Shear bands formation after a strain path change for AA1050 alloy pre-deformed by ECAP and subsequently plane strain compressed

Crystal lattice rotations induced by shear bands developed in an AA1050 aluminium alloy have been examined in order to investigate the influence of the finegrained structure on the slip propagation across the grain boundaries and the resulting texture evolution. Samples of the AA1050 alloy were pre-deformed in ECAP up to 6 passes via route C, then machined and further compressed in a channel-die up to ~25% at room temperature. The microstructure and texture were characterized by SEM equipped with a high resolution EBSD facility.

The ECAP-processing leads to the formation of a fine grained structure. The grains were grouped into nearly complementarily oriented layers. During the secondary straining in the channel-die, the layers of fine grains, initially situated almost parallel to the compression plane, undergo deflection within some narrow areas. This is the beginning stage of the macroscopic shear band (MSB) formation. In all the deformed grains examined (within MSB) a strong tendency for strain-induced re-orientation could be observed. The SEM orientation mapping shows how the layers of flattened grains are incorporated into the MSB area, and what kinds of mechanisms are responsible for the strain accommodation at the macro-scale. Finally, a crystallographic description of the mechanism of MSB formation in AA1050 aluminium alloy is proposed based on the local lattice re-orientations due to localized kinking.