Fabrication and Estimation of an Ultrafine Grained Complex Aluminum Alloy Sheet by the ARE Process Using Dissimilar Aluminum Alloys

Fabrication of a complex aluminum alloy by the ARB process using dissimilar aluminum alloys has been carried out. Two-layer stack ARB was performed for up to six cycles at ambient temperature without a lubricant according to the conventional procedure. Dissimilar aluminum sheets of AA1050 and AA5052 with thickness of 1 mm were degreased and wire-brushed for the ARB process. The sheets were then stacked together and rolled to 50% reduction such that the thickness became 1 mm again. The sheet was then cut into two pieces of identical length and the same procedure was repeated for up to six cycles. A sound complex aluminum alloy sheet was successfully fabricated by the ARB process. The tensile strength increased as the number of ARB cycles was increased, reaching 298 MPa after 5 cycles, which is about 2.2 times that of the initial material. The average grain size was 24 mu m after 1 cycle, and became 1.8 mu m after 6 cycles.