Shear deformation and plate shape control of hot-rolled aluminium alloy thick plate prepared by asymmetric rolling process

Asymmetric rolling （ASR）, as one of severe plastic deformation （SPD） methods to make ultra-fine materials with enhanced performance is mainly used to prepare foil and thin strip. The asymmetrical rolling was achieved by adjusting the diameters of the upper roll and the bottom roll and was used to prepare hot-rolled thick plate of 5182 aluminium alloy. The shear deformation and plate shape control were experimentally studied. The experimental results show that asymmetrical rolling has a significant effect on metal deformation stream and can somehow refine microstructure and improve the uniformity of microstructure and properties. The asymmetrical rolling process can also reduce the rolling force. However, bending of rolling plate often happens during asymmetrical rolling process. The factors affecting the bending were discussed.

Theoretical analysis of minimum metal foil thickness achievable by asymmetric rolling with fixed identical roll diameters

A novel approach is proposed for computing the minimum thickness of a metal foil that can be achieved by asymmetric rolling using rolls with identical diameter. This approach is based on simultaneously solving Tselikov equation for the rolling pressure and the modified Hitchcock equation for the roller flattening. To minimize the effect of the elastic deformation on the equal flow per second during the ultrathin foil rolling process, the law of conservation of mass was employed to compute the proportions of the forward slip, backward slip, and the cross shear zones in the contact arc, and then a formula was derived for computing the minimum thickness for asymmetric rolling. Experiment was conducted to find the foil minimum thickness for 304 steel by asymmetric rolling under the asymmetry ratios of 1.05, 1.15 and 1.30. The experimental results are in good agreement with the calculated ones. It was validated that the proposed formula can be used to calculate the foil minimum thickness under the asymmetric rolling condition.

Effect of asymmetric rolling process on the microstructure,mechanical properties and texture of AZ31 magnesium alloys sheets produced by twin roll casting technique

Symmetric rolling(SR)and asymmetric rolling(ASR)processes were carried out on 6 mm thick AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets that were produced by twin roll casting(TRC)technique.Before rolling processes,sheets were heat treated in order to obtain a homogenized microstructure.In this study,for the ASR process the rolling speed ratio between upper roller and lower was selected as 1.25.Both SR and ASR processes were utilized with 40%reduction per passes using 2 pass schedule for a total reduction ratio of 0.67.Symmetric and asymmetric rolled sheets were characterized using optical microscopy(OM),scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and transmission electron microscopy(TEM)techniques.Texture measurements were performed by using X-ray diffraction(XRD)technique and mechanical properties were investigated by tensile tests and also hardness measurements.

Effect of asymmetric rolling under high friction coefficient on recrystallization texture and plastic anisotropy of AA1050 alloy

In asymmetric rolling(ASR) the circumferential velocities of the working rolls are different. This yields a complex deformation mode with shear, compression and rigid body rotation components. The main microstructural modification is on crystallographic texture, and, for aluminium alloys, this may improve the deformability after recrystallization. This work correlated the process variables, thickness reduction per pass(TRP) and velocity ratio between the upper and bottom rolls, with the texture development and the plastic properties after annealing. Finite element(FE) simulations were performed to quantify the influence of the strain components. Experimental data on texture, and plastic anisotropy were analyzed. In the sheet centre a crystallographic rotation of the compression components about the TD(transverse direction) axis was obtained, which yielded the development of {111}//ND(normal direction) texture components. On the surfaces the local variation of the velocity gradients caused an extra rotation component about ND. This yielded the increment of rotated cube components. After annealing the main texture components at the sheet centre were maintained and the texture intensity decreased. The planar anisotropy(△r) was reduced but the normal anisotropy and deep drawability obtained by the Erichsen test were similar for all conditions. The most favourable reduction of △r was obtained at a velocity ratio of 1.5 and TRP of 10%.

