The majority of aluminium flat rolled products ismanufactured using large and expensive hot and cold rollingfacilities capable of producing up to 800, 000 tonnes of hotrolled coil on an annual basis. For many products the hot rollingstage is crucial in determining the correct microstructure,including crystallographic texture, prior to subsequentprocessing by cold rolling and/or annealing. In practice, theindustry achieves high quality and consistency by enforcingstrict practices for process control which achieve the correctmetallurgy, in addition to other product attributes. Thesepractices have traditionally evolved from long experiencecombined with occasional plant trials. In recent years thedetermination of process-microstructure-property relationshipshas relied on extensive use of laboratory plane straincompression (PSC) testing, detailed metallographic analysis andthe use of this information to develop physically based models.In 1991 Alcan's Banbury Laboratory designed andcommissioned a PSC rig to simulate the deformation history ofcommercial hot multi-stand rolling (tandem mill rolling), whichis the typical low-cost route chosen by the major aluminiumrolling companies. The commissioning phase included directcomparisons with industrially rolled products to confirm that themicrostructure and texture was correctly simulated and anexample is given for AA3004 can bodystock. Other examplesare shown which demonstrate the versatility of the new PSCmachine in addressing industrial problems and perceptions, andproviding insight into fundamental observations. This paper willreview the capability of the Alcan PSC tester with reference tocurrent industrial challenges in the production of packaging,architectural and transportation products.
展开▼
