Comparison of the texture evolution of direct chill and continuous cast AA5052 hot bands during isothermal annealing

Abstract

As-received commercial direct chill cast (DC) and continous cast (CC) AA5052 hot bands were isothermally annealed at different temperatures. The variations of electrical resistivity, hardness, microstructure, and texture of these hot bands during annealing were examined. Texture was investigated by X-ray diffraction. The variation in texture volume fractions with annealing time was quantitatively analyzed by the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov (JMAK) equation. The orientation maps of the partially and fully recrystallized samples were characterized by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). It was found that electrical resistivity of the CC AA5052 hot band was higher than that of the DC AA5052 hot band. The electrical resistivity of CC AA5052 decreased more significantly than that of DC AA5052 during isothermal annealing. The DC AA5052 hot band was more easily recrystallized than CC AA5052 hot band during annealing. After complete recrystallization, DC AA5052 hot band possessed a stronger cube texture than the CC AA5052 hot band. The texture evolutions of DC and CC AA5052 can be expressed quantitatively by the JMAK equation after the volume fractions of the texture components are calculated by an improved integration method. Annealing temperature had an influence on the n values in the JMAK-type equations. The n values are small at low annealing temperatures.