Comparison of recrystallization behavior of direct chill cast and strip cast AA3004 aluminum alloys

Due to the difference in cooling rates during solidification, direct chill (DC) cast and strip cast (SC) aluminum alloys show different features in terms of solute supersaturation and particle structure. It has been found that SC materials are difficult to recrystallize. The present paper deals with the recrystallization process of DC cast and SC AA3004 aluminum alloy. After 90% cold reduction, the DC and SC materials were heated to elevated temperatures and held for different times. The results show that similar preferred orientations developed in the two materials and the recrystallization rate are different in the two materials. The increase of annealing temperature tends to reduce the difference of recrystallization behaviors of the two materials.