Processing and properties of ultrafine-grain aluminum alloy 5005 sheet

The potential of ECAP sheet machine build in Monash University to refine the grain size, enhance mechanical properties, and improve deep drawability of the sheet was investigated for a representative aluminum alloy, AA5005. The annealed sheet was subjected to one, two, or four ECAP passes through 90° using route A or route C followed by annealing at 400 °C for 15 min. It was established that only one ECAP pass is required to obtain a significant improvement in both normal and planar anisotropy. A subsequent annealing enabled the recovery of ductility of the material lost during ECAP while maintaining the improved plastic anisotropy.