Recrystallization and Roping in a 6000 Series Al Alloy

Recrystallization was investigated in the context of its effect on the roping phenomenon in a 6000 series Al alloy. The findings suggest that, in general, the recrystallized grain size affects the material's susceptibility to roping more than the actual area fraction of specific texture components. For example, bands of Cube grains were typically observed in the final processed samples in cases which had coarse, recrystallized grain sizes from the earlier stages of processing. In contrast, bands were not observed for cases having fine, intermediate recrystallized grain sizes. Although microstructure and texture are highly intertwined, these findings suggest that the microstructural characteristics, such as the recrystallized grain size, are more important than those related to the texture.