Static Recovery Modeling of Dislocation Density in a Cold Rolled Clad Aluminum Alloy

Clad alloys feature one or more different alloys bonded to the outside of a core alloy, with non-equilibrium, interalloy interfaces. There is limited understanding of the recovery and recrystallization behaviour of cold rolled clad aluminum alloys. In order to optimize the properties of such alloys, new heat treatment processes may be required that differ from what is used for the monolithic alloys. This study examines the recovery behaviour of a cold rolled Novelis Fusion(TM) alloy containing an AA6XXX core with an AA3003 cladding on one side. The bond between alloys appears microscopically discrete and continuous, but has a 30 microm wide chemical gradient. The as-deformed structure at the interalloy region consists of pancaked sub-grains with dislocations at the misorientation boundaries and a lower density organized within the more open interiors. X-ray line broadening was used to extract the dislocation density from the interalloy region and an equivalently deformed AA6XXX following static annealing using a modified Williamson-Hall analysis. This analysis assumed that Gaussian broadening contributions in a pseudo-Voigt function corresponded only to strain from dislocations. The kinetics of the dislocation density evolution to recrystallization were studied isothermally at 2 minute intervals, and isochronally at 175 and 205°C. The data fit the Nes model, in which the interalloy region recovered faster than AA6XXX at 175°C, but was slower at 205°C. This was most likely caused by change in texture and chemistry within this region such as over-aging of AA6XXX . Simulation of a continuous annealing and self homogenization process both with and without pre-recovery indicates a detectable, though small change in the texture and grain size in the interalloy region.