℃ for 3 h.

Fig. 10. ODF maps showing the texture of fully recrystallized samples: (a) SSA-foil, annealed at 250℃ for 3 h, (b) TSA-foil, annealed at 270℃ for 3 h.

Fig. 11. TEM micrographs and corresponding SAED patterns showing the cold-rolled microstructure of SSA- foil (a) and TSA-foil (b).

Fig. 12. Variation for elongation to fracture as a function of T/D ratio.

Fig. 13. Fractographs of the tested foils with different T/D values. (a) T/D=8.4, SSA-foil annealed at 250℃ for 3 h and (b) T/D = 75, TSA-foil annealed at 270℃ for 3 h.

Fig. 14. (a, b) BSE and (c, d) TEM images of Mn-containing particles in the starting materials, (a, c) SSA, (b, d) TSA, and SAED of (e) needle-like Al6Mn phase along [$overline{1}$20] and (f) granular A112(Fe, Mn)3Si phase along [001] of the particles.

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