Microstructure and Aging Behavior of Al-0.2wt%Zr Alloy Heavily Deformed by ARB Process

Abstract:

An Al-0.2wt%Zr alloy was severely deformed up to a strain of 8.0 by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) process, started from the solution-treated state. The microstructural evolution during ARB and its aging behavior were investigated. With increasing the number of ARB cycles, Vickers hardness of the specimens increased and reached to a constant value. The microstructural evolution during the ARB could be understood in terms of grain subdivision. The ultrafine grained (UFG) materials whose mean grain size was 0.4 -m were obtained by 10-cycle ARB process. In aging of the ARB processed specimens at high temperatures above 673K, the UFG microstructures quickly coarsened. On the other hand, it was suggested that the precipitation behaviors of the ARB specimen at 623K were quite unique and completely different from those of the conventionally solution-treated material with coarse grain size.