Process parameter influence on texture heterogeneity in asymmetric rolling of aluminium sheet alloys

Experimental investigations of asymmetric rolling of sheet alloys demonstrate that this process may be used to alter the crystallographic texture by the introduction of shear components. Such texture components are desirable for their potential to improve the formability of aluminium alloys in deep drawing, because they do not transform to the detrimental cube component after recrystallisation. It is however not precisely known how the process parameters affect the texture evolution and the formation of texture gradients. The results of a parametric finite element study of the deformation field and the texture evolution arising during a single pass of asymmetric cold rolling are presented together with an assessment of the impact of texture gradients on the macroscopic anisotropy determined by multi-scale modelling. The modelling approach is validated with textures measured for a single pass of asymmetric rolling of an aluminium sheet alloy. The study targets an industrially feasible process window and presents the relationships found between shear texture volume fractions, texture heterogeneity, plastic anisotropy and several types of process parameters (geometric, contact and material).