Accumulative roll bonding of aluminum alloy 6082: Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties

Abstract

Material strengthening is a key objective of researchers and scientists in the present scenario for industrial applications. Although many processes can strengthen and refine grains, severe plastic deformation is the most dominant of all other techniques. Accumulative roll bonding is one of the severe plastic deformation techniques. This study examined how the various accumulative roll bonding cycles at the elevated preheating temperature affected the mechanical characteristics and microstructural evolution of the AA6082 strip. An optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, and electron backscatter diffraction were used to analyze the bonding and microstructural features. To determine mechanical characteristics, tensile and microhardness tests were also performed. The ultrafine grain size was achieved after accumulative roll bonding processing of AA6082. Accumulative roll bonding processing enhances mechanical properties like tensile strength and microhardness during the initial accumulative roll bonding cycle, but these properties grow more slowly at higher accumulative roll bonding cycles. However, the elongation value considerably decreased in the first cycle before stabilizing. The nice bonding between the layers was seen after accumulative roll bonding. Even after accumulative roll bonding, the fracture morphology reveals a ductile mode of fracture.