Effect of heating rate on the microstructure and texture of continuous cast AA 3105 aluminum alloy

The hot band of a continuous cast (CC) AA 3105 aluminum alloy was annealed at different temperatures for 6 h in an air furnace with a heating rate of 11 °C/min and annealed at different temperatures for 30 min in a salt bath (∼50 °C/s), respectively. The effect of heating rate on the microstructure and texture of the CC AA 3105 aluminum alloy was investigated. In the case of slow anneal, the coarse elongated recrystallized grains were observed at the temperatures of 482–599 °C. The recrystallization texture was characterized by relatively strong P orientation and 22.5° ND rotated cube orientation. In the case of rapid anneal, the size and shape of recrystallized grains depended on the annealing temperature. As the annealing temperature increased, the size of recrystallized grains decreased and the recrystallized grains became gradually equiaxed. At 599 °C, a fine equiaxed grain structure was obtained. The recrystallization texture consisted of a weak cube texture. Moreover, the fine-grain alloy produced by the rapid anneal exhibited higher tensile strength and elongation than the slow anneal sample that had a larger grain size.