Effects of Intermediate Rolling on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu Alloys

In this study, intermediate rolling processes, such as warm rolling (WR) before aging, hot rolling (HR) before quenching, and a combination of these processes, were used to process 7055 and 7075 alloys with solution and aging treatment. Intermediate rolling did not change the grain structure of 7055 alloy, but it refined the grain of 7075 alloy. Moreover, it led to the formation of dislocations in the alloys, thereby promoting the precipitation of eta ' phases during subsequent aging. The low cooling rate resulted in the formation of eta phases with large size and high-volume fraction in HR 7055 alloy. However, intermediate rolling did not seriously coarsen the precipitates of 7075 alloy due to its low Zn + Mg content, low Zn/Mg ratio, and high density of Cr-rich phases. WR before aging enhanced the strength of 7055 alloy, but other intermediate rolling processes seriously deteriorated its mechanical properties. The strength of 7075 alloy could be enhanced by all intermediate rolling processes, and the dislocation strengthening effect in 7075 alloy was more significant than its precipitation strengthening.