Influence of rolling route on microstructure and mechanical properties of AZ31 magnesium alloy during asymmetric reduction rolling

Four different routes of asymmetric reduction rolling were conducted on AZ31 magnesium alloy to investigate their effect on the microstructure evolution and mechanical properties. Route A is the forward rolling; while during routes B and C the sheets are rotated 180o in rolling direction and normal direction, respectively; route D is the unidirectional rolling. The strain states of rolled sheets were analyzed by the finite element method, while the microstructure and texture were observed using optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction and electron back-scattered diffraction techniques, and the mechanical properties were measured by tensile test. The results show that route D produced the largest effective strain. Compared with other samples, sample D exhibited a homogeneous microstructure with fine grains as well as a weak and tilted texture, in corresponding, it performed excellent tensile properties, which suggested that route D was an effective way to enhance the strength and plasticity of AZ31 sheet.

Evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties of ZK60 magnesium alloy processed by asymmetric lowered-temperature rolling

Asymmetric lowered-temperature rolling was applied to the fabrication of fine-grained ZK60 magnesium alloy sheet with weak basal texture along the rolling direction(RD).The results showed that multi-pass lowered-temperature rolling could significantly improve the microstructure homogeneity and refine the grain size.Meanwhile,a fiber texture along the transverse direction(TD)gradually developed during rolling process.Importantly,the shear deformation along the RD made the c-axis of basal plane rotate to the RD,weakening the basal texture along this direction.Influenced by such microstructure variation,the yield strength along the TD continuously increased due to the successive grain refinement and the increased activation of prismatic slips,whereas the uniform elongation decreased owing to the decline of strain hardening ability.In contrast,the continuous weakening of basal texture along the RD increased the activation of soft basal slips,greatly offsetting the strengthening effect contributed by grain refinement and thereby causing the slight decrease of yield strength.

Effects of interrupted ageing and asymmetric rolling on microstructures, mechanical properties, and intergranular corrosion behavior of Al-Mg-Si-Zn alloy

Effects of interrupted ageing(T6I6) and asymmetric rolling on microstructures, mechanical properties, and intergranular corrosion(IGC) behaviors of Al-Mg-Si-Zn alloy were investigated. Results showed that the T6 alloy has the lowest strength and the worst IGC resistance, while the T6I6 alloy has higher strength and better IGC resistance.What’ s more, the alloy treated by pre-rolling deformation has higher strength and better IGC resistance;and the alloy treated by the pre-asymmetry rolling achieves the highest strength, the best IGC resistance and lower elongation. The mechanical properties depend on microstructures such as the grain size, texture, dislocation density and precipitation, the grain boundary misorientation and grain boundary microstructure are responsible for the IGC resistance.

Effects of asymmetric rolling process on ridging resistance of ultra-purified 17%Cr ferritic stainless steel

In ferritic stainless steels, a significant non-uniform recrystallization orientation and a substantial texture gradient usually occur, which can degrade the ridging resistance of the final sheets. To improve the homogeneity of the recrystallization orientation and reduce the texture gradient in ultra-purified 17%Cr ferritic stainless steel, in this work, we performed conventional and asymmetric rolling processes and conducted macro and micro-texture analyses to investigate texture evolution under different cold-rolling conditions. In the conventional rolling specimens, we observed that the deformation was not uniform in the thickness direction, whereas there was homogeneous shear deformation in the asymmetric rolling specimens as well as the formation of uniform recrystallized grains and random orientation grains in the final annealing sheets. As such, the ridging resistance of the final sheets was significantly improved by employing the asymmetric rolling process. This result indicates with certainty that the texture gradient and orientation inhomogeneity can be attributed to non-uniform deformation, whereas the uniform orientation gradient in the thickness direction is explained by the increased number of shear bands obtained in the asymmetric rolling process.

Effect of asymmetric rolling on mechanical characteristics,texture and misorientations in ferritic steel

The mechanical and microstructural properties as well as crystallographic textures of asymmetrically rolled low carbon steel were studied.The modelling of plastic deformation was carried out in two scales:in the macro-scale,using the finite elements method,and in the crystallographic scale,using the polycrystalline deformation model.The internal stress distribution in the rolling gap was calculated using the finite elements method and these stresses were then applied to the polycrystalline elasto-plastic deformation model.Selected mechanical properties,namely residual stress distribution,deformation work,applied force and torques,and bend amplitude,were calculated.The diffraction measurements,X-ray and electron backscatter diffraction,enabled the examination of texture heterogeneity and selected microstructure characteristics.The predicted textures agree well with those determined experimentally.The plastic anisotropy of cold rolled ferritic steel samples,connected with texture,was expressed by Lankford coefficient.

