Flow stress anisotropy in aluminium

The plastic anisotropy of cold-rolled high purity aluminum (99.996%) and commercially pure aluminum (99.6%) has been investigated. Sample parameters were the initial grain size and the degree of plastic strain (ϵ < 3.00). Flow stresses (0.2% offset) were measured at room temperature by uniaxial tension as a function of the angle between the tensile axis and the rolling direction. Textures were determined by neutron diffraction, and Taylor M-factors were calculated. The microstructures were studied by TEM. It was found that the flow stress varies significantly with orientation both at low and high strains. It is shown that for most experimental conditions, texture effects alone cannot explain the observed anisotropy, and microstructural anisotropy effects have to be taken into account. In those cases, a correlation between the microstructural anisotropy and the development of microbands is discussed.