Friction-mediated tuning of shear deformation and microstructure in asymmetrically rolled Mg-1Gd alloy strips

Asymmetric rolling (ASR) is distinguished from conventional symmetric rolling (SR) process as the mismatched rolling speeds of two rolls introduce additional shear deformation to the rolled strips. Friction between the rolls and strip plays an important role in the formation of shear during ASR, which further impacts the microstructures of metallic strips. In this study, finite element (FE) simulations are used to probe the effects of friction in ASR of magnesium (Mg) alloy strips with varied roll speed ratios. The results on shear deformation distributions through the thickness of the strips reveal that the increase of friction coefficient or roll speed ratio induces greater shear deformation simultaneously. It is also found that the roll speed ratio can only promote the shear formation up to a threshold value which is dictated by the friction coefficient, further increasing the mismatch of the roll speeds provides negligible improvement on the plastic deformation of the strips. Experimentally, Mg-1Gd alloy strips are processed by SR and ASR, followed by electropulse treatment (EPT) to induce static recrystallization (SRX). The predictions of the numerical models are verified via EBSD and XRD observations on the grain refinement and texture weakening in Mg-1Gd alloy, which are the direct microstructure consequences of plastic deformations during rolling. At the roll speed ratio of 1.67, the alloy shows a weakened basal texture with an average grain size of 6.0 mu m after SRX. Further increasing the roll speed ratio to 5, however, does not enhance the grain refinement or texture weakening significantly.