Influence of Asymmetric Monotonic Hot Rolling on Microstructures and Mechanical Property of Microalloyed Steel

For refining grain and obtaining excellent properties, the experiments of asymmetric and symmetric monotonic hot rolling were carried out to investigate the role of shear strain on the microstructures and mechanical properties of V-microalloyed steel. The study demonstrates that the gradient ferrite distribution and dispersive pearlite through the sheet thickness are observed in asymmetric rolled specimen, and the homogeneous microstructure with ferrite and large pearlite is found in symmetric rolled specimen. The average grain size in asymmetric rolled specimen is smaller than the one in symmetric rolled specimen. The styles of precipitate morphology in asymmetric rolled specimen are random precipitate and obvious interphase precipitate, while the ones in symmetric rolled specimen are random precipitate and unobvious interphase precipitate. The additional shear strain results in the microstructure difference between asymmetric rolled specimen and symmetric rolled specimen. The impact energy of asymmetric rolled specimen, 58 J, is more than the one of symmetric rolled specimen, 48 J. Both deflection-energy curve and fracture morphology show that the fracture style of asymmetric rolled specimen is ductile, and the ones of symmetric rolled specimen are brittle and ductile.

Analysis of bending on the front end of sheet during hot rolling

The analysis of bending in finishing rolling was performed. An asymmetrical rolling force model was established, and the upper and lower neutral points were determined. Thc bending which resulted from the asymmetrical rolling force at the roll gap was studied and related flexibility equations were proposed according to elastic mechanics. Moreover, material mechanics was used to analyze the effects of temperature difference and self-weight on the bending out of the roll gap, and the flexibility equations were constructed. The main factors on bending were summed up, and the bending rule in the rolling could be obtained. In addition practical calculation was made with the production data of ribbon steel from Laiwu Iron ＆ Steel Group Co. Ltd.

Analysis of Sheet Curvature in Asymmetrical Cold Rolling

In asymmetric cold rolling, the workpiece is often bent downwards or upwards. A two-dimensional explicit dynamic finite element model with Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian （ALE） adaptive meshing technique has been employed to simulate asymmetrical sheet rolling, in which asymmetrical conditions are here due to different roll radii. To validate the simulation, the results of simulation and experiment are compared. Effects of asymmetry due to roll radii mismatch on the normal and shear distributions and on sheet curvature variations are discussed. An optimum roll radii ratio could be found to produce flat sheet. Trials were conducted to investigate the effectiveness of roll radii mismatch as an approach of sheet curvature control.

Analysis of Rolling Pressure in Asymmetrical Rolling Process by Slab Method

The plane strain asymmetrical rolling was analyzed using slab method. The contact arc was replaced by parabola, and the constant surface friction status was adopted during the analysis. The deformation area was divided into three zones according to the direction of the friction. Then, the three zones were studied, respectively. A rolling force model and a rolling torque model were developed based on the analysis, and they were used to analyze the influ- ence of asymmetrical rolling factors on deformation area and unit pressure if they had good precision which was determined by comparing the calculated results with the measured ones.

Influences of Asymmetric Reduction Rolling on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of AZ91

The influence of asymmetric reduction rolling （ARR） on the microstructure, texture and mechanical properties of AZ91 was investigated. The microstructural characteristics of the AZ91 sheet processed by symmetric roiling （SR） were the twins, intersection of twins and dynamic recrystalization （DRX） grains around the coarse grains and within the twins. However, the amount of twins and DRX grains in ARRed AZ91 was much smaller than that in SRed AZ91. The SRed AZ91 after annealing exhibited fine DRX grains and some coarse grains with a size of ~ 100 pro. The grains in ARRed AZ91 after annealing were much finer and more homogeneous than those in SRed AZ91 after annealing. The intensity of basal texture of ARRed AZ91 after annealing was lower than that of SRed AZ91 rolling after annealing. The average Schmid factor of ARRed AZ91 is 0.34, which is higher than that of SRed AZ91. The yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of the ARRed AZ91 sheet were inCreased to 16.1% and 31.8% compared to SRed AZ91 sheet, from 155 to 180 MPa, and from 220 to 290 MPa, respectively. The improvement of mechanical properties in ARRed AZ91 after annealing was attributed to much finer, more homogeneous DRX grains and weaker basal texture.

