Through-thickness microstructure, texture and strength gradients in AA 7055 rolled plate

Through-thickness microstructure, texture and mechanical property gradients in the longitudinal section of AA 7055 rolled plate have been investigated using electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) technique. Quantitative analysis of the microstructure and texture through the plate thickness was conducted. It was found that the microstructure and texture are obviously non-homogeneous through the plate thickness. From center to surface, more equiaxed grains are observed. As expected, the degree of recrystallization increases with increasing the S value. The grains in the center layer exhibited preferential orientations while the most grains near the surface presented a random one. The strength of each observed layer has also been tested.