Aluminum alloys sheets are considered as one of the high potential substitutes for steel sheets considering weight reduction of automobiles. However, aluminum alloy sheets have drawbacks in higher prices and inferior formability compared to steel sheets. The inferior formability is caused by: i) low elastic modulus, which is responsible for the high springback; ii) low strain rate sensitivity, which is responsible for the low post-uniform elongation, and most importantly, iii) low plastic strain ratio or Lankford parameter, which is responsible for the low deep drawability. In order to achieve good deep drawability, it is imperative to obtain well developed {111} texture which gives rise to higher plastic strain ratio. It is difficult to obtain this texture from conventional rolling and annealing processes. Therefore, an unconventional rolling process which enhances shear deformation has been theoretically and experimentally studied to obtain the well developed {111} texture, which in turn gives rise to a substantial increase in plastic strain ratio.
展开▼