Analysis on Shear Deformation for High Manganese Austenite Steel during Hot Asymmetrical Rolling Process Using Finite Element Method

Based on the rigid-plastic finite element method（FEM）, the shear stress field of deformation region for high manganese austenite steel during hot asymmetrical rolling process was analyzed. The influences of rolling parameters, such as the velocity ratio of upper to lower rolls, the initial temperature of workpiece and the reduction rate, on the shear deformation of three nodes in the upper, center and lower layers were discussed. As the rolling parameters change, distinct shear deformation appears in the upper and lower layers, but the shear deformation in the center layer appears only when the velocity ratio is more than 1.00, and the absolute value of the shear stress in this layer is changed with rolling parameters. A mathematical model which reflected the change of the maximal absolute shear stress for the center layer was established, by which the maximal absolute shear stress for the center layer can be easily calculated and the appropriate rolling technology can be designed.

Grain refinement of non-magnetic austenitic steels during asymmetrical hot rolling process

Asymmetrical hot rolling（ASHR） was proposed to acquire productive grain refinement for Fe-20Mn-4Al-0.3C and Fe-18Cr-18Mn-0.5N non-magnetic austenitic steels. The intensive additional shear deformation caused by ASHR promotes the nucleation of recrystallization and grain refining of steel plates. With the speed ratio of 1.2, the austenitic grains were refined to ~5 m on the surface, the recrystallization fraction was enhanced to ~34.7%, and the thickness of fine-grained surface layer increases to ~450m for Fe-20Mn-4Al-0.3 C steel. The Fe-18Cr-18Mn-0.5N steel also exhibited an effective surface grain refinement with an average size of ~3μm, and the recrystallization fraction reached ~76.9% at the speed ratio of 1.15.

Slab Analysis of Large Cylindrical Shell Rolling

Considering the characteristics of large cylindrical shell rolling, such as double driving rolls, asymmetrical rolling and huge workpiece, a slab method was developed to establish the rolling force model. In this model, the non- uniform normal and shear stresses and the upper and lower surface temperatures of the workpiece were taken into ac- count. Moreover, the flow stress model, considering the dynamic recovery and dynamic recrystallization behaviors of the material, was established. The rolling pressure distribution, the rolling force, the rolling torque and the neutral points could be calculated quickly and easily by the roiling force model. The predicted results were shown to be in good agreement with the measured values, which indicated that the model can satisfy the requirement of industrial application.

High strength-ductility nano-structured high manganese steel produced by cryogenic asymmetry-rolling

A bulk nanostructured twinning-induced plasticity （TWIP） steel with high ductility and high strength was fabricated by cryogenic asymmetry-rolling （cryo-ASR） and subsequent recovery treatment. It was found that the cryo-ASRed TWIP steels exhibit simultaneous improvements in the ductility, strength and work hardening. Typical microstructures of the cryo-ASR TWIP steel were characterized by shear bands and intensive mechanical nano-sized twins induced by cryogenic deformation. These mechanical nano-scale twins remain thermally stable during the subsequent recovery treatment. It is believed that the ductility enhancement and high work-hardening ability for the cryo-ASR TWIP steels should be mainly attributed to the high-densitv pre-existing nano-scale twins.

Orientation factor analysis of deformation mechanisms under special processing techniques in AZ31 magnesium alloys

Experiments show that special processing techniques such as asymmetrical rolling （ASR）, equal channel angular pressing （ECAP） and equal channel angular rolling （ECAR） can weaken the basal texture of the magnesium alloys and therefore improve their plasticity. However, the deformation mechanisms related are different. In this paper, we determine the deformation mechanisms activated during ASR, ECAP and ECAR by calculation of orientation factors. Analysis shows that during ASR the shear stress σ13 on the rolling plane of the samples obviously weakens the basal slip and tension twinning that all produce basal texture and improve plasticity due to the promotion of tilt basal texture. During ECAP the shear stress σs on the intersecting plane of two channels promotes tension twinning in the basal oriented grains, whereas under ECAR the shear stress σ13 induced by roller friction on the rolling plane produces the shear stress as on the intersection plane of the two channels that also promotes tension twinning. Although the shear strain is lower in ECAR than in ECAP, the channel clearance in ECAR facilitates tension twinning.