Effect of preheating before rolling on the microstructural and mechanical properties of lamellar Al/Ti/Al composite produced by roll bonding

This study explores the effect of preheating before rolling on the microstructural and mechanical properties of an AA5052/Ti/AA5052 lamellar composite fabricated by roll bonding. The roll bonding was done in two ways: conventional rolling and preheating before rolling. Preheating was done before rolling for 7 min at 350 °C. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), microhardness, and tensile tests were used for microstructural and mechanical investigations. By performing preheating, the strength increased from 468 MPa to 511 MPa, elongation changes were insignificant, and hardness decreased in aluminum and titanium layers from 108 to 100 HV and 234 to 212 HV, respectively. By preheating, aluminum diffusion in titanium and metallurgical connection occurred. Therefore, SEM showed better bonding in preheated specimens.