Contribution of dislocation substructures developed during cold rolling to the formation of rolling textures in Al–Mg alloys

In order to investigate the mechanism of the development of rolling textures in Al –Mg alloys, hot bands of high-purity Al, Al-3 wt. %Mg and Al-5 wt. %Mg alloys were solution-treated at 450 °C and cold-rolled by varying rolling reductions up to 97%. Rolling textures of these specimens were investigated with the orientation distribution function analysis. Comparisons of the results of the texture analysis with those of the hardness measurement and transmission electron microscopy observations revealed that, in all specimens, the texture development occurred mainly at the later half of work hardening, i. e., at rolling reductions above 80 %, where dislocation substructures were well developed. In pure Al, in which well defined, elongated cell structures were developed, {112} and {123} components developed remarkably, whereas in the Al-5% Mg alloys, in which only dense dislocation tangles and ill defined small cells were developed, the development of {112} and {123} components was strongly suppressed. All these observations thus suggested that the development of rolling textures was strongly affected by the development of dislocation substructures, which occurred concurrently during rolling, and that the formation of elongated cell structures was more favorable for the development of rolling textures. In cold rolling, elongated cell structures may be the final form of dislocation substructures, providing both mechanical stability and orientation stability.