ORIGIN OF CUBE TEXTURE DURING HOT-ROLLING OF COMMERCIAL AL-MN-MG ALLOYS

Investigation of samples taken at different gauges during multi-pass h ot rolling has been made with emphasis on characterisation of the thro ugh-thickness variation in microstructure and texture. The evolution o f the cube texture ({001}[100]), which is a major cause of anisotropy after hot rolling is of particular interest. In the present study a de tailed investigation of the origin of the cube texture component durin g hot rolling has been performed. Information on the characteristics o f this special crystallographic orientation during the hot rolling ope ration has been obtained by applying the electron back scattering patt ern (EBSP) technique in EM. The results show that the cube orientation is metastable during hot deformation in the sense that large fraction s of the cube are able to survive through heavy reductions without rot ating towards the stable texture components. Cube grains, which during a few hot rolling passes get flattened to a critical thickness, subse quently serve as sites for the nucleation of second generation cube gr ains.