Role of Cracked Interlayer on Deformation Processing of Al/hard Chrome/Al Laminate

Abstract

The Al/hard chrome/Al laminate with cracked interlayer was processed by single-pass rolling and accumulative roll bonding (ARB). A micro-cracked hard chrome with the thickness range of 5–15 µm was deposited on the Al layer by the electroplating process. The micro-cracked hard chrome layer was considered as a model material to investigate the deformation processing of the metal laminate with a discontinuous interlayer. The layered composite with discontinuous interlayer was modeled by finite element analysis. Three configurations of discontinuities, including the longitudinal, transverse, and rectangular pattern, were considered in the interlayer. In agreement with the experiments, the simulation results showed that during the roll bonding process, the discontinuities that are oriented transversely spread in the rolling direction while those that are located longitudinally slightly expand in the transverse direction. The peeling test after the single roll bonding revealed that the bond strength of the Al/Cr composite with cracked interlayer increased with increasing the thickness reduction and decreasing the hard chrome layer. The hard chrome layer was gradually fragmented during the ARB process and was distributed in the Al matrix.