Evolution of Annealing Textures and Microstructures in AA 3103 after Cold Rolling and Repeated Shear Deformation

The evolution of annealing textures and microstructures in the aluminum alloy 3103, which was subjected to deformation by either cold rolling or equal channel angular rolling (ECAR), was investigated. Samples of AA 3103 sheets were repeatedly deformed by ECAR up to six passes. In addition, AA 3103 was cold rolled to the same hardness level of the ECARed samples. Upon annealing, the cold rolled sample was recrystallized by the discontinuous recrystallization which gave rise to the formation of the cube texture and large grains bigger than 30 µm. In contrast, the ECARed sample was recrystallized by extended recovery which led to the formation of ultra-fine grains having a size smaller than 3.5 µm.