Quantitative prediction of textures in aluminium cold rolled to moderate strains

Two aluminium plates with different hot band textures were cold rolled to moderate thickness reductions (55 and 60%). The formation of a rolling texture was analyzed quantitatively by focusing on crystallographic fibers in the orientation distribution function. These measurements served to test several polycrystal plasticity theories that rely on different assumptions on how individual grains perceive the macroscopically exerted load. It was found that N-site models in which each grain interacts with a specific neighborhood, yield improved predictions of rolling textures compared to ‘full constraints’ and ‘relaxed constraints’ Taylor models. The β-fiber representing stable lattice orientations was reproduced satisfactorily by the N-site models but none of the models captured the behavior of grains initially oriented near {0 0 1}〈1 0 0〉. The latter is perhaps attributable to the fact that the continuum theories evaluated do not account for the fragmentation mechanisms active in such grains.