Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Al-Mg-Mn Sheets Produced by Equal-Channel Angular Pressing and Subsequent Hot Rolling

In this work, a two-step approach was applied to commercial Al-Mg-Mn alloy to produce fine-grained sheets with improved properties. To this end, the material was initially subjected to equal-channel angular pressing at 300 degrees C to an accumulated true strain of similar to 12. This resulted in a formation of a fully recrystallized equiaxed structure with average size of similar to 1 mu m. The relatively high thermal stability of the deformation-induced microstructure was provided by the constituent Al6Mn dispersoids of similar to 25 nm in size. Then, the severely-deformed material was undergone a conventional plane rolling at 300 degrees C to a total thickness reduction of 80%. The final microstructure and mechanical properties of the produced material were studied.